by
Links Magazine
Jun 16, 2024
•
Press
•
9 min
Every generation has its own collection of A-List architects. Naming them isn’t hard. A stiffer challenge is identifying who will comprise the next crop.
As an All-American member of the University of Oklahoma’s 1989 NCAA Championship-winning team, it’s understandable that Tripp Davis would have been influenced by the king of Oklahoma course designs, Perry Maxwell. Nevertheless, his two greatest design guides were Donald Ross and Pete Dye.
Starting in 1994, Davis became the perfect example of a regional architect, toiling in the middle of the country, whose work was so good that it could not be ignored. Davis credits two renovation projects for elevating his status, both in Dallas: Northwood, in 2016–18, which played host to the 1952 U.S. Open; and Preston Trail in 2008–09, home to the PGA Tour’s Byron Nelson Classic from 1968–82. Also in ’08–09, he hit the refresh button on one of Dye’s masterworks, Oak Tree National in Edmond, Okla.
“Those projects seemed to have kickstarted things,” he says, “but seven or eight renovations we were doing in the Met Area (New York) really pushed us along. When you do some of those projects at clubs that people have heard of, it gives people a sense that they can trust you to do good work.” Those renovations included the Deepdale, Whippoorwill, and Engineers clubs.
In the past five years, the prestigious clubs that came calling were increasingly more widespread: Thunderbird in Palm Springs, site of the 1955 Ryder Cup; The International’s Oaks course in Bolton, Mass.; Atlanta Athletic Club’s Riverside course at Bobby Jones’s old home club and venue for the 1990 U.S. Women’s Open. While Davis is soaring on the wings of well-received renovation work, 14 original designs round out the portfolio, with more in the pipeline.
Tripp Davis on a site visit
“It’s gratifying to be considered for these new opportunities,” says Davis, who turned 56 last September. “I think our reputation these days helped a little.”
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