castle hills castle hills

The Lakes At

CastleHills

The son of former Cowboys owner Bum Bright has revitalized a championship course and is turning it into one of DFW’s premier golf clubs

The Lakes At

CastleHills

cott Williamsknows all aboutperception versus

reality. For more than adecade, he invested in hiscommunity’s perceivedupscale golf course while,in reality, it deterioratedto embarrassing levels.

A former member who left the club with thesourest of tastes, Williamsrecently rejoined and hasnever been prouder ormore excited about themyriad improvements.

This is a story ofrebirth. It’s about how the son of a former DallasCowboys owner got helpfrom one of the mostfamous golf instructors inthe world to breathe newlife into the Lewisvillegolf club that had a worldof potential only to bethwarted by outsourcedmanagement.

Newly named andrecently re-opened, TheLakes at Castle Hills isfighting a reputation ofbeing an average publicclub with iffy conditionsknown more for hostingcharity tournaments thananything else.

That’s the perception. The reality is so

radically different that the only true way to seewhat’s really going onthere is to visit the placeyourself. The NorthernTexas PGA did and cameaway so impressed that itwill play its two mostprestigious events atCastle Hills. For the firsttime in the history of the section, the Bright Realty Texas StateOpen and Texas Women’s Open will be played on the same course.

The club also will host qualifiers for the HP Byron NelsonChampionship (May 10), U.S. Junior Amateur (June 11) and U.S.Mid-Amateur (Aug. 13). In late October, it will host a first stage of the PGA Tour Qualifying School.

Once you’ve experienced the changes, it’s easy to see why theclub is landing such prominent events.

From the valet service and all-inclusive green fees (unlimitedrestaurant-quality food and non-alcoholic beverages, plus GPS oncarts and unrestricted range access) to the new greens spriggedwith the same MiniVerde Bermuda grass used at Atlanta AthleticClub, site of the 2011 PGA Championship, and a level of attentive

COURSE REVIEW The Lakes at Castle Hills

customer service that rivals any in the Metroplex, the term “new andimproved” hardly begins to paint the picture of what’s happening atThe Lakes at Castle Hills.

Williams’ story provides proof. As a charter Castle Hills resident with a young son starting out in

the game, Williams regarded the convenience of the affluent neighbor-hood’s centerpiece golf course and its entertaining layout as too entic-ing to ignore. So he paid his dues and played his golf, all the timewatching the product decline.

He bought his first membership in 2001 when Wesley was 5 years old. Even though Williams had plenty of issues with the cycle of management groups, he supported the club. Like so many of hisfellow members, Williams hoped the promises made about privatiza-

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‘From the valet until the end of the day, we haveyou in good hands. We don’t want to be the sameas Vaquero, but if we’re mentioned in the sameconversation as them, then that’s awesome.They’re the leaders in this area for the memberexperience and customer service. That’s what we’re aiming for here.’—Dan Parker, Director of Golf

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tion and improved playing conditions would come true. During the next 10 years, the perception was Castle Hills’ public

golf course was on the verge of becoming a vastly improved high-endprivate country club.

The reality Williams and others experienced was one managementgroup after another coming through and failing on those vows. Insteadof enhancements, operation costs were cut. Green fees were lowered,which demanded higher volume. The club became a haven for corpo-rate and charity tournaments—upwards of 90-100 events a year—andthat was a reality that incensed members.

Not only did the heavy tournament play make it difficult for members to use their own course, it also took a toll on the conditions.Many of the guests weren’t familiar with filling divots and fixing ball


marks. That led to choppyfairways and chewed-upgreens. Worse still, theemphasis on customer service was lost in the management shuffle.

“There were alwayspromises to take it private,”Williams said. “It was sup-posed to be a significanthigh-end golf course for thearea. The canvas was alwaysthere—it’s a great layout—but the way the course wasmanaged over the years…itdidn’t make the investment as worthwhile.”

Before the club’s currentowner, Bright Realty, bumpedout the last of the under-achieving management andownership groups and tookback control of the club in2010, the club bottomed out.The challenging and diverseJay Morrish-designed coursethat was built in 1998 for $14 million and once com-manded weekend green feesof $99 could be played for$25 with coupons.

