Texas Golf Insider: Houston

TEXAS

Spring 2017

Golf Insider The Official Guide to Golf in Texas

Eagle Pointe Golf Club & Recreation Complex

Inside: The Clubs at Houston Oaks A Resort Style Family Private Club

Westwood Shores Country Club Not a Secret Anymore

“Pars & Stripes” 6 of the Best Public Courses

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Contents 6

Cover Story Second to None- Eagle Pointe Golf Club Sets The Pace For Affordable Challenge and Fun 4 WELCOME

How to contact us with Golf News and Stories.

10 FE ATURE STORY Eagle Pointe Golf Club & Recreation Complex

The Clubs at Houston Oaks showcases varied family activities for all ages!

14 WESTWOOD SHORES Not a Secret Anymore.

T G I

16 STPGA The Lone Star NGL Texas Senior Open the Pinnacle of Senior Golf .

66 64th PGA MERCHANDISE SHOW New Courses, Great Products and Well Deserved Honors.

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The Clubs at Houston Oaks

MAP & DIRECTORIES

REGIONS

20 GENERAL DIRECTORY 22 MAP 23 ADVERTISER’S DIRECTORY

SAN ANTONIO, HILL COUNTRY & AUSTIN

19

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THE GOLF CLUB STAR RANCH SHADOWGLEN GOLF CLUB LEGENDARY ESTATES GENERAL DIRECTORY MAPS ADVERTISER’S DIRECTORY

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The Official Guide to Golf in Texas TheTexasGolfInsider.com

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FROMTHE THE EDITOR EDITOR FROM

Welcome to The Texas Golf Insider Magazine Texas

GOLF INSIDER P.O. Box 310652 New Braunfels, TX 78130 830-964-2152 FAX 830-964-2153 thetexasgolfinsider.com Mike Ratchman Texas Publisher Office: 830-964-2152 mike@thetexasgolfinsider.com Editor: Ava Ratchman Contributing Writers: Art Stricklin, Steve Habel Cover Photograph: George Peet Photography Contributing Photographers: Gary Perkins, Mark Lindsay, Carlton Wade, Larry Pearlstone, Office Manager: Marcede Pullen CIRCULATION 300,000 per year reaching 700,000 readers including DIGITAL MAGAZINE. 3 ANNUAL EDITIONS DISTRIBUTION Throughout Central Texas, Dallas/Ft. Worth and Greater Houston at Golf Courses, Welcome Centers, Golf Shows, Golf Retail Stores and more.

Mike Ratchman Publisher Greetings Golfers! Another season of golf is upon us in Texas.As the winter fades and spring is on the horizon, this is a perfect time to start planning your golf outing or tournament.

Trust The Texas Golf Insider as your sole resource and authority on the finest golf courses in South Texas.

Eagle Pointe Golf Club and Recreation Complex, our cover story, just gets better and better with age. A short drive east of Houston, this golf course is one of the most beautiful tracks in the area, it is like the South Carolina Sandhill’s.

The friendliness and love of the game permeates throughout the club. At an affordable price, the grand Pavilion is an exceptional place to host any type of event from weddings to family reunions. Enjoy Eagle Pointe!

Our feature story is not only outstanding, it is the only Club in the Houston area that has combined just about every sport and activity one could imagine into one club. Chet Williams, Texas architect, will be completing the golf course this spring. If you’re looking for that extra special place for your family or business, take a drive to Hockley and see for yourself the magnificent array of opportunity for fun and sports, no matter if you’re a golfer, fisherman or rodeo star, The Clubs at Houston Oaks gives a fresh new look how belonging to a club should be.

The Shell Houston Open runs from March 30 - April 2 and will host the world’s best golfers and is a warmup to The Masters the following week. Daily passes and Premium Packages are on sale now.

The Valero Texas Open tournament date this year is April 20-23 at TPC San Antonio. As fate would have it, it’s the same week Fiesta San Antonio will host their event. I don’t know about you, but this is starting to look like one big party.

For the latest in Texas Golf News, visit us online at www. thetexasgolfinsider.com. And don’t forget to watch the “Texas Golf & Travel TV Show” from our website or listen to our Golf Radio Show on ESPNSA.com every Saturday morning from 8 - 9.

The Texas Golf Scene

Mike Ratchman Texas Publisher

Copyright ©2015 Texas Golf Insider. All Rights Reserved. Reproduction without permission is prohibited. Golf course rates are subject to change at any time. Texas Golf Insider and its affiliates are not responsible or liable for any errors, omissions or changes in rates or information.

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CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

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Melanie Grafe

Regional Publisher for the Texas Golf Insider – Houston, with over 15 years experience in marketing and advertising, and owner of e-Graphics Marketing and Advertising providing marketing and graphic design services.

Art Stricklin

One of the foremost experts on golf history and travel in Texas, Stricklin has written a total of seven books and has personally played at a majority of the state’s 800 golf courses.

Steve Habel

A national correspondent for Cybergolf, managing editor for Texas CEO Magazine, contributing editor for Horns Illustrated Magazine, a publication focusing on University of Texas sports and staff writer for the San Antonio Spurs.

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COVER STORY

Second to none: sets the pace for affordable

By Steve Habel, Contributing Editor

Billed as “pure golf experience,” Eagle Pointe Golf Club, set along the Old River as it feeds into Galveston Bay in Houston’s southeast suburbs, is a combination of equal parts peaceful, eye-catching, playable and fun with excellent conditions and reasonable rates.

It’s also a golf course that demands the player’s conviction on every shot and a healthy dose of respect for course management and attention to the hole locations on the large and demanding putting surfaces.

Eagle Pointe Golf Club had a leg up on the competition, thanks to a unique propTheTexasGolfInsider.com

erty that allowed for a routing more akin to the South Carolina sandhills than the Texas coastal marshes.

Since its opening in 1999, the course has become a showcase for daily-fee or semi-private customers in its area. It’s been lengthened and tweaked through the years to keep up with demands of today’s longhitters and its management – led by PGA professional Jeff Strong and his team – have things right on track.

“Eagle Pointe has survived and thrived because it has always been a great course and we have stayed true to a great plan that

COVER STORY

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Eagle Pointe GC challenge and fun

stood the test of time and the challenges we’ve faced over the years,” Strong said. ““There’s a very open natural feeling here, both because of the mature pines and because you’re not closed in by dense housing developments.”

Houston-based golf course architect Rick Forester was given a premier site on which to build the 7,132-yard, par-71 course. Rolling terrain and interesting elevation changes make Eagle Pointe GC very different from the mostly flat sites of many courses in the Greater Houston area. As golfers meander along through the course’s

towering pine trees, they’ll find the ground will rise or fall as much as 40 feet.

Water is a consideration on most every shot on Eagle Pointe GC. Cherry Point Gully weaves its way through the course, the Old River is the boundary on several holes and a waterfall and several ponds are scattered along the fairways.

The course carries a rating of 73.2 and a slope of 128 from the tips, but actually plays much tougher because of the elevation changes throughout the round.

The putting surfaces at Eagle Pointe GC roll fast and true, and there are plenty TheTexasGolfInsider.com

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COVER STORY

of elevation changes to make club selection paramount. It’s a course that requires careful placement and a tour around the track is testing for all skill levels, yet accessible for a high handicapper when tackled from the correct set of tees.

The layout can be a bit tricky for first timers, as some fairways slope severely enough to bounce your ball into a hazard if you don’t hit the correct side of them; hole Nos. 1, 10 and 17 are good examples of this.The pine-lined fairways are bordered by bunkers and water hazards to reach some impressive, well-conditioned putting surfaces.

There are also a handful of severe doglegs at Eagle Pointe GC, some as much as 90 degrees, where a good but offline tee shot can run through the fairway. Some of the greens can have steep slopes, so be careful to place your approaches in the correct spot.The course’s dramatic elevation changes make for holes that are as challenging as they are scenic.

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Players get a heaping helping of the tests to come on the very first hole, a 536yard par-5 that plays downhill, then across Cherry Point Gully and uphill to a one of the course’s smallest putting surfaces.

There is the triple challenge of length, positioning and elevation change at the 450-yard par-4 sixth, ranked as the No. 1 handicap hole at Eagle Pointe GC.The hole turns hard right to left and then plays uphill to a perched green that’s one of the smallest and least receptive on the course; it can sabotage a good front-nine with its challenges.

“The difficulty on the sixth is that you have to position your drive,” Strong said.

“You also cannot be too short or you’ll be cut off by the dogleg. But if your drive goes too far, you can end up in the rough.”

