Fees Fees Directions Banquet Facility Home Scorecard Summary

History of Cedar Crest

The history of Cedar Crest began in 1916. Cedar Crest was first developed as a private country club in 1916. In 1919 when the club was chartered, the trustees were Robert Shelton, Raymond Thomas, and George Reynolds. All of this area that is known as Cedar Crest Golf Course was part of the original survey of 640 acres granted by the State of Texas to Lorenzo Van Cleve as a Peters Colony land grant. Alabama native William Brown Miller came to Texas in 1846 and purchased this land and additional acres for $1.00 an acre. Miller with his family and slaves built first a log house and second a large home known as Millermore, now at Old City Park.

Sol Dreyfuss laid out the club. The 18-hole golf course was designed by A. W. Tillinghast. Always interested in sports, Dreyfuss once owned the Dallas Baseball Team during the 1930s. He was the Secretary-Treasurer of Dreyfuss and Son, one of the first men's clothing stores in downtown Dallas. Sol's sister, Hortense, married Lawrence Pollock. Sol was the Vice President of the Pollock Paper Company. The Dreyfuss family lived on S. Ervay in an addition in the southern sector of the city called the Cedars. In the next few years as their businesses flourished, many of the terminal merchants who had followed the Houston and Texas Central Railroad in 1872 were eventually able to build mansions in this upscale suburb of Dallas.

In an effort to put Dallas on the map in the pro golf world, Dreyfuss offered a purse and the first Dallas Open was held at Cedar Crest in 1926. It was held in the spring, but a "blue norther" had blown in on the eve of the tournament, freezing greens and fairways.

Today, the Cedar Crest Golf Course has undergone a $3 million renovation project that includes the addition of a practice range and a lake. Enhancements to the 84-year-old grand dame of the City of Dallas courses also include a state-of-the-art teaching center, a computerized pumping and irrigation system, new tees and greens, and sand bunkers. Hybrid Bermuda turf has been planted on the fairways, greens and tees.

With the lake's construction, Cedar Crest has become Dallas Water Utilities' first customer of treated wastewater. In its effort to conserve potable water, a major strategy for Dallas Water Utilities is to use treated wastewater for irrigation. The golf course's proximity to the South Dallas Wastewater Treatment Plant and its high water usage are ideal for this type of irrigation.

Golf Professional D.A. Weibring, D.A. Weibring/Golf Resources Group, Inc., are project designers. Two years ago the group redesigned another city course, Tenison West, later renamed Tenison Highlands. Mr. Weibring said the renovations would provide a high quality golf facility and preserve the original design. The renowned A. W. Tillinghast designed Cedar Crest Country Club, which opened in 1919 and was later purchased by the City in the 1940's.