Tough to live on a percep-tion of upscale when yourreality is bargain-basement.

“I just dropped out alltogether,” Williams said. “Iwanted my son to have aplace to play, but we used the golf academy mostly. The quality of the coursedegraded over time. It wasn’tworthy of the membershipoffers they had.”

Williams wasn’t alone.Scores of members left. Anew breed of coupon-cuttinggolfers descended and createda new perception for the club.

Chris Bright didn’t like it one bit. The son of H.R. “Bum” Bright, the former DallasCowboys owner and Bright Realty founder, he decided enough was enough. As a partner in his dad’s company and the real estatedirector of it, Bright spent a chunk of his life developing the elegant2,500-acre master-planned community in the thriving North Dallassection of Lewisville.

Bright, his two sisters and brother spent childhood weekends and holidays on the land in the 1950s and ’60s. Back then it was the “Family Farm,” where Bright and his siblings learned to fish,horseback ride and put in a hard day’s work. The family ran cattleand grew corn, cotton and soybeans.

Bright Realty’s vision for Castle Hills was a community with the small town charm Bright knew as a child while affording

MAY 2012 TEXAS LINKS / SP3



residents the luxuries of a metropolitan setting.“Most people will tell you they’d love to live in a small town,” Bright said.

“Unfortunately, living in a small town makes it difficult to make enough money for most of us to live. We want the small town connectivity and feel in the middle of an urban environment.”

Bright Realty accomplished its mission. The community features stately homespriced from the high $200,000s to more than $3 million set in a friendly, active neighborhood with more than 20 parks, ponds and amenity centers. It won the 2012“Community of the Year” by the National Association of Home Builders. Castle Hills earned the same award in 2007 and ’11 from the Home Builders Association of Greater Dallas.

It’s a place where families live in peace. Where children walk to the park to play. Where neighbors stop and talk to each other. It’s a little slice of Mayberryperched in the shadows of one of the biggest cities in America.

The only thing lagging was the community’s golf course. The perception of itbeing upscale was so far gone by 2010 that it finally provided Bright his reality check.

It was time to make drastic changes.“We did not believe the course was being maintained in a way that was consistent

with the neighborhood,” he said. “The course wasn’t presented in a way that was helpful to the overall community and development.”

Bright bought the club in October 2010. His first order of business was to bring in his own management team. A lifelong member at Dallas Country Club, where every member’s needs are met, Bright realized he wouldn’t get the kind of service and oversight the club deserved from large-scale management groups.

Instead, he would oversee it himself by hiring the best available general manager



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‘When we’re finished, 17 of the 18 holeswill have water. It’s all about making theexperience better and more memorablefor our members and guests. This coursealways had tons of potential. We’re justnow realizing it.’—Chris Martinez,General Manager



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in the business. No longer would he outsource the daily operations. Charlie Adams, a former SMU golfer and one of Bright’s Saturday morning

playing partners at DCC, is a longtime friend of Hank Haney. Adams facilitated ameeting between Bright and Tiger Woods’ old teacher. On a cold December day, the two men walked the course at Castle Hills and Haney asked Bright about hisintent with the club.

Bright told Haney of his plans to catapult The Lakes at Castle Hills to a level on par with the best clubs in the Metroplex. Bright wanted playing conditions andservice to reach Vaquero Club heights. That struck a chord with Haney, a Vaqueromember and resident.

“At the end of the meeting,” Bright recalled, “Hank said, ‘You don’t really needme. You have your vision of what you want to do. You just need someone to tell you it’s OK to do that. I’m telling you that it is. If you have this vision and theresources to get it done, then that’s what you should do.’”

Haney also told Bright to accomplish the mission he needed a superstar generalmanager to run the business and the best superintendent available. Haney then recommended Chris Martinez for GM and Brian Honea for superintendent.

Martinez had been seasoned in the art of catering to every member’s whims right here, right now for years. With a resume that includes positions with FourSeasons Resorts in Las Colinas, Vaquero Club and elite private communities of ElDorado Golf & Beach Club and Querencia in Cabo San Lucas, Martinez is more than well-schooled in running exclusive clubs that provide infallible service.

