McKINNEY – David Craig can't wait to say hello to members and guests that swing by the pro shop or venture into the men's grill.

All of them rave about the clubhouse and the course, TPC at Craig Ranch, which bears his name.

"Give me a few more years," Craig tells them, "and you'll really be impressed."

Craig's course was named best new course by The Dallas Morning News ' voters for 2006. The course also debuted at No. 16 in the Texas Golf rankings.

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For Craig, it's just one more honor in what he hopes will be a long line of them.

Almost every day, Craig is in McKinney working on some aspect of what has become a massive real estate project with a 10-year plan. The golf course is merely the heart of what Craig envisions as a community center.

He won't hesitate to jump in a cart and zoom around his 15-month-old golf course, trying to figure out what he can make better. On a cloudless day in late January, Craig sees Brittany Lang on the practice green preparing to begin her first LPGA season. A pitching wedge away is Jaxon Brigman, a local player who finished in the top 10 at the EDS Byron Nelson Championship last year and who owns the course record, a 62.

Craig expects to see more junior golfers after the course hired C.J. Goecks, who moved his junior golf academy from Castle Hills to Craig Ranch in early January.

Craig's latest project is finishing what he says is a $5 million bridge that runs right through the course. Most people might have added a few stones to give the bridge a more classic look rather than a simple, gray concrete structure. But that's not Craig's style.

He's trying to figure out which color paint for the tunnels that allow carts to go back and forth underneath it. And the lampposts, the stone wall bordering both sides of the bridge and the flower-stocked median make it seem like almost part of the course. That is, of course, the point.

"I've always wanted this to be first-rate, so we'll do what we need to for it to always stay that way," Craig said.

A lot has happened to the course and real estate around it in the last year.

Designer Tom Weiskopf returned over the Fourth of July weekend and recommended a few changes. The course is planting a bunch of trees, some behind a few greens to give them some definition. Weiskopf also altered the fifth hole, which he considered too easy for tournament golf, adding a bunker about 70 yards short of the green. He also merged a split fairway on No. 16, making the hole look a little more intimidating.

The biggest changes are occurring around the perimeter of the course as construction trucks crowd the landscape. In two or three years, hundreds of homes and condominiums will surround TPC at Craig Ranch.

The Cooper Aerobics Center – 75,032 square feet that includes a sauna, steam room, gym, swimming pool and full-service spa – is set to open next month. And plans and groundbreakings are under way for an office complex and shopping area. Long-term plans also call for a water-park, miniature golf course and an indoor entertainment venue to be built on 27 acres.

"For a while, I was selling a dream to our members," said general manager Bill Hughes, who has seen the club go from 150 members when it opened in October 2004 to more than 400 now, just 50 shy of where they plan to cap it. "Now you can see it's a reality. We're even ahead of schedule."

But there's plenty of work still to do. And Craig will be on his golf cart, supervising nearly all of it.

E-mail rdurrett@dallasnews.com

Where: The course is part of the Craig Ranch development in McKinney north of Hwy. 121 and between Central Expressway and the Dallas North Tollway.

Opened: Sept. 16, 2004

Designer: Tom Weiskopf

Notable: In its first year of eligibility, TPC Craig Ranch is No. 16 in the Texas Golf state rankings. ... The course has five sets of tees. From the PGA Tour tees (7,438 yards, 152 slope, 77.0 course rating) the par is 71. The par is 72 from the other sets of tees. ... The course will host the AJGA Craig Ranch Junior Showdown on April 7-9, a U.S. Women's Open sectional qualifying event on June 12 and a PGA Tour second stage qualifying school Nov. 14-19.

A look at seven courses scheduled to open later this year or early 2007:

Butterfield Trail, El Paso: Tom Fazio designed the daily fee desert course, scheduled to open in spring 2007.

Boot Ranch, Fredericksburg: The private course, a Hal Sutton design, is scheduled to open May 5. The private course is part of a new high-end development.

Concan Country Club at Mountain Valley, Concan: The grand opening for the semi-private Hill Country course, a Bechtol-Russell design, is in spring 2007.

Cordillera Ranch, Boerne: The Nicklaus Signature private course 19 miles northwest of San Antonio is scheduled to open in June. The private course will include zoysia fairways and bentgrass greens.

Escondido, Horseshoe Bay: The private course, a Tom Fazio design, is scheduled to open the first weekend in July. The centerpiece of a new upscale development will include zoysia fairways and bentgrass greens.

Martin Ranch, Gunter: The Jeff Brauer design is expected to open in the spring of 2007.

The Club at Waterford, Marble Falls: The private course, a Bechtol-Russell design, features three holes along the banks of Lake Travis. The private course is scheduled to open late this year.

Villages of Lone Oak, Lone Oak: The first nine of the Jeff Brauer design is expected to be open by October. The full 18 should be ready in 2007.

Wolfdancer Golf Club, Lost Pines: The course, an Arthur Hills design, and the Hyatt Regency Lost Pines Resort and Spa are on 656 acres between Austin and Bastrop and are scheduled to open in June. The developer is Woodbine Development Corp. of Dallas.

Old Orchard Golf Club, Richmond: The course's shareholders voted to sell the 27-hole public facility to developers, who plan to build an upscale housing development. in east Fort Bend County. The sale was finalized in mid-November. The course, which opened in 1990, is No. 3 among the High-Priced Courses ($60-$79).

Dallas Athletic Club, Blue Course: All the greens on the Nicklaus design were resurfaced and the tee boxes leveled. The course was lengthened by 200 yards, and 25 bunkers were added..

Gleneagles Country Club, Queens Course, Plano: The $1.5 million project in 2005 included a complete renovation with rebuilt bunkers and the addition of new 419 Bermuda fairways and bentgrass greens.

Las Colinas Country Club, Irving: Renovations to the Joe Finger-designed course included resurfaced greens, rebuilt bunkers, a new irrigation system around the greens and new cart paths. Houston-based Finger Dye Spann handled the renovation.

Prairie Lakes, Grand Prairie: Eighteen holes of renovation headed by Arlington architect John Colligan have been completed. The Blue nine and a short-game practice area are under construction and expected to open in October.