Dornick Hills - Oklahoma - USA

Between the old school clubhouse and homages to designer Perry Maxwell every which way you look, Dornick Hills oozes with history. It’s clear throughout your round you are playing one of Oklahoma’s most important venues, and that’s the way the club likes it. In fact, one of the groundskeepers informed me of what my scorecard would later: “This is the home of Perry Maxwell.” There are tributes etched in stone throughout the layout, none bigger than the plaque off the seventh tee dedicated to the club’s patriarch. To add to the legend, Maxwell is buried on a hill just north of the fairway, a short dogleg left protected by a bunker on the left and a pond behind and to the right. Other great holes include: the par three fourth, an uphill lengthy par three with two distinct tiers; the extremely downhill par three 17th, which sports a spectacular panoramic view of the property; and in a class of its own, in terms of both originality and difficulty, is the par five 16th, named the “cliff hole”, aptly because of the giant 30-odd foot ridge you must hit your approach to the green over. There’s a lot of subtle movement around the bentgrass greens. High-risk, high-reward holes line the scorecard. After the glorious Southern Hills, Dornick was the second Maxwell design I’ve ever played, and I must admit I’m a full-blown believer in his work. Tom Doak came in and restored the course, recalling the early days of Dornick. Trees were removed and old aerial photographs honored. Maybe their old gem in Ardmore will soon grace national lists rather than just Oklahoma ones.