Oklahoma, where the wind comes sweeping down the plains and with a sweep of your club, your ball can go down to the plains. The Southern Hills Country Club is a place where that can happen.

Founded by businessmen during the Great Depression, Southern Hills opened for private play in 1935 and has challenged golfers ever since.

 

Much like the state of Oklahoma itself, Southern Hills is a simple, humble course with a dignified air. The course was designed by Perry Maxwell and his style can be seen all over the fairways. In spite of its name there are next to no hills at Southern Hills and the greens are all on inclines. The course doesn’t look particularly awe-inspiring but thats the intent. The course lulls you into a false sense of security and disguises a healthy challenge. Perry Maxwell did not subscribe to the design philosophy of starting off easy. The first hole starts from elevated tee onto a left dogleg and several bunkers on the right. Clearly this is not a gentle course and this treatment continues throughout the eighteen holes of Southern Hills.

Another testament to the skill of Perry Maxwell is the application of trees that line the fairways. The trees are of a mature, deciduous variety and the illusion they create is that the fairways are much wider than they actually are. A player may hit their ball toward the tree line and think it will be safe but to their dismay they will realize the ball has hit a depression and rolls into the bush.

There are also nine other holes on separate course that open for play in 1992 and was designed by Ben Crenshaw, for those who want a slightly shorter excursion at the club.

Southern Hills’ pedigree is well deserved as the course has hosted numerous tournaments over the years, including three US Opens and four PGA Championships. Only in Tulsa cowboy!

 

Southern Hills Country Club
2636 East 61st Street
Tulsa
Oklahoma
74136