Oak Tree Golf Club
Encyclopedia
Oak Tree National, formerly called Oak Tree Golf Club, is a golf and country club
located in the Oklahoma City
suburb of Edmond
, Oklahoma
. The course was designed by Pete Dye
, and it opened in 1976. It plays to a par 71.
In its 2006 listing of the best golf courses by state, Golf Digest
ranked Oak Tree National third in the state of Oklahoma. The course was redesigned by Pete Dye in 2002. The course measures 7,412 yards from the tournament tees and 6,873 yards from the championship tees. However, for the 2006 Senior PGA Championship
, the course played to 7,102 yards. Oak Tree has Bent grass
for the greens, and Bermuda grass
for the fairways. Water comes into play on 13 of the 18 holes. The course and slope rating is 79.3/155 from the tournament tees and 73.2/138 from the championship tees.
Each hole has its own name, and some holes are named after famous courses or golf holes. The signature hole is the fifth hole (named Oak Tree), a 592 yard par
five where players must avoid the oak tree that is used in the club's logo. Other notable holes include the eighth hole (named Harbor Town after Dye's Harbour Town Golf Links
), par three with water down the entire left side. The tenth hole (named after the Prairie Dunes Country Club
) is a long, tight par four. The 13th hole is named due to its size, after a postage stamp. Golfers liken landing a ball on the green to landing a ball on a space the size of a postage stamp.
Oak Tree is the home course of seven PGA Tour
or Champions Tour
players: David Edwards
, Mark Hayes
, Gil Morgan
, Doug Tewell, Bob Tway
, Scott Verplank
, and Willie Wood
.
Bolded years are major championships on the PGA Tour
.
Oak Tree has hosted a major championship
and a senior major championship
in addition to numerous other Professional Golfers' Association of America
championships and one United States Golf Association
-sanctioned championship.
The first notable tournament to be held at Oak Tree was the 1984 U.S. Amateur which was won by Scott Verplank
. In 1988, the PGA Championship
came to Oak Tree. Jeff Sluman
won with a score of twelve under par 272, clinched with a final round 65. In 2000, the PGA Club Professional Championship was held at Oak Tree; Tim Thelen won it in a playoff. Most recently, in 2006
, the Senior PGA Championship
was held at Oak Tree. Over the four days, gusty winds kept scores barely under par. Jay Haas
defeated Brad Bryant
in a playoff with a final score of 279, five under par.
Oak Tree will host the 2014 U.S. Senior Open.
hang off of a tree to the left of the green on the par five sixteenth hole. A columnist from The Oklahoman
criticized it as a possible symbol of racism in an October 2004 column. It was removed soon after, well before the 2006 Senior PGA Championship. It was originally placed there by a golfer who had struggled on the hole.
Oak Tree was also to have hosted the 1994 PGA Championship. However, it was moved to Southern Hills Country Club
in Tulsa
originally because of the club's filing Chapter 11 Bankruptcy
in 1990. Later on, it was publicized that Oak Tree had few or no minority or women members in its membership. This further caused the PGA of America to move the tournament to Southern Hills.
Now, many well-known PGA Touring professionals, club pros, college and high school golfers, as well as competitive amateurs, come from all over the country to take advantage of Stoner's comprehensive and innovative programs. Under his direction, the Fitness Center has become the #1 golf fitness and injury rehab center in this part of the country.
Country club
A country club is a private club, often with a closed membership, that typically offers a variety of recreational sports facilities and is located in city outskirts or rural areas. Activities may include, for example, any of golf, tennis, swimming or polo...
located in the Oklahoma City
Oklahoma city
Oklahoma City is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma.Oklahoma City may also refer to:*Oklahoma City metropolitan area*Downtown Oklahoma City*Uptown Oklahoma City*Oklahoma City bombing*Oklahoma City National Memorial...
suburb of Edmond
Edmond, Oklahoma
Edmond is a city in Oklahoma County, Oklahoma, United States, and a part of the Oklahoma City metropolitan area in the central part of the state. As of the 2010 census, the population was 81,405, making it the sixth largest city in the state of Oklahoma....
, Oklahoma
Oklahoma
Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...
