Hot Springs Country Club (Arlington)

Formed in 1898, Hot Springs Country Club offers its members two well-established 18-hole golf layouts. The Park (formerly known as the Majestic) was first to appear in 1920 and it’s a solid Willie Park Jnr course which is not short of admirers.

The Arlington debuted a decade later, designed by William Diddel, and it’s laid out on more undulating terrain to the north of the property. Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw extensively renovated the course in the mid-1990s.

Don’t expect an easy start on the Arlington as it begins with a left doglegged par four rated stroke index 1 on the scorecard. The 175-yard 8th is another tough hole on the front nine, played to a putting surface that’s threatened by water to the front and right of the green.

Back-to-back par fives feature around the turn at the 9th and 10th, and these holes precede an inward half that includes well-bunkered par threes at the 180-yard 11th and 149-yard 17th, before the round ends with an eminently birdieable par five finishing hole at the 520-yard 18th.

Dave Axland, design associate at Coore & Crensahw provided this exclusive quote:

I managed the Hot Springs Arlington project when we carried out what might be described as a sympathetic restoration. We used old drawings to restore certain features and bring greens back to their original size and location. Yet we were not locked into that: on occasion we would add and refine to modern standards, especially as a) distances achieved with high tech clubs mandated some shifting of tees and bunkers and b) faster green speeds meant softening some greens slopes.