Dallas Country Club is a

country club A country club is a privately owned club, often with a membership quota and admittance by invitation or sponsorship, that generally offers both a variety of recreational sports and facilities for dining and entertaining. Typical athletic offer ...

located in the town of Highland Park in

Dallas County, Texas Dallas County is the second-most populous county in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the population was 2,613,539, making it the ninth-most populous county in the country. Dallas County is included in the Dallas-Arlington-F ...

. Located on the northern end of Exall Lake across from

Highland Park Village Highland Park Village is an upscale shopping plaza located at the southwest corner of Mockingbird Lane and Preston Road in Highland Park, Texas and was the first self-contained shopping center in America. The Highland Park Village was declared a N ...

, its borders are Preston Road on the west, Beverly Drive on the south, Golf Drive on the east, and McFarlin Boulevard on the north.

History

It was established in 1896, purportedly by "several men golfing on a cow patch in Oak Lawn."Dallas Morning News , News for Dallas, Texas , Latest News
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Tom Bendelow Tom Bendelow (1868–1936), nicknamed "The Johnny Appleseed of American Golf" and "The Dean of American Golf", was a Scottish American golf course architect during the first half of the twentieth century. He is credited with having designed some ...

designed the

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping wi ...

course with the first round of golf being played in 1912.www.dallasnews.com "2008 Texas Golf"
/ref> Golfers from the club, along with those from several other area clubs, formed the Dallas District Golf Association in 1948 to promote the game and tournament play in the area. The course was renovated by designer Jay Morrish. It is a par 70, 6,266-yard course. Dallas Country Club was ranked number 52 on the list of the state's best golf clubs, public and private, released in 2008.

Society Spot

The club, according to ''The Dallas Morning News'', has been a staple of Highland Park's most exclusive social circuit for more than a century. A 1911 photograph shows the Dallas Shakespeare Society, the area's oldest literary organization, on the steps of the clubhouse, where it had held its annual meeting. Its membership roster has grown to more than 1,500, and it includes many of the city's most prominent business and civic leaders."

Controversy

The club's membership admissions, particularly its racial exclusivity, has been a topic of debate in the community and became a point of contention in local and national politics alike. Mayor

Tom Leppert Thomas Chris Leppert (born June 15, 1954) is an American businessman and politician who is the former CEO of Kaplan, Inc., one of the world's largest education providers. He had oversight of the company's operating divisions (Kaplan Test Prep a ...

resigned during his campaign in 2006 over the club's lack of nonwhite members. The club did not admit its first African American member until 2014, after a 13-year application process. Controversies arose when

Lynne Cheney Lynne Ann Cheney ( ; ; born August 14, 1941) is an American author, scholar, and former talk show host. She is married to the 46th vice president of the United States, Dick Cheney, and served as the second lady of the United States from 2001 to ...

was a guest at the club in 2007, as well as the refusal to grant membership to baseball all-star

Alex Rodriguez Alexander Emmanuel Rodriguez (born July 27, 1975), nicknamed "A-Rod", is an American former professional baseball shortstop and third baseman, businessman and philanthropist. Rodriguez played 22 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the ...

, who, at the time had the most lucrative contract in sports history. In an interview with ''The Dallas Morning News'' in 1986, Vincent Perini, president of the

Dallas Bar Association The Dallas Bar Association or DBA is a professional organization providing resources for attorneys and the public in the city of Dallas, Texas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth me ...

characterized the

district attorney In the United States, a district attorney (DA), county attorney, state's attorney, prosecuting attorney, commonwealth's attorney, or state attorney is the chief prosecutor and/or chief law enforcement officer representing a U.S. state in a l ...

's office staff as "a bunch of SMU

frat A fraternity (from Latin ''frater'': "brother"; whence, " brotherhood") or fraternal organization is an organization, society, club or fraternal order traditionally of men associated together for various religious or secular aims. Fraternity ...

rats who are, you know, putting in a little

postgraduate Postgraduate or graduate education refers to academic or professional degrees, certificates, diplomas, or other qualifications pursued by post-secondary students who have earned an undergraduate ( bachelor's) degree. The organization and stru ...

work down there kicking xpletives deletedbefore going on to the real world, the respectable world, the Dallas Country Club and the civil

law firm A law firm is a business entity formed by one or more lawyers to engage in the practice of law. The primary service rendered by a law firm is to advise clients (individuals or corporations) about their legal rights and responsibilities, and to r ...

." Norman Kinne, a prosecutor in the office responded, "I can't believe the elected president of the Dallas Bar Association, in one fell swoop, manages to insult Southern Methodist University, fraternities, the black race, the Dallas Country Club and all civil law firms."Dallas Morning News , News for Dallas, Texas
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References

{{Authority control Buildings and structures in Dallas County, Texas Golf clubs and courses in Texas Sports venues in Dallas Organizations based in Dallas Golf clubs and courses designed by Tom Bendelow 1896 establishments in Texas