. The course was designed by Pete Dye
Pete Dye
Paul B. "Pete" Dye is a world-renowned golf course designer and a member of a famous family of course designers. He is married to fellow designer and former amateur champion Alice Dye.-Early life:Pete Dye was born in Urbana, Ohio...
, and it opened in 1976. It plays to a par 71.
The course
Like other courses in Oklahoma, Oak Tree is a very windy course and can often have winds of at least 30 miles per hour (48 km/h). It also is located on hilly terrain, and uneven lies are common from the fairway or rough. The greens are difficult to hit well, and are undulating enough to make any par tough.In its 2006 listing of the best golf courses by state, Golf Digest
Golf Digest
Golf Digest is a monthly golf magazine published by Condé Nast Publications in the United States. It is a generalist golf publication covering recreational golf and men's and women's competitive golf. Condé Nast Publications also publishes the more specialized , and Golf World Business. The...
ranked Oak Tree National third in the state of Oklahoma. The course was redesigned by Pete Dye in 2002. The course measures 7,412 yards from the tournament tees and 6,873 yards from the championship tees. However, for the 2006 Senior PGA Championship
Senior PGA Championship
The Senior PGA Championship is one of the five major championships in men's senior golf. It is administered by the Professional Golfers' Association of America and is recognized as a major championship by both the Champions Tour and the European Seniors Tour. It was formerly an unofficial money...
, the course played to 7,102 yards. Oak Tree has Bent grass
Agrostis
Agrostis is a genus of over 100 species belonging to the grass family Poaceae, commonly referred to as the bent grasses...
for the greens, and Bermuda grass
Cynodon
Cynodon is a genus of nine species of grasses, native to warm temperate to tropical regions of the Old World. The genus as a whole as well as its species are commonly known as Bermuda Grass or Dog's Tooth Grass.-Species:...
for the fairways. Water comes into play on 13 of the 18 holes. The course and slope rating is 79.3/155 from the tournament tees and 73.2/138 from the championship tees.
Each hole has its own name, and some holes are named after famous courses or golf holes. The signature hole is the fifth hole (named Oak Tree), a 592 yard par
Par (score)
The word "par" is a term in the game of golf used to denote the pre-determined number of strokes that a scratch golfer should require to complete a hole, a round , or a tournament...
five where players must avoid the oak tree that is used in the club's logo. Other notable holes include the eighth hole (named Harbor Town after Dye's Harbour Town Golf Links
Harbour Town Golf Links
The Harbour Town Golf Links is a golf course that hosts The Heritage golf tournament on the PGA Tour, usually held in April. The course is located in the Sea Pines Plantation of Hilton Head Island, in Beaufort County of South Carolina. Golf Magazine has rated the course #1 in the state of South...
), par three with water down the entire left side. The tenth hole (named after the Prairie Dunes Country Club
Prairie Dunes Country Club
Prairie Dunes Country Club is a golf course located just outside Hutchinson, Kansas. It is frequently ranked among the best golf courses in the United States, and has hosted several United States Golf Association national championship tournaments....
) is a long, tight par four. The 13th hole is named due to its size, after a postage stamp. Golfers liken landing a ball on the green to landing a ball on a space the size of a postage stamp.
Oak Tree is the home course of seven PGA Tour
PGA Tour
The PGA Tour is the organizer of the main men's professional golf tours in the United States and North America...
or Champions Tour
Champions Tour
The Champions Tour, a golf tour run by the PGA Tour, hosts a series of events annually in the United States and the United Kingdom for golfers 50 years of age and older. Many of the PGA Tour's most successful golfers have gone on to play on the Champions Tour.The Senior PGA Championship, founded in...
players: David Edwards
David Edwards (golfer)
David Wayne Edwards is an American professional golfer who played on the PGA Tour from 1979–2005 and now plays on the Champions Tour. He is the younger brother of former PGA Tour professional, Danny Edwards....
, Mark Hayes
Mark Hayes (golfer)
Mark S. Hayes is an American professional golfer.-Early years and amateur career:Hayes was born in Stillwater, Oklahoma. He played collegiately at Oklahoma State University, where he was a two-time All-American...
