Bent Tree Country Club

Located next to Dallas’ exclusive Preston Trail Golf Club, Bent Tree opened in 1974 as the centerpiece for a 700-acre development headed by Dallas real estate investors Robert Folsom and John Murchison. The two hired the eclectic Scotsman Desmond Muirhead to design the course on 190 acres of former cotton fields.

In the 1980s, the LPGA and Senior PGA tours frequently hosted tournaments at Bent Tree, and the course was eventually renovated in 1990. The improvements focused on the front nine (which is still more open than the back), spicing up the layout with bunkering, tree additions, and adjustments to greens.

Water comes into play on 14 of 18 holes, and the course is quite long if you play from the tips. The best hole on the front is No. 3, a long par 5 that plays almost 600 yards. The narrow fairway chutes between water on the left and bunkers on the right, and the small green slopes severely to the water on the left side.

The more interesting back nine offers a nice stretch of golf on holes 13-15. No. 14 is the most scenic on the course because it plays downhill at least 75 feet to a green surrounded on three sides by water. The 387-yard 18th is the perfect finishing hole–not too long but plenty challenging.

Getting there : From I-635 east, take the Dallas North Tollway and exit Westgrove. The course is on the left.