LAGO VISTA GOLF COURSE

By Steve Habel, Contributing Writer

Changes on tap for venerable Lago Vista Golf Course

There are changes aplenty in store for the venerable Lago Vista Golf Course as new management in the clubhouse and an experienced and talented course superintendent begin to work to make a good golf experience even better.

Time has taken its toll on the course at Lago Vista GC, which is the centerpiece of one of this bedroom community’s oldest neighborhoods. The course, designed by legendary Texan Leon Howard, commands the better part of a peninsula into the north side of Lake Travis, and has – especially in recent years – enjoyed an elevation to must-play status among the area’s public golf options.

But the course’s infrastructure is beginning to show its wear and tear. Despite the city of Lago Vista’s plan to band-aid some of the major issues with irrigation and the course itself, it’s time for a stemto-stern overhaul. New course manager Amanda Harkins will lead the renovation, with new golf superintendent Sean Vance – who comes to Lago Vista GC after working at PGA West in La Quinta, Cal. – providing the on-course conditioning in the run-up to the renovation and guiding the work to be done on the course as it’s improved.

Bunker Bar & Grill

Harkins and Vance have hit the ground running, improving some of things they can change with attention to detail rather than an infusion of money.

“We started with the basic things,” Harkins said. “Our goal is to be able to have things around here as a more controlled environment, rather than be at the whim of the weather and Mother Nature.”

The course’s maintenance equipment has been serviced and updated, with new, sharp blades for the mowers. Tee markers on the course have been changed out, and Harkins and Vance are both actively recruiting staff to join their respective teams to better serve their golf customers. “The mindset is to give our golfers the best experience possible until we get the okay for the big-ticket items we have planned for the course,” Harkins said. “We are receiving plenty of play out here, especially on the weekends, and our golfers have been patient as we work through the things we can control in the short term.” Lago Vista Golf Course’s 18-hole layout is routed amid rolling topography with so-close-you-canalmost-reach-out-and-touch-it views of Lake Travis. It plays to a par of 72 and at 6,544 yards from its back set of four tee boxes, which carry a rating of 72.6 and a slope of 134, plenty testing for any level of golfer.

The course originally opened as a nine-hole facility in 1971. Shortly thereafter Lago Vista GC was renovated and expanded to 18 holes and operated as a private country club until the mid 1990s.

Lago Vista GC’s two separate nines offer differing tests and a bit of a split

Full Service Pro Shop

personality. The front-nine is basically wide open and relatively flat (at least until you get to the ninth hole) and a back-nine is narrower and, in this opinion, provides more of a test.

Harkins and Vance have already consulted with both an irrigation company to totally redo the facility’s sprinkler lines and watering infrastructure and a golf course architect to redesign the course to optimize the current routing of the holes, reduce the turf that needs to be maintained, and bring the golf experience up to heightened standards. The pro shop/clubhouse will be updated again, and the parking lot will be overhauled and resurfaced as part of the overall project Harkins said the city of Lago Vista has already spent a considerable amount on improving the golf experience at the course. The city spent more than $250,000 to expand and completely renovate the clubhouse about three years ago, with the stated goal of making the building and its surrounds into a true community meeting place.

City leaders understand the need to take the next steps, which is a full-scale renovation rather than just piecemeal

Zach Johnson, 2008 & 2009 Champion

repairs and stop-gap measures. A capital improvement bond would likely provide the money to pay for the major course renovation plans.

Harkins also plans a change in attitude in the pro shop, with added emphasis on the course’s women golfers, a group that makes up about 30 percent of the rounds each month at Lago Vista GC. She will dedicate a portion of the pro shop to shoes, hats, apparel, and equipment for women.

In the more than 50 years since Lago Vista Golf Course first came online, this part of the central Texas area has changed exponentially. Everything is different – even the city of Lago Vista’s logo has changed. So it is out with the old and in with the new at Lago Vista GC, and that’s a good thing.