The Four Seasons Resort in Irving is an attraction for many golfers migrating up the ranks. But in the beginning, the massive complex looked a lot different, “Oh ya, none of these homes were here. It was just ranch land,” said Buck Raines. Raines works in facility maintenance for the Four Seasons. He basically keeps things running. “All the rides have to run at Disneyland, you have to keep it running,” he said with a laugh.
Raines started working at the property in 1983. He was fresh out of college and started working in construction. He showed a picture of another event held during that first year. “They were having a swimsuit and fur coat fashion show,”
That was also the same year the Four Seasons first hosted the Byron Nelson championship. “We opened the club in April of ’83 and hosted the Byron Nelson in May,” Raines said.
Now 35 years later, Raines said he has countless memories of the tournament, including its first winner, Ben Crenshaw
“Interesting story on that, he came down to our engineering shop and needed to use our tools and our vice so he could bend his putter,” Raines said.
There are also memories of Tiger Woods’ early days. “When he first came onto the scene that was a lot of fun. Nobody knew who he was—you know, ‘who’s named Tiger?’ that sort of thing,” Raines said.
Tiger later won the tournament in 1997.
Local
The latest news from around North Texas.
“It was fun, just growing into what we are now,” Raines said. NBC 5’s Kristin Dickerson asked, “Looking at the facility now, what’s it like looking back to that first year?” Raines answered, “It’s like it’s a whole different business.”
There are also memories of Byron Nelson himself. “To me, he’s the ambassador of golf,” Raines said about Nelson. In Nelson’s later years, “he’d take us into the wood-shop and show us what he was working on.”
Today, Raines is looking back at every Byron Nelson tournament at the Four Seasons, while also looking forward to the final one there. “We just want to have good weather and have a great champion and go out with a bang,” Raines said.
So may the best golfer win, especially if he’s from Texas, “Go Jordan Spieth!” Raines said with a laugh.