No. 9, a 601-yard uphill par-5, and the 495-yard par-4 downhill 10th keep your attention around the turn.The former requires a blind drive to an elevated fairway and a pond on the right and bunkers on the left

COVER STORY

narrow the approach; the later plays longer than it’s carded but the putting surface is open at the front and will accept run-up The 213-yard 15th is the toughest par-3 on the course because of its two-tiered green and huge bunkers right and left. Landing on the green is tough enough but that’s just when the challenge begins because of the movement on the putting surface.

Much of the comments surrounding Eagle Pointe GC are about its final trio of holes.The 469-yard par-4 16th, with its creek, a pond, a waterfall and a smallish green that is narrow and long, makes for the biggest test on the back nine. On the 540-yard dogleg-left No. 17, players must navigate a tree-lined par-5 with ponds on both sides of the generous landing area and an approach past heavy bunkering around the green.

The closing hole, like the 17th, is somewhat more level in terrain than the rest of the course. It’s a 429-yard par-4 with water on both sides of the fairway and a huge bunker at the front of the green that forces an approach in the air.

Membership at Eagle Pointe also offers one of the area’s best recreational facilities,

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featuring a 60,000-square foot state-ofthe-art complex with the most modern fitness equipment and a plethora of sports amenities that any active person would enjoy.

There are two full basketball courts, a pair of racquetball courts, four outdoor lighted tennis courts, a heated indoor lap pool, child watch and outdoor play area and a half-mile nature and jogging trail.The facility also sports a real wave pool, indoor banquet and reception facilities,The Pointe Grill restaurant and a tanning salon.

Eagle Pointe’s amenities have been enhanced to include the upgrade of its onsite pavilion, giving the club more than 8,000 square feet of climate-controlled space for virtually every kind of event, including corporate outings, before and after tournament gatherings, weddings and receptions.

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FEATURE STORY

The Clubs at Houston Oaks showcases varied family activities for all ages

By Art Stricklin Great Houston-area golf by a great Texas architect produced the outstanding Houston Oaks Golf Course, but the wide variety of top notch recreation facilities for members, guests and their entire families showcases different avenues of fun and fellowship at The Clubs at Houston Oaks.

The Clubs at Houston Oaks destination will open its Chet Williams designed championship par 71 golf course later this spring, but the facilities are already open and enjoying rave reviews.

“It’s just magical when you drive through the gates here at The Clubs at Houston Oaks,” said owner Chuck Watson. “There are just so many different things to do for young kids all the way up to old folks like me. It’s just something very special for people in the Houston area and beyond.”

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Among offerings at The Clubs at Houston Oaks, located off Highway 290 in far north Houston is a spectacular tennis complex with pro grade courts and the guidance of Director of Tennis Liezel Huber, a multi-grand slam winner and U.S. Olympic Champion.

“It’s just amazing here.We have traveled the world, been to the biggest tournaments and best venues, yet nothing is as breathtaking as Houston Oaks.That’s why we have made it our new home. I feel like I’m on vacation every day at The Clubs at Houston Oaks,” Huber said about the new Houston private member club, including the tennis facility, which she took over with her husband,Tony, earlier this year.

“In the tennis community, we are for everybody who wants to grow the game, and it’s good to see people get excited about

FEATURE STORY

tennis.This is showcasing what The Clubs at Houston Oaks has to offer.”

Among the features introduced at the Golf Course, which measures just over 7,000 yards from the back tees, were the 80 course bunkers, all of which have been resized, reshaped and relocated with a mixture of the brighter California and more consistent Texas sand.

New signature holes at The Clubs at Houston Oaks will include the split fairway 5 par 11th hole and the new 3 par 5th hole which will feature an island green on the far north end of the expansive treelined property.

Of course,Williams also worked with plenty of the huge namesake Oaks on the course, some of which have been there for decades, to give the course its unique character. He shifted some of the fairways to bring more scenic views and more shot values into the golfing equation.

Also in a nod to the “lack of time golfers may have to play,” Williams designed The Clubs at Houston Oaks course so it can be played in 2, 4 and 6-hole loops along with a 9-hole chipping area and a 9-hole family short course. Each hole at Houston Oaks features six teeing grounds including one short teeing area exclusively for junior golfers. “We are really excited about the ‘Wee’ tees and providing the

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opportunity for juniors to nurture their game while encouraging family play,” said Darren Howard, Director of Golf.

“Every course can be set up for championship golfers and that’s important.

But for most courses, the play is going to come from double figure handicap golfers and they want it challenging, but they also want it fun and that’s what I think we have done here,”Williams said.

“You always want to do something different when designing a course, at least I do, and this course gave me a lot of possibilities,” he added.

“We have more movement in the fairways, new bunkers and some different water features. I like courses which force you to think your way around the golf course and you’ll have to think your way a lot on this course; where to hit it and where to attack each hole.”

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FEATURE STORY

Other facilities at The Club at Houston Oaks include full-size resort pools, covered pavilion, new multi-storied (30,000 sq. ft.) Clubhouse, 17 stocked fishing lakes, a 15th century wedding chapel imported stone-by-stone from France, baseball field, Gun Club with sporting clays and archery, and an equestrian center complete with outdoor arena for both Western and English riding.There are seven dining locations with an extensive wine collection (including Houston Oaks Private Label) around the property, as well as a wine retail shop, general store, and a new wine cave (Bunker 55 opening 2018).

Members can enjoy overnight stays at one of the many accommodations including a

boutique hotel, treehouse, luxury cottages and ranch homes. All this is offered to members and guests who want to stay on site and extend their Houston Oaks experience a little longer. In addition, members may also take advantage of the private real estate options.

“It’s the concept of turning a series of upscale individual clubs into a complete TheTexasGolfInsider.com

resort-style family private club.That’s why we have the inclusive name,” said Director of Golf, Darren Howard.

While Houston, with all of its cosmopolitan charm, pro and college teams, along with tourist attractions and hundreds of eating choices is only a few miles down the highway,The Clubs at Houston Oaks is a wooded, expansive, welcome city escape.

It’s shielded from the Houston noise, but still is city close and country quiet.

It’s a Southeast Texas oasis of fun and family with a variety of activities, plus the best chance to just relax and do nothing at all with those you want to do it with.

The Clubs at Houston Oaks is where life moves slowly or very fast for those who want neither or both, all the time.

For more information on the new Chet Williams designed course along with the many other club activities at The Club at Houston Oaks, contact the club at 713888-0000 or go to www.houstonoaks.com

INTRODUCING THE CLUBS AT HOUSTON OAKS

Memberships and reservations for Corporate Events and Weddings are now available Call today for a tour of our world-class facility 713-888-0000 The Clubs at Houston Oaks l 22602 Hegar l Hockley, TX 77447

www.HoustonOaks.com

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REVIEW

WESTWOOD SHORES: “Not a Secret Anymore!”

Tired of cold weather? Golfers at Westwood Shores in the Lake Livingston area of Trinity County, Texas play golf year round. This past Christmas and New Years our golfers enjoyed the course in short sleeves, which is not unusual.

The average temperature during winter months is in the mid 50’s. Spring at Westwood brings temperatures in the 60’s and 70’s with an abundance of flowering trees, azaleas and songbirds.

On the course, golfers catch glimpses of the many white tailed deer and the bluebirds that call this official Bluebird Sanctuary home.

Westwood Shores’ gated community consists of a Semi-private 18 Hole course, Clubhouse, Pro Shop, 19th Hole Bar & Grill, Swimming Pool, Tennis Courts, Fitness Center, Banquet Facilities, Marina and Marina Store.

In 2017 the exterior of the Club House received a facelift. The club maintains a quality fleet of golf carts for rental. Renovations in the Club House continue including a new sound system in the Banquet facility.

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Down at the Marina a gas pump has been installed for boaters. On the golf course, the improvements continue.

The golf course attracts players of all levels and has enticed people who never thought they could play to pick up a club and begin. Low handicappers enjoy the challenge of the water holes and those places where it takes a “trick shot” to make the green in two. Beginners find the wide open fairways and forward tees give them the encouragement to take a lesson, go to the driving range and then play with friends. There are property owners who came to Westwood for the natural beauty, to have a place to fish, or just because a spouse loved to play golf and they are now avid golfers and are out on the course every week.

REVIEW

Westwood Shores is not just for golfers. It is a wonderful place to live for all – for those just starting out, for retirees, full timers or weekenders. Do you like boating and fishing or photography? For the fisherman, there are trophy fish just waiting in Lake Livingston; nine interior lakes at Westwood Shores provide a place to relax and catch bass or crappie.

Love amazing sunrises and sunsets?

You’ll not find a more beautiful place to enjoy these than over the waters of Lake Livingston or an interior lake. Although no photograph can do this beauty justice, many try - and sometimes even get a picture of an eagle in flight.

