Lake Arlington Golf Course

Lake Arlington Golf Course opened in 1963, designed by Ralph Plummer, a prolific Texas architect born near Fort Worth in 1900. Plummer started as a caddie at Glen Garden Country Club, the early home of Ben Hogan and Byron Nelson, and apprenticed under John Bredemus, contributing to Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth. Over his career, he designed or remodeled around 100 courses, primarily in Texas, including DFW-area standouts like Preston Trail Golf Club, Great Southwest Golf Club in Grand Prairie/Arlington, Ridglea Country Club South, and Shady Oaks Country Club. Several of his works hosted U.S. Opens, such as Colonial in 1941 and Dallas Athletic Club. The course occupies 185 acres in Arlington's municipal golf system alongside Meadowbrook Park and Tierra Verde, on a site rich in history: archaeological finds date to 9,000 years ago, with Caddo, Cherokee, and Tonkawa communities along Village Creek in the 1830s. Plummer shaped a floodplain into a par-71 layout that flows with the natural terrain, emphasizing wind, elevation, and streams over bunkers. It sustained major damage in the 1989 flood that overwhelmed a spillway near hole 12, dumping eight feet of silt on hole 8; post-flood renovations overhauled hole 2's green and re-engineered ponds and drainage. A comprehensive redesign followed in summer 2008, completed in 2009, reconstructing all greens with berms, swales, and improved surfaces, while fairways shifted to better Bermudagrass. No prior names or professional tournaments like PGA or USGA events are documented, though it hosts local junior championships and city charity outings.