Before there was a name, before Tiger Woods got involved, before the first blade of Zoysia went into the ground, Bluejack Ranch was just a piece of land a few Fort Worth locals couldn’t stop talking about.
J.J. Henry saw the vision first. The longtime PGA Tour pro and TCU graduate, who now competes on the senior tour, had long believed the rolling ranchland west of Fort Worth—rare, rumpled topography in a region better known for flat prairie—could hold a world-class golf club. Henry, who was teammates with Tiger on the 2006 U.S. Ryder Cup team, just couldn’t pull it off alone. The vision needed capital. Scale. And someone willing to think bigger than a traditional country club.
Henry shopped his idea around and got a bite from Escalante Golf, the owner of prestigious courses Canyata in Illinois, Kinglsey Club in Michigan, and Pursell Farms in Alabama. However, just a few months after committing to develop what was then dubbed Kelly Ranch, the company backed out of the deal…