Want to enjoy a wonderful community atmosphere?

Westwood Shores is the place to be!

Come enjoy a round of golf and eat at the 19th Hole Bar & Grill. If you’re interested in seeing our community or want further information, call George or Theresa Gallagher at Westwood Shores Real Estate.

For more information: www.westwooshorespoa.com 936-594-3805, option 4 www.westwoodshoresgolf.com 936-594-3805, option 2 www.westwoodshoresre.com 936-594-1234

Stay & Play Package $69.00 per person based on Double Occupancy

Includes one night stay, one round of golf and 19th Hole Burger Basket

(Additional rounds/nights available)

For Details- (936) 594-1234

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205 WESTWOOD DRIVE EAST TRINITY, TX 75862

936-594-3805, option 2

www.westwoodshoresgolf.com Semi-Private Course

MAP #29

DIRECTIONS Take Highway 19 to Highway 94 to Highway 356.

Once on Highway 356 travel about 2 miles out of Trinity. Westwood Shores will be on the left side of Highway 356.

Par: 72 Blue White Gold Silver Red

STATISTICS Yards Rating 6791 72.3 6317 70.1 5354 69.5 5000 69.0 4356 68.0

Slope 124 118 110 110 110

PERSONNEL Architect: Carlton Gibson Superintendent: Clayton Creel Pro Shop Manager: Alex Parker AMENITIES t Online Tee Times t Stay & Play Packages t Golf Instruction t Practice Facilities t Pro Shop t Golf Cart Rental t Swimming Pool t Tennis Courts t 19th Hole Bar & Grill t Banquet Facilities t Fitness Center

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REVIEW

SSTPGA TPGA has has lots lots to to offer offer ggolfers olfers ooff aallll aages ges As the weather starts to warm up, so does the competition in Texas.The Southern Texas PGA (STPGA) runs competitive programs for all ages and skill levels.

Here is a quick look at what the STPGA has to offer golfers in 2017.

PGA Junior League PGA Junior League is a program created by the PGA of America which the Southern Texas PGA endorses and assists in the logistical planning. PGAJLG was created as a way to bring a team atmosphere to an otherwise individual sport.The program is open to kids ages 6-13 years old, who will compete on teams in a 9-hole scramble. PGAJLG is designed for the beginners to gain experience playing the game in a fun setting.

Little Linksters is the marquee program for juniors ages 6-12 years old in south Texas.The STPGA provides an introductory setting where juniors can dip their feet into tournament golf.This program is designed to give juniors competitive tournaments where they can test their skills and grow as a golfer.

Juniors who excel at the Little Linksters level may earn an exemption into the Texas Junior Cup matches. Every year, the Southern Texas PGA and the Northern Texas PGA square off in a Ryder Cup style match play event.The top six boys and six girls from each section will earn a spot on the Junior Cup team to play in three 9-hole match play events at a premier course in Texas.

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The Junior Tour program is designed to give skilled junior golfers the opportunity to compete in professionally run tournaments against many different people across all of south Texas.This program is for juniors ages 11-18 and is the perfect program for those in middle to high school golf programs who are looking to truly improve their game in 18 or 36-hole events.

The Bridgestone Golf Prestige Tour is STPGA’s most competitive tour.The tour is designed as preparation for college

l to r: Elle Fox, Elina Sinz & Zoe Paige Slaughter

golf.The AJGA has continued its relationship with the STPGA by providing certain Bridgestone Golf Prestige Tour events with guaranteed PBE (AJGA Stars) to be used toward AJGA events.

Similar to the Texas Junior Cup, the Bridgestone Golf Prestige Tour also provides a chance to earn an exemption onto the Ben Hogan Cup team.The Ben Hogan

REVIEW

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to take a two stroke lead which he would not surrender on 18.

“I made nine birdies and no bogeys, it was just one of those kind of zone moments; where you hit it good and try to stay out of your own way,” Hunsucker recounts after his final round.

Chuck Moran from Grinnell, Iowa ran away with the Veterans division finishing five under par, nine shots ahead of second place. “I had great iron play, I kept looking up and seeing my ball flying at the pin,” Moran says of his victory.

South Texas has seen an incredible uptick in senior golf the past few years.

Senior Golf in South Texas Between the Lone Star NGL and the Muve The pinnacle of senior golf in Texas is easily the Lone Star NGL Texas Senior Health Senior Series, the STPGA has a lot Open. Seniors from all across the states of competitive playing opportunities for seniors who love golf. come out to Mont Belvieu, Texas at The Muve Health Senior Series has Eagle Pointe Golf Club to battle it out for first place in the Senior and Veterans three divisions; a Senior division (50-57), a Super Senior division. division (58-65) In 2016, and a Veteran we saw a division (66+).

San Antonio The Muve Health native, Chris Senior Series Hunsucker, plays at some of shock the field the top venues on the first day in Texas such posting a senior as; Horseshoe course record, Bay Resort, nine under par 62. Hunsucker L to R: Jeff Strong, Brad Widener (Lone Star NGL) The Clubs of Kingwood,The was not the only and Chris Hunsucker 2016 Champion.

Woodlands senior to play Country Club and more. well as Danny Edwards from Scottsdale, Entry fees are modest and include Arizona stayed within arms reach finishing green fees, cart fees and range. Muve day one, with a five under par 66.

Health Senior Series events are open to The final day of the Lone Star NGL amateur golfers as well as professionals.

Texas Senior Open was full of drama You can find more information about as Hunsucker and Edwards were neck the Muve Health Senior Series by visiting and neck down the stretch. Hunsucker cemented his victory with an eagle on 17 www.stpga.com online.

Cup teams consists of six boys and six girls aged 13-18 from each side playing in a Ryder Cup style match play event at Shady Oaks Country Club.

There are close to 430 STPGA events held all across south Texas each year.The Southern Texas PGA is founded by professionals to produce professionals.There is no better place to play than with the STPGA. You can follow Southern Texas PGA Junior Golf on social media and check them out online at www.stpgajuniorgolf.com.

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COURSES

Public Course

GREATER HOUSTON | TEXAS COAST

MAP #17

RATES Monday-Friday Seniors (65+) M-Fri Saturday-Sunday and Holidays Seniors (62+) Wknd

$33 $28 $39 $36

(Green Fee, Cart & Tax Included)

9-Hole Par 3 Course -Walking- $10

COURSE FACTS Number of Holes: 18 Architect: Joe Finger; Mike Nuzzo

COURSE AMENITIES t 4OBDL #BS t %SJWJOH 3BOHF t 'BNJMZ 1JUDI 1VUU $PVSTF t /FX TR GU 1VUUJOH (SFFO t 'VMMZ 4UPDLFE 1SP 4IPQ t 0OMJOF 4QFDJBMT

2800 Ted Dudley Drive Texas City, TX 77590

409-739-9622 bayougc.com

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Texas City

Bayou Golf Club A Little Piece of Heaven Near Houston Golfers can now experience the newly renovated Bayou Golf Course in Texas City, new 13,000 sq. foot putting green and just recently opened the new 9-Hole Par 3 Course for walking, a great way to spend quality time with friends and family. The golf course redesign architect, Mike Nuzzo, increased the average size per green to 5,000 sq. ft. In addition, rebuilt sand traps and added new tee complexes. The 200-acre site on the bank of Moses Bayou boasts a championship layout with elevated greens and tee boxes. Amidst the blue skies and palm trees with tropical-like climate, Bayou Golf Course offers golfers year round play. Only 15 miles from Galveston, the convenient location, and spacious clubhouse makes Bayou Golf Course an ideal choice to host your next golf tournament.

