The Early Trinity Forest GC Reviews From The Pros Are Fairly Positive

There’s been no shortage of hand-wringing about what the Tour pros will think about the AT&T Byron Nelson Championship’s new Trinity Forest GC venue. Its the only links-style course on the Tour schedule which will probably either delight or enrage the golfers depending on how they play–and if the wind blows over 20mph.

But as the Dallas Morning News’ Brad Townsend reports, the initial reviews are mostly trending upward.

“I enjoyed it a lot,” said Jonathan Byrd, a five-time Tour winner who only played Trinity Forest’s back nine. “There’s room off the tee. It’s the most links-kind-of-British-Open feel that I’ve played in the States, I think.”

“It was great,” said five-time PGA Tour winner Pettersson, 40. “Different. More like a British Open-style golf course. We didn’t know what to expect, but I’m pleasantly surprised.”

Herron, whose four PGA Tour victories include the 2006 Bank of America Colonial, couldn’t help but notice that the Nelson field lacks depth.

Only six of the world’s top 50 players committed to the tournament, a reason that non-fully exempt players like Herron and Pettersson, playing out of the Past Champion exemption category, got into the field.

“I think some other guys probably want feedback before they come,” Herron, 48, said. “And I think they’re going to get good feedback.

“We didn’t hear a lot about it beforehand. No one said any raving reviews or anything. But every person I talked to today said they liked it, that it was kind of cool and they liked checking it out.”

Herron and Pettersson, however, know that however the week plays out, they have found one aspect they love about Trinity Forest.

“It’s a nice walk,” Herron said. “Now, with the new builds [courses], it’s like, ‘House, house, condo, condo, hospital.'”

“Here,”  Pettersson chimed in, “it’s green and the next tee was right there. Kinda cool.”

One side note from noted course architect The Fried Eggs’ twitter account is that the Tour demanded course official douse the course with water due to the high heat expected this week.

Early reports from Dallas is that the @PGATOUR has doused Trinity Forest with water to slow down conditions. Fear of player complaints driving the decision. pic.twitter.com/av1Aa8nO83

— the fried egg (@the_fried_egg) May 14, 2018

Craig Rosengarden and I will check out the course and facilities this morning, maybe talk to some more players and report on our findings.