We could also call it the CK Cup over Three Bridges but have a plaque for the winners.
You want me to go next level on this? Ok sure I’m happy to.
-
The CJ Cup @ Nine Bridges doesn’t give out a cup to the winner…they give them a plaque. Yes it’s a really cool plaque featuring the names of everybody in the tournament plus a replica of the 18th hole bridge…but it’s still a plaque and not a cup.
-
The course, Nine Bridges, only has eight bridges instead of nine. Why is this? Because the ninth bridge is metaphorical. It’s a bridge that connects (separates) the club from its members (but more likely just) its guests who will never become members.
-
To shift back to Dallas…we too have bridges in our fair burgh. The Trinity River Project is a public works project cooked up in the 1990’s by former mayor Ron Kirk and Ross Perot Jr to turn the Trinity River into a social and recreational hub akin to the San Antonio Riverwalk or Austin’s Lady Bird Lake. Sounds easy enough, right?
-
One of the most significant parts of this plan was for Dallas to have 3 beautiful Santiago Calatrava bridges surrounding the river and downtown area. The first bridge, the Margaret Hunt Hill, was completed in 2012 and clumsily connects confused drivers from I-35 into the Trinity Groves/west Dallas dining scene.
-
The second bridge, named after Margaret McDermott, replaced an old, decrepit bridge along I-30 west of downtown. After six years of problems that included only part of Calatrava’s design being used because the construction company blew through the budget (and then a lot more) trying to get the roadwork finished, the bridge finally opened in 2018.
-
Actually I lied…the bridge itself has never opened to pedestrian and cyclists because of a construction nightmare. The concrete roadway gets cars back and forth but that’s as far as they’ve ever made it after 22 years on this bridge. Without going further into the muck, I would strongly suggest not driving across this bridge in high winds unless you’re ok taking a chance that another one of the bridges cables might snap off and hit your car.
-
Alright so onto the third and final bridge known as the Ron Kirk Bridge. Oh wait…you haven’t seen it as you’re driving up from south Dallas along I-35? Yeah that’s because they never built it.
-
The powers that be had this grand plan to build a magnificent bridge and tollroad connecting north and south Dallas while simultaneously decongesting the 30/35 and 30/75 mixmasters. On top of cost overruns that had come up at every other stage of this now 20+ year project, the Ron Kirk Bridge ultimately died when those opposing the plan pointed out that a high dollar tollway with no exits for Bishop Arts, Downtown, Victory Park and/or Trinity Groves will really only benefit the wealthier residents of north Dallas and surrounding suburbs as they jettisoned in and out of Dallas at their leisure. It would also serve to place an increased financial burden on the poorer residents of south Dallas during their commutes to/from work north of downtown.
-
If you’ve made it this far, I congratulate you on making it to the metaphorical ninth point of this post. While it is not an actual point, it is simply here to drum up fond memories for @DuckDuckHook of the day when my team beat his team up and down the fairways of south Dallas and now he has to dress up as Perry Maxwell at the Sweetens Super Regional this weekend. My condolences to @cgroom for not finding a way to work your TEN and EIGHT beatdown of @EdEddEddie into this long and winding post until the very end.