Honea’s background was no less impressive. He was the superintendent at thefinely manicured all-men’s club at Preston Trail from 1994-2000 before moving to Gentle Creek Golf Club in Prosper for the next seven years.




PHOTOS: HUGH HARGRAVE / WWW.HHPHOTO.COM

With Martinez and Honeaon board at The Lakes atCastle Hills, Haney couldn’tresist buying in as well. Heput his name on the club’sexpansive golf academy,which includes a 510-yardnatural turf (no mats) drivingrange and a 12,000-square-foot green for putting, chip-ping and bunker practice.The academy also featuresindoor hitting bays withstate-of-the-art technologyfor motion-capture analysisand custom club-fitting.

One of the most uniqueelements of the academy, situated about 700 yardssouthwest of the main clubhouse, is the three-holepractice course. Completewith an uphill par 3, a narrow, downhill par 4 and600-yard par 5, each featuresoversized greens with threepin placements. Golfers canloop the course multipletimes and play to differentcolored flags to hone theirgames away from the trafficon the main course.

Haney, a former SMUgolf coach and longtimeDallas resident, was so proudof his academy at The Lakesat Castle Hills that he hadThe Golf Channel filmepisodes of The HaneyProject there.

“With the great supportof Bright Realty in creatingtruly a world-class golf facility, coupled with the latest teachingtechnologies, we have a chance to make learning golf a great experience here at The Lakes at Castle Hills,” Haney said. “We are proud to include The Lakes at Castle Hills Academy as one of our premier teaching and training centers in Texas.”

Last May, Bright Realty closed the club completely. It beganwholesale renovations with a promise of re-opening as an upscalesemi-private club that would eventually go fully private.

Former members like Williams had heard that story before.“I was certainly watching from the sidelines,” he said. “I even

went down and played before they shut it down. They already hadnew staffing. I saw an immediate and high-end customer serviceorientation. It made me raise my eyebrow. I said, ‘This sure feelsdifferent.’”

Martinez brought in two more big guns to fill the director ofgolf and head professional positions. Martinez had worked withDan Parker at Vaquero Club in Westlake and El Dorado in CaboSan Lucas. Like Martinez, Parker had extensive experience work-ing for Mike Meldman at Discovery Land Properties, a companythat specializes in the highest-end luxury golf communities.


Parker, the perfect fit for The Lakes’ director of golf, said histeam’s mission is pretty simple.

“We want you to have fun and leave your worries behind,” he said.“From the moment you drive in the parking lot, we have someonepaying attention to all your needs. From the valet until the end of theday, we have you in good hands. We don’t want to be the same asVaquero, but if we’re mentioned in the same conversation as them,then that’s awesome. They’re the leaders in this area for the memberexperience and customer service. That’s what we’re aiming for here.”

Head pro Scott Fahey came over from Stonebriar County Club,where Martinez also served as Director of Golf for a short stint.

“The ownership has been incredible,” Fahey said. “They are committed to putting out the best product possible. It’s great for ourmembers that the owners are willing to spend the time and money to make this a premium golf facility.”

To date, Bright Realty has put in more than $3 million in capitalimprovements, including all new maintenance equipment and a fleetof Club Car’s top-of-the-line Precedent carts with touch-screen GPS(you can email your scorecard to yourself or a friend), overhead stor-age compartments and ball and club washers. Several other significant



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‘With the great support of Bright Realty in creating truly aworld-class golf facility, coupled with the latest teachingtechnologies, we have a chance to make learning golf agreat experience here at The Lakes at Castle Hills. We areproud to include The Lakes at Castle Hills Academy as oneof our premier teaching and training centers in Texas.’—Hank Haney



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improvements are ongoing with more in planning stages.After consulting Carter Morrish, the son of the original course

architect and a member of Jay Morrish’s design team, Bright andMartinez started by renovating three and adding five lakes and mostrecently three tee boxes.

The most significant of the water feature additions is apparent onthe 12th hole. Bright and Martinez enhanced the 601-yard downhill par 5 by adding not one lake, but four of them. Each lake adjoins thenext with cascading waterfalls framed by large rocks. Once a rathernon-descript par 5, the beauty of the water features transformed it into one of The Lakes stunning signature holes.

Construction is underway between the fifth and sixth holes to create another set of cascading lakes.