, Gil Morgan
Gil Morgan
Gilmer Bryan Morgan II, OD is an American professional golfer.Morgan was born in Wewoka, Oklahoma. He graduated from East Central State College in Ada, Oklahoma in 1968. In 1972, Morgan earned a Doctor of Optometry degree from the Southern College of Optometry in Memphis, Tennessee before turning...
, Doug Tewell, Bob Tway
Bob Tway
Robert Raymond Tway IV is an American professional golfer who has won numerous tournaments including eight PGA Tour victories. He spent 25 weeks in the top 10 of the Official World Golf Rankings in 1986-87....
, Scott Verplank
Scott Verplank
Scott Rachal Verplank is an American professional golfer.Verplank was born and raised in Dallas, Texas. He was a leading member of the W.T. White High School Golf Team and a regular at Brookhaven Country Club in Dallas...
, and Willie Wood
Willie Wood (golfer)
Willie West Wood is an American professional golfer who has played on the PGA Tour, Nationwide Tour, and Champions Tour....
.
Major tournaments hosted
| Year | Tournament | Winner |
|---|---|---|
| 1984 | U.S. Amateur | Scott Verplank Scott Verplank Scott Rachal Verplank is an American professional golfer.Verplank was born and raised in Dallas, Texas. He was a leading member of the W.T. White High School Golf Team and a regular at Brookhaven Country Club in Dallas... |
| 1988 1988 PGA Championship The 1988 PGA Championship was the 70th PGA Championship held from August 11-14 at Oak Tree Golf Club in Edmond, Oklahoma. Jeff Sluman won his first major championship by three strokes over Paul Azinger.-Final leaderboard:-External links:*... |
PGA Championship PGA Championship The PGA Championship is an annual golf tournament conducted by the PGA of America as part of the PGA Tour. It is one of the four major championships in men's professional golf, and is the golf season's final major, usually played in mid-August, customarily four weeks after The Open Championship... |
Jeff Sluman Jeff Sluman Jeffrey George Sluman is an American professional golfer who has won numerous professional golf tournaments including six PGA Tour victories.-Early years:... |
| 2006 | Senior PGA Championship Senior PGA Championship The Senior PGA Championship is one of the five major championships in men's senior golf. It is administered by the Professional Golfers' Association of America and is recognized as a major championship by both the Champions Tour and the European Seniors Tour. It was formerly an unofficial money... |
Jay Haas Jay Haas Jay Dean Haas is an American professional golfer.Haas was born in St. Louis, Missouri, and grew up in Belleville, Illinois. He attended Wake Forest University and was a member of the NCAA Championship team of the middle 1970s with Curtis Strange and Bob Byman that Golf World has called "the... |
| 2012 | Trans Miss | TBD |
| 2014 | U.S. Senior Open | TBD |
Bolded years are major championships on the PGA Tour
PGA Tour
The PGA Tour is the organizer of the main men's professional golf tours in the United States and North America...
.
Oak Tree has hosted a major championship
Men's major golf championships
The men's major golf championships, commonly known as the Major Championships, and often referred to simply as the majors, are the four most prestigious annual tournaments in professional golf...
and a senior major championship
Senior major golf championships
Men's professional senior golf is for players aged 50 and above. Golf differs from all other sports in having lucrative competitions for this age group. The leading senior tour is the U.S. based Champions Tour, which was established in 1980 . It has established a roster of five major championships...
in addition to numerous other Professional Golfers' Association of America
Professional Golfers' Association of America
Founded in 1916, the Professional Golfers' Association of America is headquartered in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, and is made up of more than 28,000 men and women golf professional members...
championships and one United States Golf Association
United States Golf Association
The United States Golf Association is the United States' national association of golf courses, clubs and facilities and the governing body of golf for the U.S. and Mexico. Together with The R&A, the USGA produces and interprets the Rules of Golf. The USGA also provides a national handicap system...
-sanctioned championship.
The first notable tournament to be held at Oak Tree was the 1984 U.S. Amateur which was won by Scott Verplank
Scott Verplank
Scott Rachal Verplank is an American professional golfer.Verplank was born and raised in Dallas, Texas. He was a leading member of the W.T. White High School Golf Team and a regular at Brookhaven Country Club in Dallas...