To Book a Tournament call 409-739-9622 Golf Gift Certificates are now available

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DIRECTORY

COURSE

TYPE

GREATER HOUSTON | TEXAS COAST LOCATON

PHONE

COURSE

TYPE LOCATON

Alvin Golf & CC

PUB

Alvin

281-331-4541

Memorial Park GC

M

Augusta Pines

SP

Spring

832-381-1000

Moody Gardens GC

PUB

Babe Zaharias GC

PUB

Port Arthur

409-796-1327

Bay Forest GC

PUB

La Porte

Bayou Din GC

PUB

Beaumont

M

Texas City

409-739-9622

Bayou GC

Houston

PHONE 713-867-0386

Galveston

409-683-4653

Newport GC & Conf.Center PUB

Crosby

281-328-3576

281-471-4653

North Shore CC

Semi

Portland

361-643-6057

409-796-1327

Oakhurst GC

PUB

Porter

281-354-4653

Pasadena Municipal GC M

Houston

281-481-0834

Beacon Lakes GC

PUB

League City

281-337-1459

Pearland Golf Club

PUB

Pearland

713-773-9603

Bear Creek Golf World

PUB

Houston

281-859-8188

Pecan Lakes GC

PUB

Navasota

936-870-3889

Bellville GC

PUB

Bellville

979-865-9058

Pine Crest CC

PUB

Houston

713-462-4914

Brenham CC

SP

Brenham

979-836-1733

Quail Valley GC

M

Brentwood Ent. Complex SP

Beaumont

409-840-9440

Raven Nest GC

Briarcrest Golf Course

SP

Bryan

979-776-1490

Rayburn Country

Brock Park GC

M

Houston

281-458-1350

Red Wolf GC

PUB

Coldspring

936-653-2388

River Point GC

PUB

Richmond

281-343-9995

M

Anahuac

409-267-8235

River Ridge GC

PUB

Sealy

800-553-7517

Clear Creek GC

PUB

Houston

713-738-8000

River Terrace GC

PUB

Channelview

281-452-2183

Columbia Lakes

PUB

West Columbia

979-345-PUTT

Sharpstown GC

M

Houston

713-988-2099 281-778-GOLF

Cape Royale GC Chambers County GC

PUB

Missouri City

281-403-5910

PUB

Huntsville

936-438-8588

R

Brookeland

409-698-2444

Huffman

281-324-1841

Columbus GC

M

Columbus

979-732-5575

Sienna Plantation

PUB

Missouri City

Cypress Lakes

PUB

Cypress

281-304-8515

Southwyck GC

PUB

Pearland

713-436-9999

Cypresswood GC

PUB

Spring

281-821-6300

Stephen F. Austin GC

SP

San Felipe

979-885-2811

Eagle Pointe GC

PUB

Mont Belvieu

281-385-6666

Swanson Golf Center

Pub

Houston

281-440-1308

Faith Bridge Ranch GC

PUB

Hempstead

979-826-2131

Texaco GC

PUB

Houston

713-453-7501

Freeport

979-233-8311

The Campus Course

Spring

281-225-1200

at Texas A&M

PUB

College Station

979-845-1723

Houston

713-649-8089

The Battleground at Deer Park PUB

Deer Park

281-478-4653

Freeport GC Gleannloch Pines

M PUB

Glenbrook GC

M

Greatwood GC

PUB

Sugar Land

281-343-9999

The Clubs at Houston Oaks PV

Hockley

713-888-0000

Green Caye GC

PUB

Dickinson

281-337-2021

The Golf Club of Houston PUB/PV Humble

281-459-7800

Gus Wortham GC

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Houston

713-928-4260

The Village GC

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Panorama Village

936-856-5531

Henry Homberg GC

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Beaumont

409-842-3220

The Wilderness

PUB

Lake Jackson

979-297-4653

Hermann Park GC

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Houston

713-526-0077

Timber Creek GC

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Friendswood

281-993-1140

Heron Lakes GC

PUB

Houston

281-807-0207

Tour 18 Houston

PUB

Humble

281-540-1818 979-823-0126

High Meadow Ranch GC PUB

Magnolia

281-356-7700

Travis B. Bryan GC

M

Bryan

Houston National GC

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Houston

281-304-1400

Waller CC

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Waller

936-931-3335

Idylwild GC

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409-753-2521

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Conroe

936-441-4653

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409-866-9191

West Brazos Golf Center PUB

Brazoria

979-798-4653

Jersey Village

713-896-0900

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PUB

Conroe

936-760-1776

Kingwood

281-358-1155

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PUB

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936-594-3805

Jersey Meadow GC

M

Kingwood Cove GC

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936-448-3022

Wildcat GC

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Houston

713-413-3400

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979-826-4001

WindRose GC

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Spring

281-370-8900

Longwood GC

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281-373-4100

PUB-Public, M-Municipal, SP-Semi-Private, R-Resort, PV-Private

Melrose GC

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Houston

281-847-1214

La Torretta

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DIRECTORY RETAIL LOCATION GOLF RETAILERS Big O’s Golf D & J Golf Edwin Watts Golf Games People Play Golf Etc. Golf Galaxy Golf Galaxy Golf Galaxy Golf Galaxy Golf USA Golf Warehouse Golfsmith Golfsmith GolfSmith Golfsmith Golfsmith GolfTec GolfTec GolfTec GolfTec GolfTec Mulligan’s Golf Sport Shoppe

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League City Bryan Houston Beaumont Pearland Houston Houston Sugar Land The Woodlands Houston Houston Katy Spring

281-557-3300 979-776-4653 713-627-2411 409-866 -3883 713-436-5001 832-203-1518 832-478-1365 281-491-1888 832-585-0505 281-392-4653 281-443-2828 281-398-4669 281-292-2288

Galleria Houston Westheimer Houston Woodlands Katy Houston-Upper Kirby Westheimer Houston Webster Galleria Houston Houston Houston

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GOLF ACADEMY/INSTRUCTION

GOLF ACADEMY/INSTRUCTION

Eagle Pointe Player Development | Map # 5, Ad Pg 6-9

Southern Texas PGA | 832-442-2404 | Ad Pg 16-17

Jeff Strong, PGA www.eaglepointeonline.com | 281-385-6666

21604 Cypresswood Dr, Spring, TX 77373 www.stpgajuniorgolf.com | www.stpga.com

Practice Fac. Restaurant Banquet Fac. Pro Shop Instructions Ad on Page

(409) 739-9622 .

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Eagle Pointe Golf Club & Recreation Complex (281)385-6666 1 5 12440 Eagle Pointe Dr., Mont Belvieu, TX 77580

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(281) 403-5910 1

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(713) 888-0000 1 3

(936) 594-3805 S1

Map Number

Yardage /Rating /Slope

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Par

COURSES

Type Hole

GREATER HOUSTON | TEXAS COAST

Type: M=Municipal, PR=Private, P=Public, SP= Semi-Private.

Bayou Golf Course 17 2800 Ted Dudley Dr., Texas City, TX 77590 www.bayougc.com

www.eaglepointeonline.com

Quail Valley Golf Course 78 2880 La Quinta Dr., Missouri City, TX 77459 www.golfquailvalley.com

The Clubs at Houston Oaks

0QFO 4QSJOH t t t t t

25 22602 Hegar Dr., Hockley, TX 77447 www.HoustonOaks.com

Westwood Shores Country Club

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29 100 Westwood Drive, Trinity, TX 75862 www.westwoodshoresgolf.com

SHOPPING/SERVICES | ACCOMMODATIONS/DINING | TOURNAMENTS/INSTRUCTION

ACCOMODATIONS Westwood Shores RE | Map #29 | Ad Pg 14 205 Westwood Dr., Trinity, TX 75862 www.westwoodshoresre.com | 936-594-1234

DINING Bluebonnet Grill | Map #78 | Ad Pg 19 2880 La Quinta Dr., Missouri City, TX 77459 www.golfquailvalley.com | 281-403-5910

Ring of Fire Brew and Que | Map #17 | Ad Pg 18 2800 Ted Dudley Dr., Texas City, TX 77590 www.bayougc.com | 409-643-5852

REAL ESTATE SERVICES Coldwell Banker The Ron Brown Company | Map #75 930 Walnut Street, Columbus, TX 78934| | Ad Pg 21 email: dgraferealtor@gmail.com | 979-732-1850

Lee DeForke Jr. Real Estate | Map #88 | Ad Pg 82 16602 San Luis Pass Rd., Galveston, TX email: leedeforkejr@yahoo.com | 409-739-1299 www.leedeforkejr.com

The Clubs at Houston Oaks | Map #25 | Ad Pg 10-13 22602 Hegar | Hockley, TX 77447 www.HoustonOaks.com | 713-888-0000 Westwood Shores RE | Map #29 | Ad Pg 14-15 205 Westwood Dr., Trinity, TX 75862 www.westwoodshoresre.com | 936-594-1234

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Crenshaw-Coore Clear Creek Tahoe Showcase Winners in Reno Golf Scene

By Art Stricklin

By Art Stricklin

The saying Texas Tough means Lone Star values stand for anything, but two Texas visionaries, Ben Crenshaw and his longtime partner Bill Coore have helped to produce some serious big time golf in an area which likes to call itself the, ‘Biggest Little City in the World,’ Reno and its most scenic neighbor, Lake Tahoe.

There are more than 20 golf courses in the area around Reno, the Nevada

Clear Creek Tahoe - Hole 2

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capital of Carson City and most especially the pure alpine lake which spans the Nevada-California border, Lake Tahoe.

The golf season usually runs May through October before the winter cold and snow set in.

Among the best and one of the newer courses in the area is the Clear Creek Tahoe par 70 Championship layout designed by Texans Crenshaw and Coore.