“When we’re finished, 17 of the 18 holes will have water,”Martinez said. “It’s all about making the experience better and morememorable for our members and guests. This course always had tonsof potential. We’re just now realizing it.”

The three new tee boxes are being added to modernize The Lakesand give it more length. The par-3 seventh will stretch from 207 to 228yards; the par-4 11th goes from 370 to 407 yards, and the par-5 18th


will grow from 522 to 570yards. Maxed out, the coursecould play up to about 7,700yards. Most members andguests will never see it fromthat length, Bright noted, butthe new tees give flexibility tothe Northern Texas PGA, TexasGolf Association, and othergoverning bodies when settingup for their championships.

Two of the more strikingchanges at The Lakes concernsomething you’ll see in thebunkers and something elseyou won’t see much of any-where. First, Honea and hisgrounds crew redid all thebunkers on the course andreplaced the sand with high-end “premium white” crushedquartz. It’s the same angular,heavier rock used at ColonialCountry Club, one that rainwater slides off more easilyand sticks to the steep walls so that the traps maintain their integrity.

As for what you won’t see, Honea cleared out morethan six acres of brush frombetween trees and around thecourse perimeter. The clear-ing—Honea said he’ll take out another six acres of under-growth before he’s finished—created a “park effect”throughout the course. Honeaalso trimmed most of the treesto about the six-foot mark,which allows the course to“breathe,” while golfers can

view more of the course.“We wanted a cleaner feel,” Honea said. “So we cleaned up

all the exterior parts of the golf course that had grown up. Now you can see the whole course from where you are.”

Clean is the perfect word to describe the new look of The Lakes.Every surface area—from the edging on tee boxes, cart paths, eventhe aprons between the fringe and the putting surface—is pure andseamless.

The more modern and fresh look of the golf course isn’t the onlyreason why The Lakes at Castle Hills is now charging $130 to playit during the week and $160 on weekends. There’s a litany ofenhancements around the club and in its atmosphere. The Lakes ison pace to do only about 15,000 rounds this year, and that’s just fine with management.

“We’re focused on quality, not quantity,” Martinez said. Memberships go for $25,000 with monthly dues of $250. Once

the club reaches 175 members—they’re at about 30 percent of thatnow—the doors will close and The Lakes at Castle Hills will befully private. Bright said he plans to cap the membership at 450.

For now, however, the public can play the plush course and



PHOTOS: HUGH HARGRAVE / WWW.HHPHOTO.COM

experience member-like service. The entire culture has changed at the club, and it starts before guests leave their cars. Valet isincluded in the green fees, as is unlimited food and beverage. The army of staffers has a singular directive: Cater to whims ofevery visitor.

“From the moment they get on the property, we don’t wantgolfers to pick up their bags unless they want to,” Parker said.“Golf is hard enough. We don’t want our members or guests tohave to worry about anything but hitting their ball.”

During their trip around the challenging, yet playable course,guests will notice another change. Bright re-branded the image of the club to be consistent with the surrounding community. Hisdad, Bum, had a passion for the legend of King Arthur and theKnights of the Round Table, and the street names inside CastleHills reflect it. The Lakes clubhouse, for instance, is on Lady of the Lake Boulevard.


The theme now carries over to the course. The tee markers areswords stuck in stones, save the back tees, which are turrets. The tee box area for the first hole—a short, tree-lined par 4 called“Excalibur”—has a life-sized sword impaled into a stone.

The popular 15th hole, a par 4 that plays just 329 yards from theturrets, was dubbed “Sir Percival” after one of King Arthur’s Knightsof the Round Table. Many of the holes on the rolling terrain at TheLakes require thought off the tee. The 15th can be played in any number of ways: short-iron, short-iron; hybrid, wedge; or driver and take your chances.

“The 15th is my favorite hole out here,” Parker said. “I’ve madeeverything from a 2 to a 7.”

