Gaillardia

Named after the French magistrate and botanist, Maître Gaillard de Charentonneau, Gaillardia is a plant from the sunflower family. The Gaylord family, who owned the farmland on which Arthur Hills laid out the golf course at Gaillardia Country Club in 1998, were direct descendants of the enthusiastic 18th century botanist after which the flower and the club is named. New owners asked Tom Kite to revamp the layout in 2004.

“Located on the northern outskirts of town,” wrote Daniel Wexler in The American Private Golf Club Guide, “Gaillardia began life as an Arthur Hills design which hosted, among other things, multiple season-ending events on the Champions Tour. But in 2004, Tom Kite & Co. renovated things substantially, retaining Hills’ routing but adding all manner of sand and water, resulting in a bigger, brawnier layout which plays somewhat less difficult than it might appear... Hills made a point of building some leeway into many shots in allowance of the frequent Oklahoma breezes; Kite's modernized version may not be quite so flexible.”

In September 2000, Fred Couples and Phil Mickelson, went head-to-head in a Shell’s Wonderful World of Golf match at Gaillardia Golf & Country Club, which Mickelson won.