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Stateline, Nevada, where a walk across It’s located in the spectacular scenery the street can put you in another state. which is technically Carson City, but set Par 72 Edgewood is one of the oldest in the midst of pristine national forest courses in the with clear area, having mountain views opened in the extending ‘70s, and it seemingly has hosted a forever. myriad of events As is typical from the US of CoorePublic Links Crenshaw Championship in philosophy they 1980 to the ’85 didn’t move a U.S. Senior Open lot a land for Clear Creek Tahoe - Clubhouse won by Miller this course Barber. and thankfully, It was designed by George Fazio and they didn’t need to. Just fit it around has been touched up by his much more the towering pines, frame it against famous nephew Tom, who has long since the mountain and sprinkle some sand become the most famous Fazio in the traps with wavy greens and natural family. Since 1990, the course, ranked drop-offs and you have yourself a true in the top 100 nationwide, has been best mountain masterpiece. “We disturbed known for hosting the American Century very little to create a course that is Celebrity Shootout, shown nationally one with the earth,” Coore said of the

by NBC and attracting enough A-list finished product. “Coore and Crenshaw celebrities to be known as the Tiger took what the land gave them and then Woods of celebrity golf events. enhanced it for golf,” added national reviewer Golf Club Atlas. “They are two great minds with a singular vision.”

Like many new courses, Clear Creek Tahoe struggled financially when it first opened and even sat idle for a while, but with dedicated ownership, a new experienced general manager, Jim Kidd, a veteran of many Coore-Crenshaw courses, better days are certainly ahead.

Certainly the most recognizable local course thanks to its nationally Edgewood Tahoe - 17th Fairway televised close-up each July is the Edgewood Tahoe course in TheTexasGolfInsider.com

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When Edgewood crews finish repairing the damage inflicted by annual celebrity participant Charles Barkley, players staying at any one of the surrounding casinos or nearby luxury lodges, such as The Landing, can take to the water-crossed links here. Water, either from Lake Tahoe or various creeks come into play on at least half of the holes, along with a yardage of 7,445 yards and a slope of 145 from the back tees, making this a challenge to all golfers, famous or not.

Architect Jack Nicklaus did one of the best courses in the area when he opened Old Greenwood in tiny Truckee, California in 2005. While not as dramatic as some of the other Tahoe layouts, Greenwood was laid out perfectly on 600 acres of virgin forest with gentle, rolling views and cabins tucked in amidst the wooded splendor. Old Greenwood is good enough and gentle enough to play every day and not be bored, as golfers strategize different ways to attack the par

Old Greenwood

72 course which plays 7,518 yards from the back or Bear tees.

Coyote Moon is less than 15 minutes away and owned by the same group as Old Greenwood, but presents a much different experience. Located at 6,300 TheTexasGolfInsider.com

InclineVillage

feet above sea level, it’s much more of a mountain course with dramatic views including the par 3 13th hole which drops 200 feet from tee to green.

Another top course is Incline Village, on the shores of massive Lake Tahoe, and situated in the small town of the same name. Known locally as Income Village for some of the massive houses which line the Robert Trent Jones, Jr. course, the par 72 layout doesn’t disappoint.

It is one of the most scenic courses in the area with many of the holes routed directly between two strands of pine trees offering a tight challenge which also comes complete with fairway crossed creeks and large bunkers.

On the same ground where the Winter Olympics were first televised to a national audience in 1960, the Resort at Squaw Creek offers medals of a golfing variety as players challenge another fine Robert Trent Jones, Jr. course.

You’ll have to return more than once to sample the many golf options as well as the gambling tables. Somebody has got to pay for all the electricity on the Reno strip, yet Biggest Little City offers plenty of over-sized golf fun and challenge.

For more information: On the CrenshawCoore course go to www.clearcreektahoe. com or www.golfthehighsierra.com or call 1-877-332-4465 for reservations and information.

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Central Texas Golf Courses

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COVER STORY

The Golf Club Star Ranch:

My favorite place to play in Central Texas

By Steve Habel/Senior ContributingWriter

To me, the Golf Club Star Ranch is nearly a perfect place, my own publiccourse version of a facility to practice and play golf that never gets old, never disappoints and never stops asking me for my best game.

One of the coolest things about the Golf Club Star Ranch is that if I wanted to I could be the first person to tee off in the morning and the last one to leave in the evening and could practice and play all the golf I want for one, reasonable, all-inclusive, price.

Heck, the folks here will even throw in breakfast and lunch, too, if I had a hankering for ever venturing off the course for long enough to grab a bite.

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I’ve played the course at Star Ranch, located on the west side of the Texas 130 toll road in Hutto (a northeast suburb of Austin), dozens of times. And I’m happy to report that the experience from the initial ball struck at the expansive practice facility to the first tee shot to the final putt has never been better.

The staff at Star Ranch makes sure you feel welcome and that attitude tells you how important you are to them.

The course remains one of the area’s most player-friendly yet challenging for every level of golfer, which is a credit to the work done behind the scenes.

“We haven’t made many tweaks to the course through the years because we

COVER STORY

just haven’t had to,” said Rob Fulford, Star Ranch’s director of golf. “We concentrate on the things that most people don’t see, like doing what we need to keep the turf healthy, the putting surfaces smooth and the aesthetics of the course in perfect condition.”

“Our goal is always to create a great round of golf for our players and to make sure they want to come and play here again,” Fulford added.

Designed by Austinbased golf course architect Roy Bechtol with help from Carter Morrish and Randy Russell, Golf Club Star Ranch opened to rave reviews in 2001.

The 18-hole facility plays to a par of 71 and 7,017 yards from the back set of four available tees. During the past 14 years, Star Ranch has become a destination golf course as its conditioning and overall playability set it apart from other daily-fee options.

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Located on a scenic hilltop on property that was once the Timmerman Ranch (site of one of the largest cattle operations in Central Texas), The Golf Club at Star Ranch utilizes the land’s natural rolling contours and an inspired routing around a central lake to create an experience both formidable and fun. The course is rated at 73.5 and it has a slope of 130 from the tips.

“We designed Star Ranch to be a fun course for every level of player,” Bechtol

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COVER STORY

said. “There are times when you think your shot may be out of play but you find it in the light rough. The course rewards great play and is not as punitive as some courses where you have no way to recover. We want the player to enjoy the round, not to be beat up.”

I always have a plan of action when I play Star Ranch which the course allows because you know its conditions are never a question. My goal is to try to build some momentum at the start by attacking the dogleg at the 398-yard par4 first hole and chasing a birdie.

A good start allows me to survive the course’s most difficult stretch, which begins with the 455-yard par-4

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second hole, includes the 451-yard third and ends with the No. 1 handicap hole at Star Ranch, the 582-yard uphill par-5 fifth.

I try to carry any momentum from the front-nine to the back, which can be a challenge because of the demands of hole Nos. 10 and 11, two long par-4s.

I’ve always felt that holes 13 (a 532-yard par 5 easily reached in two shots) and 14 (which, at 376 yards, is a two-shotter that can be attacked with a wedge on the approach) are places to make birdie. And there’s opportunity to continue that run on the 170-yard 15th, which, with its waterfall and fronting pond, is scenic but dangerous.

One final chance to score is presented on the 507-yard par-5 18th hole, but the approach is uphill and the putting surface has a false front and is hidden from view when you’re in the fairway.Take enough club and attempt to fly the shot all the way to the flag.

The Golf Club Star Ranch’s “all-inclusive” package includes a round

COVER STORY

of golf with cart, unlimited range balls and breakfast and lunch for one low rate.

Replays, as available, can be had for free as well.

Star Ranch also features a wonderful 55,000-square foot driving range and short-game area with multiple teeing areas, six target greens, five bunkers, two chipping greens and rolling terrain for every golf shot in the bag.

The Golf Club at Star Ranch is a great place for tournaments, thanks to a standalone pavilion and available turnkey tournament sales packages with holein-one insurance, trophies, gifts, prizes,

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merchandise and much more.

The property also plays host to weddings most weekends at its marvelous Events Center.

“I played Star Ranch with some friends last week and had a blast – the folks there have done a great job of making sure the course is in top shape and that everyone is happy and enjoying the course,” Bechtol said. “I love how that stretch of holes from 12-16 plays, and the waterfall on 15 is real addition to our original plan and creates an added challenge. I loved the round.”

Those who have played Star Ranch in the past will notice that the

clubhouse and common areas have been refreshed and updated, just another way the course’s management keeps the clientele in mind.

