Golf & Sports Gear

Item Description

. This is the #1 ranked 9 hole golf course in Texas for the last 24 years. It is a private course built and owned by the Leonard Family.  This auction is a rare gem where a total of four players can do a round of golf then relax and eat lunch and reminisce about the day.  Winning bidder will also receive a wonderful book written by Scott Dally - Starr Hollow and Star Hollow (Mysteries & Memories of a Golf Course and a Ranch) and an aerial photo of the entire place!!!

Located outside the tiny town of Tolar, 60 miles west of Fort Worth, the club is part of a 1,000 acre working ranch and is on the way to exactly nowhere, but if you ever make it here, you’ll know what a wonderful golf experience you have found.

The walls of the simple wooden clubhouse bear tributes and photos of those who have discovered Starr Hollow before you arrived, including Ben Crenshaw and Ben Hogan, former President George W. Bush and former owner of the Texas Rangers Eddie Childs.

Having a private, graceful place to play the game he loved and supported was Marvin Leonard’s first goal when he bought the 1,200-acre property in 1965.  

The longtime owner of Leonard’s Department store in downtown Fort Worth, he was a late adopter of  the game, only taking up golf because his doctor told him he need something to relieve the stress of his everyday work.

A member and director at River Crest Country Club in Fort Worth, Leonard famously left the club over its refusal to adopt Leonard’s preferred bent grass greens full time for the course. He bought 156 acres in southwest Fort Worth and opened Colonial Country Club in 1936, which became one of the most famous and historic courses in the state, hosting both men’s and women’s U.S. Opens and the PGA Tour’s return to golf in 2020 after the worldwide pandemic.

In 1958, he opened Shady Oaks Country Club in Fort Worth with his great friend and fellow Fort Worth resident Ben Hogan, who he had befriended and financially supported many years earlier.

In the mid-1960s, Leonard, already on the back nine of life, was looking for one more course site when he stumbled upon the Starr Ranch site on the way to exactly nowhere.

The only previously claim to fame for the remote site was the local legend that infamous train robber Belle Starr, known as the, “Bandit Queen of the Wild West,” has lived on these parts a 100 years earlier, had hidden her ill-gotten train robbing loot in the caverns here and could actually be buried on the property.

***Information above taken from Avid Golfer feature titled Texas Treasures****

Today, Starr Hollow is one of the most exclusive private golf clubs in the United States. Membership is either by invitation or Member recommendation and is renewed annually in July. The course is kept in pristine condition each and every day, whether many people are expected to play or none at all. The fairways are manicured, the greens are freshly cut, the pins newly placed and the clubhouse staffed. Many golf aficionados, when speaking of Starr Hollow, refer to the club as “Little Augusta.” Starr Hollow members simply call the place paradise.

Item Special Note

This auction includes a round of golf for four (4) with lunch, Starr Hollow aerial photo and the book Starr Hollow and Star Hollow (Mysteries & Memories of a Golf Course and a Ranch) by Scott Dally.  

An incredible experience a golf enthusiast will treasure in memories for years to come.....

Donated by:

Starr Hollow Golf  Club

https://starrhollowgolf.com

CLUB 5717 STARR HOLLOW COURT TOLAR, TEXAS 76476 (254) 834-3464