Willow Brook Country Club in Tyler is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year, and the best amateur golfers from around the state will be in on the festivities.
As a highlight of the yearlong centennial commemoration, and to salute its tournament heritage, Willow Brook will play host to the 113th Texas Amateur. The championship, conducted by the Texas Golf Association since 1906, will be held June 16-19.
“Willow Brook has a long history of hosting prominent state championships, and we are very excited to have the opportunity to host the 113th Texas Amateur during our 100th Anniversary,” said Chris Hudson, Willow Brook’s Director of Golf. “Willow Brook has always been a huge supporter of the TGA, and the membership and staff are very much looking forward to providing the players with a truly memorable experience.”
This will be the second Texas Amateur and ninth overall TGA championship to be contested at the renowned East Texas club.
The last time the Texas Amateur was played at Willow Brook Country Club was the summer of 1964, just a few months after the Beatles made their American network TV debut on The Ed Sullivan Show. Marty Fleckman of Port Arthur, one of the best amateurs in the country, won the title that year with a 2-and-1 victory in the final match against Richard Yates. It was also the last Texas Amateur conducted as a match-play championship before switching to a stroke-play format.
In the years that followed, Willow Brook was the site of the 1967 Women’s Texas Amateur, 1993 Texas Senior Amateur, 1996 Women’s Texas Amateur, 2003 Texas Senior Amateur, and 2013 Texas Senior Amateur.
More recently, the club hosted the 2019 Texas Shootout and 2020 Texas Mid-Amateur Match Play, won by Aaron Hickman. It was an especially satisfying victory for Hickman, a longtime Tyler resident and member of Willow Brook who also serves on the TGA Board of Directors.
Additionally, from 1990-99, Willow Brook was the home of the Eisenhower International Golf Classic, a partnership between the University of Texas at Tyler and Sister Cities International. The annual fundraising event would attract some of the biggest stars on the PGA Tour, as well as an eclectic mix of celebrities and dignitaries from around the world.
“We are thrilled to bring another Texas Amateur to this historic club that has been such a wonderful partner through the years,” said Chris Untiedt, TGA Senior Tournament Director. “Many great players have won at Willow Brook, and we look forward to adding the 113th Texas Amateur champion to that illustrious list.”
Founded in 1922, Willow Brook Country Club began as a nine-hole course. The club expanded to 18 holes following World War II and was designed by Texas Golf Hall of Fame architect Ralph Plummer. The course went through several modifications over its history, most notably in 1978 by Joe Finger, also a Texas Golf Hall of Famer, and in 2002 by PGA Tour veteran Mark Hayes.
In the mid-2010s, with the milestone 100th anniversary on the horizon, the club hired Tripp Davis & Associates, a respected golf architectural company based in Norman, Okla., to prepare an overall master plan that would take the course into the next century.
Completed in 2018, the extensive modernization and improvement project included the rerouting of several holes, rebuilding and reshaping greens and rebuilding and shifting tee boxes and bunkers to enhance and fortify the strategic design elements. To improve playing conditions, all greens were resurfaced with TifEagle Bermuda and fairways with Latitude 36 Bermuda. Davis and his team also renovated the practice area and added a four-hole short course near the clubhouse.
“Willow Brook was very fortunate to have Tripp Davis redesign the golf course beginning in 2014 with a long-range plan,” Hudson said. “Tripp’s goal was to make the course more challenging, requiring the player to use a strategic approach to playing the golf course. I think he accomplished what he set out to do and made it a fantastic course.”
Davis’ acclaimed efforts heightened the old school nature of the golf course. Though not overly long by today’s standards, the 6,782-yard, par-71 layout places a premium on hitting the narrow fairways, pinpoint accuracy on approach shots to the small, well-guarded greens and thoughtful course management.
“Willow Brook is a timeless classic and we are confident the newly renovated course will rigorously test every facet of a player’s game and identify a worthy champion,” Untiedt said.
The TGA accepted 982 entries for the 113th Texas Amateur at Willow Brook Country Club, just three shy of the record total of 985 set for last year’s championship at Midland Country Club. A total of 44 players were officially awarded exemptions to the championship. To determine the remaining 100 spots in the 144-player starting field, 18-hole qualifiers were held at 14 sites across the state from April 2-June 6.
The list of exempt players is headed by University of Houston senior Austyn Reily of Pottsboro, who won the 112th Texas Amateur at Midland Country Club. Reily carded rounds of 70-71-67-70 to finish at 10-under-par 278 and earned a one-stroke victory over runner-up Jake Doggett of Hutto. He will look to defend his title and become the first player to win back-to-back championships in nearly 20 years.
The format for the walking-only championship is 72 holes of individual stroke play. All contestants play 18 holes on both June 16-17. After 36 holes the field will be cut to the low 54 scores and ties heading into the final two rounds on Saturday and Sunday.
When it comes to legendary courses in Texas, Willow Brook is right up there at the top of the list where much of the state’s significant golf history has been written. It may have taken 58 years for the Texas Amateur to return to the Piney Woods of East Texas, but it was more than worth the wait to be on hand for Willow Brook’s centennial and to help celebrate the past while showcasing the present.
For more on the 113th Texas Amateur Championship, click here.