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Green Fee, Cart, Range Balls and Complimentary Hot Breakfast & Lunch Buffets

For Reservations:

(512) 252-Golf (4653) Book Online at :

www.Starranchgolf.com Located just north of Austin off the 130 Toll Road. – 2500 FM 685 Hutto, TX 78634 Now Booking 2017 Golf Outings Call 252-4653 ext. 2 for details.

Call About Our 2017 Group Specials TheTexasGolfInsider.com

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FEATURE STORY

ShadowGlen Golf Club -Play one of

Austin’s Premier Championship Courses

By Steve Habel, Contributing Editor

There’s nothing subtle about the golf experience at ShadowGlen Golf Course.

But there are a lot of challenges and a bucketful of surprises as the track winds its way through the burgeoning neighborhood that shares its name near the northeastern edge of Travis County.

Opened in 2004 and designed by the Austin-based duo of Roy Becthol and Randy Russell, ShadowGlen GC was a major player among the area’s public golf offerings from the get-go. The course was voted a Top 10 Best New Affordable Golf Course in 2004 by Golf Digest and was built by Golf Works, Inc., the 2001 National Large Builder of the Year as selected by Golf Course News.

After establishing itself as a track that demands each player’s total conviction to achieve success, the facility TheTexasGolfInsider.com

itself was setback by a series of events that closed it for play for seven months.

But, like a phoenix rising from the ashes, ShadowGlen GC reopened in the Summer of 2012 and is in the best shape its seen since its early years. Be ready for a little bit of everything here, and remember to play from the right set of tees as all of ShadowGlen GC’s tests are upped a notch by the ever-present wind.

Intertwined on the edges of primal forest and crisscrossed by Wilbarger Creek and its tributaries, ShadowGlen GC is a classically designed championship track that augments the natural surroundings of its site, located where the Texas Hill Country gives way to the vast prairieland that runs its way to the Gulf Coast.

Bechtol and Russell found a routing here among

FEATURE STORY

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the right side that keeps players from the hills, live oaks, scrub brush and thicket that sports surprising topography. taking the shortcut into what used to be hardpan, some of it out of bounds.

The course maximizes these aspects to Many of the changes are to conditiontheir fullest, providing each hole with its ing practices and mowing patterns and to own personality and nuance. irrigation and overall attention to detail.

Though partially visible from HighThe efforts are readily evident, from the way 290, ShadowGlen GC’s rolling, first tee shot at ShadowGlen GC to the heavily forested landscape belies the final putt. surrounding flatlands. Inside, it is a maze “ShadowGlen is a championship golf of creeks and ravines, featuring some course and one of the best values in this 20 bridges. Its greens complexes and area for its combination of challenge and chipping contours are among the best in fun,” Hutchinson said. “All the things the area, and the integrity and ambience we’ve done here since we reopened in of the course have remained protected from the surrounding neighborhood by a 2012 highlights the playability of the course and heightens its demands. We natural buffer of woodlands and hills. just polished up things that were designed ShadowGlen GC takes no prisoners, nor does it ask any quarter. Once you get by Roy and Randy and built by Golf Works.” the ball on the smooth rolling greens, Scenic views are plenty while numerthe course rewards you if you can judge ous water features also enhance this tour speed and line. It’s just getting to the quality experience. Extensive bunkering greens that can be the real challenge. and mounding help maintain that isolaA lot of the credit for ShadowGlen tion golfers want while playing, but also GC’s newfound lofty respect among create tricky situations for the players area golfers and its nearly full tee sheet around the greens. goes to Grant Hutchinson, who wears “This may be our most impressive dual hats as the facility’s general manager work yet,” Bechtol said at its opening. “If and course superintendent. Under I did it all over again I wouldn’t change Hutchinson, there has been significant and needed changes to the course, for both aesthetics and playability.

Hutchinson and his staff have cleared out swaths of thick wooded areas to the right of the greens complexes on the par-4 fourth hole and the par-3 sixth hole to take a little of the bite out of the routing.

They added difficulty to the short-par-5 18th by building a shallow pond down New 2017 E-Z-GO RXV golf carts TheTexasGolfInsider.com

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FEATURE STORY

a thing. The biggest part of any golf course is the land we had to work with and what we had here was challenging but infinitely workable. We really just ‘found’ the golf course, especially on the back-nine.”

There are several interesting quirks to the course, which measures in at a whopping 7,174 yards at a par of 72 from the back set of four tee boxes.

There is a long par-5 with an uphill carry of better than 250 yards off the tee and there are two short drivable par-4s, one of them with a graveyard – a real cemetery – in play off the tee. There are two par-3s of more than 210 yards in length, and there are elevation changes of more than 50 feet, and that comes on just one hole.

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You’ll also get seven par-4s of 415 yards or more from the tips. The most daunting of that bunch might be the 472-yard second hole, which moves from a protected tee box to a fairway guarded on the left by a bunker and mounding and on the right by a pond. A creek continues on down the entire right side of the hole before curving behind the three-tiered putting surface, which is slightly elevated and fronted on the left by a bunker.

Then there’s the 477-yard 11th hole, which winds right to left off the tee, past a huge bunker at the optimal landing spot in the fairway and then back up a slight hill to a massive green. On summer days, folks enjoying the neighborhood’s waterslide can watch you as you try to make your putt for par.

FEATURE STORY

The rating (74.2) and slope (139) from the back tees show it’s among the top 15 percent of courses in America in terms of difficulty.

To me, the best thing about ShadowGlen is its balance. There is a good mix of holes that golfers can attack – namely the par-4 first, the par-4 fifth, the par-3 eighth, the par-4 10th, the short par-4 14th, the par-3 17th and the short par-5 closing hole – and ones that you have to play conservatively. If you can produce a few birdies on the course’s easier holes, it makes the whooping you can take on the others a little more manageable.

What’s not difficult is getting to the golf course, which is now just a 20-minute hop from the downtown sector thanks to the new Manor Toll Road (Hwy. 290) and the relocation of several traffic lights in the Manor area.

Hutchinson is ready to break ground on a new 5,000-square foot pavilion adjacent to the 18th fairway that can hold up to 300 guests and will be a perfect

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wedding venue. A new, expanded parking lot is in the works as well to help accommodate the increased rounds at the course and after-hours events.

“We have a course that’s geared to the championship golf that’s affordable and in close proximity to downtown and most of the Austin area,” Hutchinson said.

“If you haven’t played ShadowGlen in a while, come out and see how great this place is.”

After your round, make sure you visit the Foundry Grill where you will find 12-local draft beers available on tap all the time to go along with a bite to eat. For more information go to: shadowglengolf.com or call 512-278-1304.

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FEATURE STORY

Public play now allowed – and encouraged at three San Antonio military base golf courses

By Steve Habel. Contributing Editor

Some of the best golf in the Alamo City is located on its air force and army bases, but several of those courses have been offlimits to non-military personnel and were seen as nearly unattainable items on area golfers’ bucket lists.

That changed last year when the courses at Randolph and Lackland Air Force Bases began allowing play from outside its immediate ranks, in the process joining an open-door policy already in place for the two golf courses at Fort Sam Houston.

There is a procedure for getting permission to play the courses at Randolph and Lackland AFB. First and foremost, you

Gateway Hills Golf Course at Lackland AFB

have to plan ahead if you’ve never been on the bases before.That means calling the pro shop a day in advance and giving them the information they need to have a pass to visit the base ready for you at the gate.

You’ll need to tell them your legal name, your driver’s license number, the state that license was issued and your date of birth.When you do and when you are approved, you can get a day pass or permission to enter the base and play the courses for up to 6 months.

A foursome of America’s most renown golf architects – Perry Maxwell, Press Maxwell, Ralph Plummer and Joe Finger

Salada Rio Golf Ft. Sam Del Houston GolfCourse Course at Fort Sam Houston

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FEATURE STORY

– all had a hand (and a shovel or two) in the design of the course at Randolph AFB, which is located in northeast San Antonio.

Called Randolph Oaks GC, it dates back to 1950 and their collaboration produced a long, flat course that is known for its wide fairways and large, elevated greens. Bunkers are in play, and a few water hazards dot the design, but they are not prominent features.

The golf course at Lackland AFB, called Gateway Hills GC, was opened in 1946 as a nine-hole course and expanded to 18 holes in the mid-1950s. Located in southwest San Antonio on rolling terrain, there’s no “name” designer attached to the course, but that doesn’t stop it from being a fun and challenging track, thanks to surprising elevation changes and a narrow, oak and mesquite tree-lined routing.

“People who play our course for the first time are surprised at the movement and the way our routing has so many hills, some of which are extreme – like the approach to the ninth and 18th holes,” said Steve Griffith, the head professional at Gateway Hills GC. The two golf courses at Fort Sam Houston, on San Antonio’s near-Northside, are loaded with history.The base’s pair of 18-hole tracks – La Loma and Salado Del Rio – feature holes from the base’s original routing as drawn up and put to work by Golden Age golf architect A.W.Tillinghast.

