GRAPEVINE — Blake Walker’s long-held vision to reimagine Cowboys Golf Club immediately comes into focus on the approaching drive to the property.
On the right, a driving range unlike any other, with golfers striking balls toward 60 yards of game-used AT&T Stadium turf and a regulation field goal post.
Walker is the chairman, CEO and founder of Dallas-based Arcis Golf, whose multimillion-dollar transformation of Cowboys Golf Club over the past 10 months touches every aspect of the club. Arcis, which purchased the club in 2014, last week gave The Dallas Morning News an exclusive tour of the renovated property — the only NFL-themed club in the world.
“It’s a little bit surreal to see it completed, when five years ago it was really just an idea that I would talk about,” said Walker, whose Arcis is the second-largest owner and operator of golf clubs in the United States with an 88-course portfolio. “I think people thought, ‘We’ll believe it when we see it.’”
Business Briefing
Arcis said its investment — characterized to The News as “well into eight figures” — is a realization of Walker’s vision to make the sport more accessible to a broader swath of consumers, appealing to the seasoned golfer as well as entertainment-focused families.
The property, nestled in Grapevine’s rolling hills, has reopened in phases since October.
Related
“Golf is getting decidedly more diverse and younger,” Walker said, “so really it’s about making the game more approachable for everyone. So gamification like we’re doing at Cowboys Golf Club, and putting courses like we’re doing at [the club], are really the entry point into golf.”
A multimillion dollar expansion
The Cowboys Golf Club wholesale redesign is significant, because it comes as recreational golf is experiencing a participation boom following the COVID-19 pandemic.
Last year, a record 48.1 million people participated in golf either on courses or at driving ranges and entertainment venues like Topgolf, Sports Business Journal reported. Arcis’ strategy reflects a broader industrywide push to capitalize on this rising golf tide by attracting more families and demographics typically underrepresented in golf.
The transformation of the property, which opened in 2001, is also notable because it highlights another way in which the Cowboys, the world’s most-valuable sports franchise with a $13 billion valuation, monetize their brand away from the football field.
Calling the Cowboys “arguably the best brand in sports,” Walker praised Arcis’ relationship with the Cowboys’ executives “from the [Jerry] Jones family on down.”
The strategy with Cowboys Golf Club also reflects Arcis’ nationwide priority with clubs, incorporating everything from gaming elements to social clubhouse-style gathering places and short courses. That focus is complemented with enhanced food and beverage offerings and music.
Across its properties, Arcis Golf has invested more than $175 million over the past four years on property upgrades, new amenities, personnel and training.
The Huddle, an 18-hole Cowboys-themed putting course, features an acre of Cowboys-blue turf.
Elías Valverde II / Staff Photographer
Cowboys Golf Club includes a redesigned course and the Cowboys-themed, tech-infused driving range with AT&T Stadium turf from when the stadium opened in 2009. It’s 175 yards to the goal post, and when the ball hits the post, the sound is distinct — and loud.
The 60 yards of turf is a can’t-miss attraction — an airline pilot even told Arcis executives he saw the range from the sky and figured it was a regulation-size football field.
The renovation also includes a reimagined short-game area and 18-hole putting course, The Huddle, which features an acre of Cowboys-blue turf.
The day The News visited, Arcis executives said quarterback Dak Prescott had played the course that morning. Cowboys players have designated parking spots at the property — and the influence of America’s Team is everywhere.
The Ring of Honor Kitchen and Bar has a 23-foot smoker and wood-fired grill. Guests can dine on the Five Points Patio, overlooking the new event lawn, putting course and practice areas.
Elías Valverde II / Staff Photographer
Property adds entertainment, gamification
Walk into the club and immediately encounter touchstones from Cowboys lore: A Tom Landry fedora; a Texas-sized picture of the triplets, Troy Aikman, Michael Irvin and Emmitt Smith; and replica Super Bowl trophies. (Executives stress there’s room for another.) There’s also a ring of honor celebrating franchise luminaries near the bar.
Green fees — between $250 and $300 all-inclusive — include food and non-alcoholic beverages before, during and after golf, which executives believe is one of the club’s differentiators.
There’s The Huddle’s Airstream trailer, serving frozen margaritas, local beers, and barbacoa tacos and sausages. The Ring of Honor Kitchen and Bar features a Texas fusion menu. There’s a 23-foot smoker and wood-fired grill. Guests can dine on the Five Points Patio, overlooking the new event lawn, putting course and practice areas.
“When you walk out of the dining room, overlook the driving range and see the Cowboys’ field and you think about, at a corporate event, you can actually eat on the field as well,” Walker said.
“And when you see the putting course that is, again, it’s blue turf, it is themed throughout. The experience is just very unique from an entertainment standpoint. It’s unlike anything I’ve seen.”
An outdoor events area features a Cowboys end zone.
Elías Valverde II / Staff Photographer
The driving range features 14 Toptracer stations, which executives said combine data, competition and entertainment. The short-game practice area was also revamped, including the addition of bunkers and expanded chipping areas.
