In 1946, two of the nation's leading golf course architects -- William H. Diddel and Perry Maxwell -- were invited to Dallas to look over the land the newly-formed Northwood Club had purchased from oilman Buddy Fogelson and his wife, actress Greer Garson.

The members chose Bill Diddel, the Indiana-based designer of nearly 300 courses from 1921 until 1974. During those 53 years, Diddel’s work included seven courses listed by Golf Digest as among America’s All-Time Toughest Courses including Kenwood in Cincinnati and Shawnee Inn in Pennsylvania.

Diddel’s mark was seen on courses including the Country Club of Indianapolis in 1923, Melbourne (Florida) Golf & Country Club (1926) Country Club of Little Rock (1929), Wichita Country Club in 1950 and Louisville Country Club in 1955. He was seen as a master at routing a golf course, using the natural terrain to provide definition and strategy. His green designs were creative, difficult yet fair; they were integral in the strategy of each hole as well as the entire sequence of holes.

At the top level of American architects, Diddel joined colleagues Donald Ross, Robert Trent Jones, Sr., Perry Maxwell and nine other preeminent golf course architects as a founder of The American Society of Golf Course Architects (ASGCA) in 1947. He worked with a number of great architects, but his foremost famous protégés were Pete and Alice Dye.

Bill Diddel died at age 101 in 1985.

The Northwood Club hosted the 1952 United States Open Championship, won by Julius Boros. Northwood remains one of only three Texas clubs to host the championship.