Firewheel Golf Park - Old Course

The Old Course at Firewheel Golf Park in Garland, Texas, opened in 1983 as the original layout in what would become the city's expansive 63-hole municipal complex. Designed by Dick Phelps, a Colorado-based architect who graduated from Iowa State University with degrees in landscape architecture and went on to contribute to over 400 projects across 15 states and Canada, often focusing on user-friendly public courses that avoid blind shots and excessive hazards. Phelps, an ASGCA Fellow and Colorado Golf Hall of Fame inductee, also designed the subsequent Lakes Course at Firewheel in 1987 and other DFW-area tracks like Iron Horse Golf Course. The site was selected in 1981 by Garland city planners amid fields of native firewheel wildflowers on overgrown farmland to spur north Garland development, which it successfully catalyzed alongside housing and commercial growth.

No previous names for the course are documented. It has hosted qualifiers for the PGA Tour, U.S. Open, U.S. Amateur, and Byron Nelson, drawing elite golfers repeatedly, and earned top rankings in Avid Golfer magazine and No. 1 from the Dallas Morning News. The course is undergoing major renovations approved in the city's 2025 Capital Improvement Program, including full irrigation replacement started in 2024 and reconstruction of all 18 greens to USGA standards, with completion targeted for Q3 2025 and reopening in early Q4; no specific renovation architect is credited publicly.