Among North Texas’ most significant 2025 golf attainments, this one doesn’t compare to yet another year of Scottie Scheffler global dominance, but it’s nonetheless notable.
On Friday, McKinney’s TPC Craig Ranch, the CJ Cup Byron Nelson’s host course since 2021, will re-open for member play.
That’s great for members and their guests, but it also signals that World Golf Hall of Famer Lanny Wadkins and his golf course design firm met their ambitious timetable for completing TPC Craig Ranch’s $22.5 million makeover.
From a pro golf perspective, having the course open, with five months of grow-out before next May’s Nelson, is the a la mode to having Scheffler as reigning champion and the announcement in June that TPC Craig Ranch will continue to host the tournament through 2030.
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“I think the members literally feel like they’re getting a brand new golf course,” Wadkins told The Dallas Morning News on Thursday.
“We’ve done some really cool stuff. Having a signature hole, I don’t do a course thinking about that, but there’s a lot of cool things you won’t find anywhere else in the Dallas area.”
The upgrades represent the largest capital improvements to a single course in Irving-based Invited Clubs’ seven-decade history. Invited owns and operates more than 150 golf and country clubs.
The project’s Phase I, completed in late 2024, mostly involved adding state of the art irrigation and drainage improvements. Phase II began just three days after Scheffler’s May 4 victory, in which he tied a PGA Tour record by shooting 31 under.
Scottie Scheffler dons the traditional champion’s Stetson after winning the CJ Cup Byron Nelson golf tournament on Sunday, May 4, 2025, in McKinney.
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Don’t worry. Wadkins and his team didn’t Scottie-proof the course. Then again, while winning six times last season, including the PGA Championship and British Open, Scheffler again proved he can win on all manner of courses.
Wadkins said the new TPC has significantly more teeth from tee to green that could result, if the region’s predominant 15 mph winds blow out of the south, in a winning score in the 12- to 15-under range.
Among the highlights:
Rebuilt greens with 777 Bentgrass for “elite-level speed and smoothness;” Stadium Zoysia on the fairways, greenside collars and approaches; TifTuf Bermuda on roughs and tees for “year-round durability and lush appearance.”There are new tee boxes on holes 5, 9, 10, 11 and 14. The par-4 12th has been transformed to a par 5; and the par-5 18th has been converted to a long par 4.All bunkers have been entirely redesigned and constructed; some bunkers have been added and others removed.
“The greens have come in absolutely spectacularly,” said Wadkins, adding that they’re already running at a 10.5 speed on the Stimpmeter. “They’ve got a lot of interest in them, too. They’re not your dull, flat things. They’ve got some serious moxie to them.
“Our bunkers have more roll in-lips and a lot more character. They’re deeper in places, especially in the fairways.”
At 223 acres, TPC Craig Ranch has a much larger footprint than most courses, which makes it favorable to host large galleries and hospitality areas and have convenient routing – but in some areas seems intimidating in scale.
The Wadkins Design Group added four large waste areas with native grasses.
“Once they [the grasses] mature, it’s going to make it a little bit more intimate,” Wadkins said. “It’ll define the holes even more so than they already are.
TPC Craig Ranch’s $22.5 million makeover is complete. Among the improvements: greens have been fully reshaped and reconstructed, creating expanded pin placement options and superior putting surfaces; bunkers have been completely redesigned and in some cases removed; and five new tee boxes have been created.
TPC Craig Ranch
The resodding and seeding were completed in mid-September, a mere three months after the greens and fairways were bulldozed. An ambitious timeline, indeed, but fortunately the Wadkins Design Group has constructed more than 40 courses globally.
That includes Black Jack’s Crossing in Lajitas, rated by The News as Texas’ No. 1 Course You Can Play.
“I’ve got great partners,” said Wadkins, alluding to Kurt Bowman and Marcus Reams. Bowman was with the Jack Nicklaus design group for more than 15 years. Texas Tech product and Round Rock resident Reams has helped build about three dozen courses globally.
“Kurt is really talented, an artist, if you will,” Wadkins said. “It makes us a good team because I see the golf stuff and he sees the artist stuff. It ends up being a nice combination.
“And I would say Marcus was our MVP on this project, no question.”
Opinions no doubt will be expressed by members, most of whom have toured the layout in recent weeks, and of course by PGA Tour players next May.
“We’ve got bunkers for Tour players that don’t start till 315 [yards] off the tee, stuff like that, because that’s where they hit it these days,” Wadkins said. “That’s just being realistic.
“And for the members, my suggestion is to play it shorter than you think you should play it, particularly given the time of year, as cold balls aren’t going to go as far.”
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