. In 1988, the PGA Championship
PGA Championship
The PGA Championship is an annual golf tournament conducted by the PGA of America as part of the PGA Tour. It is one of the four major championships in men's professional golf, and is the golf season's final major, usually played in mid-August, customarily four weeks after The Open Championship...
came to Oak Tree. Jeff Sluman
Jeff Sluman
Jeffrey George Sluman is an American professional golfer who has won numerous professional golf tournaments including six PGA Tour victories.-Early years:...
won with a score of twelve under par 272, clinched with a final round 65. In 2000, the PGA Club Professional Championship was held at Oak Tree; Tim Thelen won it in a playoff. Most recently, in 2006
2006 in golf
-Men's professional golf:Major championships*6–9 April: The Masters - Winner: Phil Mickelson The Augusta National course was lengthened to 7,445 yards for the tournament, generating some advance controversy. For the first time since 1954 neither Jack Nicklaus nor Arnold Palmer played...
, the Senior PGA Championship
Senior PGA Championship
The Senior PGA Championship is one of the five major championships in men's senior golf. It is administered by the Professional Golfers' Association of America and is recognized as a major championship by both the Champions Tour and the European Seniors Tour. It was formerly an unofficial money...
was held at Oak Tree. Over the four days, gusty winds kept scores barely under par. Jay Haas
Jay Haas
Jay Dean Haas is an American professional golfer.Haas was born in St. Louis, Missouri, and grew up in Belleville, Illinois. He attended Wake Forest University and was a member of the NCAA Championship team of the middle 1970s with Curtis Strange and Bob Byman that Golf World has called "the...
defeated Brad Bryant
Brad Bryant
Bradley Dub Bryant is an American professional golfer.Bryant was born in Amarillo, Texas, the son of a Southern Baptist pastor. He moved with his family to Alamagordo, New Mexico during his youth...
in a playoff with a final score of 279, five under par.
Oak Tree will host the 2014 U.S. Senior Open.
Controversy
Oak Tree has been criticized for having a nooseNoose
A noose is a loop at the end of a rope in which the knot slides to make the loop collapsible. Knots used for making nooses include the running bowline, the tarbuck knot, and the slip knot.-Use in hanging:...
hang off of a tree to the left of the green on the par five sixteenth hole. A columnist from The Oklahoman
The Oklahoman
The Oklahoman is the largest daily newspaper in Oklahoma and is the only daily newspaper that covers the entire Oklahoma City area.-Ownership:...
criticized it as a possible symbol of racism in an October 2004 column. It was removed soon after, well before the 2006 Senior PGA Championship. It was originally placed there by a golfer who had struggled on the hole.
Oak Tree was also to have hosted the 1994 PGA Championship. However, it was moved to Southern Hills Country Club
Southern Hills Country Club
Southern Hills Country Club is a private golf and country club in Tulsa, Oklahoma in the United States. It was established in 1936 from land donated by multimillionaire oilman Waite Phillips. The construction costs were raised by the founding members....
in Tulsa
Tulsa, Oklahoma
Tulsa is the second-largest city in the state of Oklahoma and 46th-largest city in the United States. With a population of 391,906 as of the 2010 census, it is the principal municipality of the Tulsa Metropolitan Area, a region with 937,478 residents in the MSA and 988,454 in the CSA. Tulsa's...
originally because of the club's filing Chapter 11 Bankruptcy
Chapter 11, Title 11, United States Code
Chapter 11 is a chapter of the United States Bankruptcy Code, which permits reorganization under the bankruptcy laws of the United States. Chapter 11 bankruptcy is available to every business, whether organized as a corporation or sole proprietorship, and to individuals, although it is most...
in 1990. Later on, it was publicized that Oak Tree had few or no minority or women members in its membership. This further caused the PGA of America to move the tournament to Southern Hills.
Fitness Center
The Oak Tree National Fitness Center specializes in fitness programs for golfers. When Robert Stoner established the state-of-the-art center in 1996, the concept of fitness for golfers was still very controversial.Now, many well-known PGA Touring professionals, club pros, college and high school golfers, as well as competitive amateurs, come from all over the country to take advantage of Stoner's comprehensive and innovative programs. Under his direction, the Fitness Center has become the #1 golf fitness and injury rehab center in this part of the country.