Arcis commissioned renowned course architect Beau Welling to redesign the layout, with the company’s in-house design and construction team overseeing implementation. They also worked with Graham Construction & Engineering.
Opening the doors to more guests has been a priority, Walker said, because golf has been “somewhat insular” over time. The goal was to achieve that while also enhancing the course for longtime golfers.
“When one thinks about an NFL-themed course, and Super Bowl trophies and rings and synthetic putting courses, in the past it would have diluted credibility in terms of the championship quality of the course,” Walker said.
“They wanted to enlist a designer to put some teeth back into the course and create a championship course but also add the entertainment and gamification piece that leaned heavily on the Dallas Cowboys.”
Jeff Levine, senior vice president of operations for Arcis Golf, was on site during the renovation. He said it was like watching an orchestra perform a large-scale operation over just a few months.
“There were vehicles going in all directions, and it almost looked like a highway, because you had material going in, material going out,” Levine said. “There was a point where there were 86 people on property working on the golf course; it was just nonstop.”
Ivan Gutierrez of Flower Mound hits from the 1st tee at Cowboys Golf Club. Green fees — between $250 and $300 all-inclusive — include food and non-alcoholic beverages before, during and after golf.
Elías Valverde II / Staff Photographer
Cowboys’ star highlights third hole
The golf course itself reveals a complete renovation of the greens, along with revamped bunkers and tees.
They changed the flow and routing of several holes. They addressed greens where the slope was especially severe, as well as pin placements. They brought some bunkers to the original shape, eliminated others and added some. They also added contour to fairways, and squared off tees for a more traditional look akin to what they consider a championship course.
The marquee hole may be par-3 No. 3. Bunkers were relocated to the front of the green, allowing the hillside backdrop to show the Cowboys’ star logo.
On the par-3 No. 3 hole, bunkers were relocated to allow for a view of the Cowboys star logo.
Elías Valverde II / Staff Photographer
No. 4 offers a scenic view with the highest elevation on the course.
“There’s some courses that I’ve played that are so difficult you walk away and say, ‘I never want to see that again,’” Levine said. “This is the kind of golf course where you play it and if you play it well, you’re excited, but then if you miss a shot, you’re like, ‘Man, I want to try that again.’”
After the course closed for renovations in June, the tee boxes, greens, bunkers, and cart paths were rebuilt or reshaped. Welling refined design elements in the field, while seven Arcis crews simultaneously executed the transformation. All 18 greens were expanded with contours.
Cowboys Golf Club is the first in the nation to feature Tif3D Bermuda — a hybrid Bermuda grass designed for putting green playability — on all 20 greens [18 holes plus the practice facility].
“The most important piece of this whole element is to come back with greens that exceed expectations,” Levine said.
Five sets of tees were rebuilt with a classic square design, while every greenside bunker complex was repositioned to better frame the greens.
There is little residential development around the golf course. And Arcis has partnerships with area hotels for reciprocal recruiting.
No. 4 has highest elevation on the course and offers a scenic view of the area.
Elías Valverde II / Staff Photographer
Arcis opted to forgo in-season revenue
Before founding Arcis Golf in 2013, Walker served as chief investment officer and chief executive officer of several global private equity-backed leisure firms. With Arcis, Walker said it has been committed to incorporate amenities and “lifestyle experiences.” He said that is reflected in its mix of private clubs and resorts to its public and municipal courses, which are often situated in inner-city communities.
Arcis — which last year had a valuation of $2 billion, according to Bloomberg — has acquired 18 clubs since August 2021, including Atlanta-area clubs Country Club of the South, The Manor Golf & Country Club and White Columns Country Club; The Woodlands Country Club in the Houston area; and Champions Retreat Golf Club near Augusta, Ga., among others.
Cowboys-blue turf was used throughout The Huddle, an 18-hole putting course.
Elías Valverde II / Staff Photographer
Arcis owns eight clubs in D-FW: Bear Creek Golf Club, Lantana Golf Club, The Golf Club at Fossil Creek, The Club at Frisco Farms, Gentle Creek Country Club, Lake Park Golf Club, Mansfield National Golf Club, and The Golf Club at Twin Creeks.
With Cowboys Golf Club, Walker said they decided to renovate last June and forgo in-season revenue because they wanted to complete the redesign properly and all at once. The course opened in October, the driving range recently opened and the putting course is being finished.
“We hope consumers see that as a commitment, given the millions of dollars we’ve expended in the middle of the season and shutting down the golf course because we want it to be special,” Walker said. “We want it to be very experiential. It’s not merely just a golf experience.”
The Ring of Honor Kitchen and Bar features a Texas fusion menu.
Elías Valverde II / Staff Photographer
How premium seating company 4Topps is reshaping the fan experience for Texas teams
TCU, Texas Tech, Texas and Houston Astros are among clients of 4Topps, whose business is ‘growing like crazy’ in the Lone Star State.
World Cup officials discuss impact of Iran war, Mexico cartel violence in Dallas visit
The comments came during a media tour of the International Broadcast Center in Dallas’ Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center.