This week, the AT&T Byron Nelson tees off in Dallas after 35 years at the Four Seasons Las Colinas, returning not just to the city long associated with the legendary golfer but to a southern neighborhood many North Texans know nothing about.

Among those cheering the move to the new Trinity Forest Golf Club is Corby Davidson, co-host of the Hardline, heard afternoons on The Ticket (1310 AM and 96.7 FM). Both golf and Dallas are on Corby's shortlist of favorite things, so he knows what a big deal this year's Byron Nelson is — both for the tournament and for southern Dallas.

Davidson's on-air popularity puts him in a position to educate — and influence — countless listeners. So as longtime advocates for southern Dallas, our editorial page was interested in learning more about his thinking.

Why is this week's tournament such a big deal to you?

I've lived in this city for a couple of decades and I love Dallas. The city gets a bad rap for being too full of itself and I totally understand why that stereotype is there. It's not like I think Dallas is this perfect little world — it certainly isn't and it's got a lot of issues — but it's on the right path. It's doing a lot to improve itself, to improve its image.

Corby Davidson speaks on air at The Ticket's Ticketstock 2016 event. (Rose Baca / Staff Photographer)

I've always thought — just like Fort Worth has The Colonial — Dallas should somehow get the Byron Nelson back [it moved to Irving from Preston Trail Golf Club in 1982]. It belongs in Dallas. Everybody associates Byron Nelson with Dallas and now here's a golf course in a part of town that people know nothing about that's built specifically for this tournament.

Just like East Dallas, where I live, is the antithesis of what outsiders perceive Dallas to be, a lot of the south part of the city will surprise folks. Some of them will initially think it's an odd part of town, but I'm really glad the tournament is back. It's where it should be. And now I'm hoping that it works out.

You've played golf at the Trinity Forest course. What would you say to people going out there?

The spectators just need to give the new place a chance. The scene outside the ropes at the Byron is traditionally big, as big as the tournament. Especially the party scene at The Pavilion. At times, more people talked about that than the actual golf tournament.

But in the beginning, at the Four Seasons, after it moved from Preston Trail, they had to give that location a chance as well. Who knows what the expectations were in the early years when Irving first corralled that golf tournament. But it thrived and it made gobs and gobs of money for charity and the location turned out over time to be a great success.

Now people just need to make their way out to this new place — to this side of town. They need to not dismiss it — that would be foolish because the golf course and the locale are spectacular. I hope the players love it because if they make a big deal out of it, more and more people will become curious about what's happening out there.

I think the golfer — the guy who loves to play golf, who loves to watch golf — is there. But that's not what these golf tournaments are about. You have to get the other 50 percent, the 50 percent who are out there to have a good time, who are there for the scene. That may take some time.

What was your reaction when you drove to Trinity Forest the first time?

I didn't know anything about the course until I went over and played it shortly after it opened. And I was just wow — from the scenery itself to the style of golf course. And once you get down there, you figure out there's other stuff happening — like the Trinity Forest trails open to everyone and the Audubon Center.

It's a really unique part of the city that so few people have actually been to — outside of the people who have lived there for years. You definitely will get the sense that you aren't going in the direction you usually drive to an event like this.

Is this new golf course the first thing that's lured you into this part of the city?

No, we've been to Trinity Forest before. And there used to be a club even farther south in Dallas called Sleepy Hollow. [Ticket morning show co-host] Craig Miller and I played a ton out there in the late '90s and I couldn't believe that course was there — right down to its once-swanky clubhouse.

I always thought what a hidden gem this is. Same for a lot of the areas around it. The topography is great, everything about the area is really great. Once you get out there, you may initially think, this is a bit weird, but then you will quickly think, no, this is super impressive.

Do you see potential payoff for southern Dallas?

I think long term for sure. If it's successful, word will spread, more and more people will be interested and head out there.

I may be the glass-half-full guy but once this area gets more eyeballs on it, next comes a lot of improvements. I hope this is one of the things that starts a revolution down there like other parts of the city that have been transformed. It's just such a cool part of the city that is underused and underdeveloped.

Will this cause a turnaround? I don't know. But this may be the best thing to happen in a spot that was once a landfill in perhaps forever. Just the fact that it's there.

This interview was conducted, edited and excerpted by editorial writer Sharon Grigsby. Her email: sgrigsby@dallasnews.com.

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