This Dallas Cowboys themed practice list is weird in the best way
You don’t have to spend a lot of time checking out Dallas Cowboys Golf Club, the top daily income in Grapevine, Texas, to know you’re at Dallas Cowboys Golf Club. Five Super Bowl trophies on display in the clubhouse are a glorious gift. So is the fedora in the lobby honoring Cowboys coach Tom Landry; the star sign of the Cowboys logo on the hill behind the third green; and regular Cowboy sightings in the area – on any given day you might see, say, current Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott or former Cowboys defensive end Ed “Too Tall” Jones.
But perhaps the most impressive nod those ‘boys a wide area of game-used artificial turf from the Cowboys’ home field – AT&T Stadium – has been sewn into the practice range. Visit the only NFL-themed golf course and you won’t miss it: a 60-yard fairway (complete with yard lines, end zone and field goal area) found on the very spot where America’s Team hits the pads on Sundays. The updated range, which opened three weeks ago, is part of a major renovation of the property by its owners, Arcis Golf, which includes the Beau Welling renovation of the golf course; the club also added an 18-hole putting course called the Huddle, which sits next to the range.
courtesy Dallas Cowboys GC
The idea for fielding came by way of a meeting Arcis reps had with the Cowboys during the rebuild. When the team’s owners heard that the team had old grass clippings sitting in the stadium, their ears stopped. “The conversation turned to, ‘Hey, we have a great place for it,'” Jeff Levine, senior vice president at Arcis, told me earlier this week. “So it was with our cooperation that we were able to buy the field and put it on the list.”
The gridiron isn’t just eye candy; it sports a lot, its front is more than 100 meters from the ports. The post, located 175 yards from the back of the range, is also an available target. That became clear to Levine when he started hearing golf balls hit the ground. “The first time I heard it, I thought that was interesting. I’m not sure I’ll hear that again. Then the next week I heard it again. It doesn’t sound like the ball hitting the post. It actually sounds a little bit.”
The Cowboys are getting the playing surface from an Austin-based company called Matrix Turf. According to the company’s website, AT&T Stadium was upgraded with two different sized strips in two different shades of green, giving the strips “the look and feel of a natural grass field.” You can’t mistake the surface of the fairway at Augusta National, but it’s a rich shade of emerald.
The course is the main indicator of the distance, but golfers can also focus on the fairways and greens that line both sides. In front of the fairway on the right side of the course are 14 Toptracer bays equipped with shot tracking and gamification, while the opposite side offers grass tees. The team chose to use only 60 yards of field instead of the full 100 because the shorter field was more appealing to the clubhouse. “That setting and the frame of it really made it stand out,” Levine said.
Traditionalists may turn their noses up at a practice area with side marks and hash marks, but Levine noted early customer reviews as “very positive.” He added: “People are blown away. We have people who stop at the end of the access road and take a picture and go back to it. I see that at least four or five times a day.”
Cowboys owner Jerry Jones has yet to visit (“He will,” Levine said). But several of his current and former players have, including tight end Jake Ferguson and quarterback Will Grier — before he was released last week. “We want the club to be an addition to the team,” said Levine. “That’s really important to us.”
Green fees, in the $275-$300 range, include unlimited use of the range and putting green but golfers who only want to feel the balls hit the uprights can do so for prices starting at $25, a price that can be summed up in just two words: Good.