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Randolph Oaks Golf Course at Randolph AFB

Tilly’s original course (opened in 1937) was the host site for theTexas Open in the 1950s and 60s; Fort Sam Houston GC is the still the only military track to host a PGA Tour event.

A 1976 redesign that added another 18 holes to the installation’s facility split Tillinghast’s work into two separate routings and both courses have undergone significant renovation by the Kevin Tucker Design Group.

Eleven of the original Tillinghast-designed holes (Nos. 1-10 and 18) are now the backbone of the La Loma course; the other seven are among the holes on Salado Del Rio and make up holes 1 and 13-18 on that layout.

So now that you have your marching orders for outstanding golf at three San Antonio military bases, what La Loma Golf Course at Fort Sam Houston are you waiting for?

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FEATURE STORY

Legends Golf Golf Club Club isisthe the backbone backbone of of Legends L

By Steve Habel, Contributing Editor

You can’t see the bulldozers and earthmovers and dredging equipment that are at work on the Lake LBJ shore when you pull up to the clubhouse at Legends Golf Course here in the heart of the Hill Country but you can hear the activity underway and see the associated hustle and bustle around the facility.

Legends GC has always been somewhat of a hidden jewel of Central Texas, with a routing and overall condition on par to the high-end, daily-fee courses in Austin, Dallas and San Antonio.

Now, with major improvements and TheTexasGolfInsider.com

enhancements underway to the community of which the golf course is a major amenity, living here on the bend of the Colorado River near where it meets the largest of the chain of Highland Lakes has become even more desirable and prestigious.

This scenic area of the Hill Country offers solitude, elegance and convenience along with challenging golf for the scratch golfer with the back tees at 7,260 yards. The course also offers three other sets of tees for the mid- to high-handicap golfer and can be forgiving enough for the beginner.

FEATURE STORY

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new luxury luxury development development on on shores shores of of Lake Lake LBJ LBJ new

Located about a mile north of Highway 1431 in Kingsland on Ranch Road 2342, Legends GC was designed by World Golf Hall of Famer Tom Kite in conjunction with Austin-based architects Roy Bechtol and Randy Russell, and it shows the touches that each of those men brought to the process.

There is the pinpoint accuracy Kite is known for in his play and his designs, and Bechtol and Russell added their moxie with the combination of lengthy and short holes, risk-reward opportunities and unparalleled attention to

detail both on the course and in its surroundings.

There are places at The Legends (hole Nos. 1, 3, 6, 11, 12 and 14) where you have a good chance to make a birdie and improve your overall score, but those are balanced by the course’s tough holes – Nos. 2, 9, 15 and 17 – where the use of a wrong club or a less-than-perfect shot could balloon to big numbers.

The work being done down by the lake has forced changes to the seventh and eight holes, cutting about 70 yards off the par-4 seventh while moving the putting surface TheTexasGolfInsider.com

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FEATURE STORY

away from the lake and completely rerouting the par-3 eighth.

“We were really lucky with the property that The Legends was built on,” Bechtol said. “The vistas there offer seclusion and elevation changes that only Mother Nature could provide. All we did was find the golf course that was already there and bring it to life.”

The Legends is a golf course that you could get used to playing every day. Suffice it to say that it is one of the area’s best courses and only gets better as it matures and is refined.

The construction on the lake and the dredging of a cove to unearth the working material for more property will allow for as many as 64 additional lots for homes at the Legends, in a gated community called Legendary Estates on Lake LBJ. The new neighborhood will have underground electricity and propane tanks and use a municipal water and sewer, making septic tanks and wells unnecessary.

Twelve of those lots are considered “premium,” meaning they will back up to the lake and also be fronted by the golf

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course – a double whammy of luxury and location, you might say. One of those lots, the best of the best as far as views and frontage, will be on the site of the golf course’s former eighth green. Those lots live up to the real estate axiom that the three most important words in the business are “location, location, location.”

“With this community we are catering to people who want the best of the best,” said Gary Martin, the developer of Legendary Estates. “There are very few home sites left on any of the Highland Lakes that are right on the water and

FEATURE STORY

none that I know of that rest between the water and a golf course.”

Because Lake LBJ is a “constant level” lake, even during periods of heavy rains or extended drought, it is perfect for swimming, jet skis, boating, and relaxation, all aspects that make Legendary Estates is the ideal location for a get-away lake house or fulltime residence.

If you want a taste of luxury living on a temporary basis at the Legends GC,

47

one-bedroom, one-bathroom villas also have fully equipped kitchens, free Wi-Fi and Direct TV, private balconies, access to washing machines and dryers and plenty of parking.

For more information on real estate go to: LegendaryEstatesOnLakeLBJ.com or call 512-627-8469. For golf call 325-388-8880 or visit www.legendslbj.com

the facility also has 15 villas that can be rented by the month or as part of a stay and play package that includes two rounds of golf per night’s rental.The

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50

FEATURE STORY

Home to three exceptional and award winning golf courses that even the most seasoned golfers enjoy, it’s fairly easy to find an excuse to relax and retreat in Kerrville, Texas. Only a scenic hour drive west of San Antonio, and boasting a mild year round climate, there is never TheTexasGolfInsider.com

a bad season in this Hill Country gem.

Scott Schreiner Golf Course is a public Joe Finger designed 18-hole 6,453 yard championship golf course. Riverhill Country Club maintains an 18-hole private course designed by Byron Nelson, and Comanche Trace includes a private

FEATURE STORY

51

Kerrville Offers Three Exceptional and Award Winning Courses

27-hole golf course that includes a 15 acre driving range among other five star amenities.

One of the larger of the hill country towns, Kerrville still has that small town feel and ambiance that welcomes you and invites you to stay awhile. Rich in

history, but modern in its conveniences, Kerrville seems to have something for everyone. Enchanting downtown shop windows and restaurants are filled with items that seem to beckon visitors inside.

Once you walk through the doors, you can’t help but notice the architectural TheTexasGolfInsider.com

52

FEATURE STORY

details that hint of another time.

Vintage surroundings seem to lend the perfect backdrop for the unique home goods, high end clothing, jewelry, and merchandise; all of which can be found literally along the banks of the Guadalupe River. With a bevy of dining options, you will find yourself wanting to make time to sample all the eats and drinks Kerrville has to offer.

Charming shops and cafes await you in the quaint, historical downtown district.

Small, winding country lanes that follow the flow of the Guadalupe, lined with generationsold cypress and oak trees, offers the perfect opportunity to enjoy a leisurely TheTexasGolfInsider.com

afternoon drive. An impressive collection of galleries, museums, wineries, martini bars, eateries, studios, theaters and showrooms, as well as a number of other cultural settings, makes Kerrville the foremost destination for a weekend or a week in the beautiful Texas Hill Country.

Kerrville has become a cultural mecca for artists of all genres. Music lovers have a number of opportunities throughout the year to enjoy and experience a variety of performances.

Every year, beginning Memorial Day weekend, thousands of visitors flock to Kerrville to enjoy eighteen straight days of music at the Kerrville Folk Festival.

FEATURE STORY

Labor Day weekend offers a three-day condensed version of the festival, coupled with wine-tasting, crafts, food and camping, at the Kerrville Fall Music Festival. Kerrville is also home to a multitude of private galleries for local artists and craftsmen who draw inspiration from the scenic Hill Country setting.

The famous silversmith, James Avery’s Headquarters and campus is a must see

when you’re in the area. Browse their retail showroom, or sit outside on their

53

patio and enjoy watching the wildlife that calls the compound home. Regardless of what you’re interest is, or what you’re looking for, you can definitely find it in Kerrville.

Whether people come for the ambiance of the Texas Hill Country, the serenity of the Guadalupe River, the scenic drives, the shopping, entertainment venues, or the festivals they are sure to make memories that will last a life time, and without a doubt – make plans to return to Kerrville soon. For more things to see, do, and stay please visit our website www. kerrvilletexascvb.com!

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Retreat. Relax.

Always a Great Time in Kerrville!

The Kerrville Scott Schreiner Golf Club is nestled in the rolling hills and towering live oaks of the Texas Hill Country. One hour northwest of San Antonio, this championship Joe Finger design offers an amazing, relaxed golf experience.

1 Country Club Dr, Kerrville, TX 78028 • 830-257-4982 • GolfKerrvilleTex.com

Plan your stay now in Kerrville at KerrvilleTexasCVB.com

56

INSTRUCTION

CLUBHEAD SPEED What would you guess is the question our golf school students ask us the most during the year? If your answer is, “How do I hit the ball further?”, you would be correct. Most of the time, the question they should be asking us is, “How do I hit the ball straighter?” But for many golfers, hitting the ball further is as much of an obsession as learning how to make grandma’s biscuits.