Once golfers leave the expansive clubhouse—Martinez wants his members and guests focused only on golf. The full-time rangeattendant cleans clubs, lasers target flag distances and thoughtfullyanswers any questions about the course. The club is going away from



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PHOTO: HUGH HARGRAVE / WWW.HHPHOTO.COM

‘It’s a place my son and I can go and be comfortable and welcomed. The staff takes care of you. It’s a great customer experience.Everyone you run into greets you by name and makes you feel welcome. It feels like a new culture, and the mission seems to be making the customer happy. That’s something that drives loyalty.’—Scott Williams, Member, The Lakes at Castle Hills

The Lakes at Castle Hills699 Lady of the Lake Blvd.

Lewisville, TX 75056www.thelakesatcastlehills.com

972-899-7400Designer: Jay Morrish General Manager: Chris Martinez Director of Golf: Dan ParkerOpened: 1998 Re-Opened: September 2011Fairways: 419 BermudaGreens: MiniVerde BermudaPar: 72Yardage:

7,152 yards (Turret tees)6,607 (black tees)6,191 (silver tees)5,481 (bronze tees)

Rates: $130 weekdays; $160 week-ends. Price includes valet, golf cart,GPS, unlimited range, food and non-alcoholic beverages.



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using cart girls and will instead offer four precisely placed “OasisStations” stocked with snacks, drinks, sunscreen, Band-Aids, towelsand even ice cream.

“We don’t want any distractions on the course,” Martinez said.“Anything a golfer might need during the round is available at ourOasis Stations.”

Williams, the one-time former member who re-joined, attests tothat. He said the quality of course conditions is on par with such well-established club as Stonebriar and Gleneagles Country Clubs. The service, Williams added, was “unrivaled” compared to what he’sexperienced elsewhere.

“It’s a place my son and I can go and be comfortable and wel-comed,” he said. “The staff takes care of you. They don’t nickel anddime you to death. It’s a great customer experience. It’s not just ChrisMartinez and Dan Parker, either. Everyone you run into greets you byname and makes you feel welcome. It feels like a new culture, and the


mission seems to be making the customer happy. That’s somethingthat drives loyalty.”

Another critical element of the new experience is the food.Martinez said many golf courses have reputations of serving “barfood” and other less-than-stellar fare. The Lakes at Castle Hillswants to be different—better—and thus Bright hired nationallyrenowned executive chef Calbert McDonald to add restaurant-quality flare to the all-inclusive cuisine.

Formerly of the prestigious Hartford Club in Connecticut,Calbert is known for his creative use of fruit and vegetable garnishand lavish food sculptures.

“Having Calbert on board to oversee our entire food operations is vital to what we are trying to achieve in the area of customerexperience and satisfaction,” Martinez said. “Calbert is one of thebest creative chefs I have ever seen.”

In addition to the physical alterations to the course and culture



throughout the club, there is plenty more to come. In September,Bright Realty breaks ground on a clubhouse expansion to create a5,000-square-foot, two-story fitness center and golfteaching/development center, family-style resort pool, tenniscourts; all are scheduled to open in May 2013.

Ensuing construction phases call for tennis shop, a new cartbarn and a complete clubhouse makeover that will include newlocker rooms with card rooms, pro shop, spa, kids’ club and movietheater. Past that, Bright has plans to build 75 townhomes for pur-chase adjacent to the driving range between the clubhouse and theHank Haney Golf Academy.

“We’ll have two of those townhomes available for use by ourmembers,” Martinez said.

While Bright, Martinez and company work toward those loftyexpansions, the club continues to work toward shedding the past


perception left over by previous management companies. The bestremedy to experience the new reality of The Lakes at Castle Hillsremains simple.

Go see for yourself.Williams and his son Wesley did, and they’re two of the happi-

est golfers in the Metroplex.“What do I like the most? It’s a lot of things,” he said. “It’s the

quality of the course conditions. It’s the friendliness and extremeattention to detail from everyone on the staff—right down to thedriving range and cart attendants. Your cart is ready and waitingwith your clubs before you get here. They know you’re comingbefore you get there. There is a standard they follow and they tryto cater to unique needs of their customers. They make you feelspecial.”

That’s a reality that would make any member proud. TL



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While Bright Realty has already completed many of its renovations,it still has many additional enhancements coming online in the

next year to offer all the accoutrements of a high-end private club.

The Bridges at Castle Hills is a premier retail, dining and entertainment mixed-use project just north of The Lakes off Highway 121. Completion is expected in mid-2014.

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