C. Malcolm Holland, III, a Hawaii native and Chairman/CEO of Veritex Community Bank, has spent his Dallas-based adult life in service of the game of golf. Everyone who knows him, and anyone who spends a little time with him, understands how much Holland cares for the game. Through his love, support, tireless efforts, and significant financial investments for what he calls the ultimate “relational sport,” Holland has been one of the most impactful advocates for golf in Texas.

“I can learn more about somebody in four hours of golf than I could being somewhere with them for two weeks,” Holland said. “Golf breeds the types of behaviors that I love in people: high integrity, high character. You call penalties on yourself. It’s an honorable game, and I just love that.”

Honor is a part of Holland’s legacy, too. First and foremost, he’s a man of honor. For 11 years he was the Chairman of the Board for the College Golf Fellowship, the leading ministry in college golf (and now on the PGA Tour, too). He’s been honored time and again for his work in golf; he’s been selected to be a First Tee Starter at three U.S. Opens while serving on the USGA Executive Committee from 2013-16. During his tenure with the USGA, Holland also made his impact on the game nationally through his appointments to the organization’s Championship, Handicap, and Finance Committees.

In 2017, he won the Texas Golf Association’s Bob Wells Award, the highest award given in Texas for amateur golf volunteerism. In 2023, Holland was honored with the SMU Cox School of Business Distinguished Alumni Award.

And now he’s in the Texas Golf Hall of Fame.

“It was very humbling and emotional to get that call,” he said. “Just to be included in that long list of inductees, I mean those are heroes in the game of golf.”

Holland served nine years on the Board of Directors at Lakewood Country Club, where he’s a past president and former Club Champion. In fact, as a player, Holland has won a total of 12 Club Championships. He’s qualified for the Texas Amateur seven times, the Texas Mid-Amateur on six occasions, and played in the 2001 U.S. Mid-Amateur. In 2007, he played and won the Texas Father-Son Championship with his son Charlie Holland, who that year won the 98th Texas Amateur.

He’s served on the Finance and Long-Range Planning Committees at Preston Trail Golf Club, where he won one of his Club Championships. Holland’s Veritex Bank currently sponsors more than 25 golfers on the PGA, LPGA, Champions, Korn Ferry, EPSON, and Advocates Professional Golf Association Tours. That list is comprised of mostly Texans, including World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, Texas Golf Hall of Famer Ryan Palmer, and other up and coming players who’ve already made their mark as accomplished juniors. 

Holland has been a source of major contributions to support the initiatives that build community through golf, such as the Northern Texas PGA, Southern Texas PGA, Texas Golf Association (TGA), Texas Golf Hall of Game, the I AM a Golfer Foundation, the Spieth Family Foundation, and the First Tee. Veritex also has been the presenting sponsor for the Korn Ferry Tour’s annual tournament in North Texas since 2019 and will continue to do so at least through 2030.

Of all the accomplishments and influence Holland has had in and on the game, however, the one he is most proud of is his work to help grow the TGA. When Holland joined the TGA’s Board in 1999, the fledgling association barely had two full-time employees and annual revenue around $400,000.

Along with former Executive Director Rob Addington, Holland, who would go on to serve as President of the TGA from 2006-07, helped grow the TGA into arguably the best state golf association in America. As of 2024, the TGA has more than 25 full-time employees and a $6 million annual budget. The TGA has come a long way, and Holland is a vital reason for its success.

“Malcolm’s main contribution was his forward-thinking of the TGA as a business,” said Addington, the TGA’s Executive Director from 2001-18. “He was very pro-growth in all areas, which enhanced opportunities for the TGA to impact the game’s growth. He’s a dynamic leader and backs up his thoughts with action.”

Holland also played a pivotal role in the creation of the Legends Junior Tour and the Veritex Bank Byron Nelson Junior Championship, both of which are run by the TGA. The former has become the preeminent junior tour in Texas. Professional stars such as Scheffler, Stacy Lewis, Jordan Spieth, Cheyenne Knight, and many others got their start there. The latter is the state’s most competitive and highest-rated junior boys’ invitational with past champions such as Spieth, Pierceson Coody, Chandler Phillips, Ryan Grider, and Preston Stout. Holland’s son Charlie also is a past champion. He won the Veritex Bank Byron Nelson Junior Championship in 2004.

“Way back when we started, we really dreamed about building the best junior tour in Texas,” Holland said. “At that time, the AJGA was the preeminent tour. But today, the AJGA has nothing on us in Texas.”

Holland is quick to add that Addington did most of the “heavy lifting” to help build the TGA into national prominence, but he is exceedingly proud to have been a part of it.

“What we built is pretty incredible,” he said.