We are going to show you several ways to create more clubhead speed while not giving up accuracy. We’ll also give you some very effective practice drills to help you achieve this.

1) RELAX YOUR ARMS AND SHOULDERS Relaxing your arms and shoulders at address is the first step to creating more clubhead speed. Tension is the biggest killer of speed and it is almost always the one common characteristic in the loss of distance. Look at other athletic motions as an example. Throwing a ball: You can throw a ball much further/faster if you are relaxed before and during the motion. You can run faster if you’re relaxed while you’re doing it. Swinging a golf club is no different.

DRILL: Make a conscious effort to move your arms, feet and legs while addressing the ball. Being too still over the ball at address creates tension. Move!

2) STAY CENTERED OVER THE BALL Staying centered over the ball during the swing is very important to creating more clubhead speed because you can TheTexasGolfInsider.com

always swing an object faster in a circle than you can in a line. For example, if you tie a ball onto the end of a string, you can swing it around in a circle faster than if you move it back and forth in straight line. Golfers who try to transfer their weight during the swing tend to lose distance compared to someone who stays centered and lets their weight transfer automatically with their turn. This also helps your body swing your arms during the swing, not the other way around.

DRILL: Hit shots with your feet close together. By doing this, your body senses a lack of stability and forces you to stay centered. This in turn will help you create more clubhead speed when you take your normal width stance.

3) BE AGGRESSIVE (IN THE RIGHT PLACE) Being aggressive in your swing is good.

Let me say that again. Being aggressive in your swing is good...as long as you keep your balance.

But where you are aggressive is the key.

Many golfers make the mistake of being aggressive from the top

INSTRUCTION

of their swing starting down. To create maximum clubhead speed, be aggressive through the hitting area. Trying to hit the ball hard when starting your downswing creates two problems: Power leak and balance problems.

The fastest part of a good player’s swing is just past the ball. Jack Nicklaus said he tried to swing slower when he wanted to hit it further. What he accomplished by doing this was a smooth transition from the backswing to the downswing while his clubhead speed increased through the hitting area.

DRILL: Hit shots on the range making different speed swings. Hit some shots swinging at 30% of your normal effort, some at 60% and some at 90%.

Practicing this way not only helps you keep your transition smoother, but it lets you know what speed is working for you that day.

4) STRETCH Being flexible is just as important as anything you can do in your swing to increase your clubhead speed. You should always stretch, at the very least, before and after your round. Stretching away from the golf course will only help. Just look at the top 5 longest hitters on the

57

PGA Tour as an example. Bubba Watson, Charlie Beljan, Robert Garrigus, Dustin Johnson and Rory McIlroy are all very flexible. The tip of a bull whip creates a “crack” because the tip is breaking the speed of sound. A stiffer object cannot do this because there is no “whip” to create speed.

Remember, good swing fundamentals help you hit the ball more solidly. Hitting the ball solid is the first step to hitting it further and straighter. After that, practice these four fundamentals and you’ll be able to increase your clubhead speed.

TheTexasGolfInsider.com

COURSES

58

SAN ANTONIO | HILL COUNTRY | AUSTIN

Public Course

RATES

18

MAP #41

9

Twilight

Weekday $39 $24 $29 Weekend $49 $29 $37

COURSE FACTS Number of Holes: 18 Par: 72 Architect: Bunker Hill General Manager: Doug Fipps Superintendent: Tony Nash Course Record: Kyle Jerome,62

TEE INFORMATION Yardage/Rating/Slope: Black: 6891 / 72.0 / 127 Blue: 6329 / 70.3 / 121 White: 5829 / 68.2 / 110 Red: 4931 / 66.8 / 106

COURSE AMENITIES t t t t t

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Burnet

Delaware Springs Golf Course One of Golf Digest’s “Best Places to Play”

R

ated four out of five stars on Golf Digest’s “Best Places to Play” list, Delaware Springs Golf Course is a Hill Country classic cradled by a variety of native trees and accented by charming scenery. The beautiful 6,891-yard par-72 track unfolds onto gently rolling hills and offers golfers scenic vistas at every turn, making it as picturesque as it is challenging.

The aesthetic value is just one reason why Delaware Springs has become a Hill Country favorite. Visitors are often impressed by the attitude of the golf course staff, a friendly and courteous crew that makes strangers feel right at home. In addition to the 18-hole championship course, the facility features a well-stocked pro shop, driving range, putting green, snack bar and dining room overlooking the 18th green.

To enjoy Hill Country golf at its finest, come visit Delaware Springs Golf Course, owned and operated by the city of Burnet.

Course designers Dave Akland and Dan Procter named each hole after a local feature, such as “Mountain View” and “Roon the Bend” because of its sharp dogleg right. Few homes line the holes.

600 Delaware Springs Blvd.

Burnet, TX 78611

512-756-8471

www.delawaresprings.com

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MAKES GOLFERS GIDDY AND THEIR FRIENDS

green with envy Lady Bird Johnson Golf Course | 18 holes | ffriendly rien ri endl dlyy sstaff dl taff ta ff | ggolf olf shop | restaurant 6,686-yard, par-71 design | 46 bunkers | beautiful clubhouse | practice range iinstruction t ti | affordable ff green fees | plus, your 19th hole is Fredericksburg

GolfFredericksburg.com | 800 950 8147

PLAY A ROUND in New Braunfels.

Get off the highway and onto the fairway at our two luxurious golf courses. Both courses boast beautiful scenery including crystal clear rivers, legacy trees, deer, and, hopefully, birdies.

Take a drive... in New Braunfels.

(800) 572-2626

GOLF

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FEATURE STORY

New Courses, Great products and Well Deserved Honors

by Art Stricklin

Top of the Rock Golf Course

Golf professionals and PGA Tour playFrom all points of Texas and all over the ers were also well represented, promoting country the dreamers, the doers and the their latest sponsors and thanking those faithful arrived by the tens of thousands to who have helped them achieve their new the recently completed, 64th annual PGA lofty status in the game.

Merchandise Show at the massive Orange That was certainly the case for Boerne’s County Convention Center.

All areas of the 2017 golf business were Jimmy Walker, the current PGA Champirepresented here over the three-day event, onship winner, who made the rounds for two days thanking those who had helped from huge golf companies looking to him in his amazing career showcase their newest and taking a well-deserved high dollar products pro golf victory lap with to golf professionals the 28-pound PGA Chamwho will be showing pionship trophy in tow. items to members at “I’ve gotten to see a their shops all over the lot of people I have known country, to golf orgafrom the many years I’ve nizations, media and played golf as a professional longtime golf dreamand amateur,”Walker said ers who just wanted to at a lavish event thrown by get their own piece of one of his main sponsors, the golf industry.

Titleist Golf. “I’ve met a lot While the show Jimmy Walker and Art Stricklin of people who have helped was not open to the me in a lot of different public, which happened in the miles of carpeted hallways and places over the years and it’s just a chance to say thanks.” concrete exhibitions floors, the new innoWalker, wearing his traditional all black vations will be clearly evident to golfers in Texas and across the country later this year outfit, “it’s a sliming color don’t you think,” he joked, gladly posed for photos and autowhen they go to their pro shops and big graphs. He spent time thanking golf pros, box golf retail outlets.

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FEATURE STORY

including San Antonio’s Bryan Gathright, who knew him when he was just struggling SouthernTexas golf pro hoping to make his mark in the pro golf world.

“Pros like Bryan Gaithright helped lay the foundation and show me what was possible in professional golf. I’m appreciative to him helping me get started,”Walker praised his local coach in a promotional video.

While Dallas’ Bryson Dechambeau, a 2016 Valero Texas Open sponsor invitee, hasn’t achieved as much as Walker, he was at the PGA Show as well, looking to jump start his pro career and perhaps one day follow Walker’s path.

“It’s still a work in progress,” he said of his still new pro golf career, while promoting companies such as Puma/Cobra golf and FlightScope.

“I enjoy being out here and seeing people and seeing the latest golf gear and apparel for the NewYear.”

Dechambeau, who now lives full-time in Dallas and plays out of the new Trinity Forest Golf Club, said he will likely return to the Valero Texas Open this spring as he continues he quest to join the long line of great Texas golfers.

Austin golf shirt company Criquet Shirts, hopes to join another long line of Lone Star golf companies who have impacted the golf business nationally.

They were making their third appearance at PGA Merchandise Show with their colorful and classic looking line of golf shirts for on the course and off.

“We just think Austin and all of South Texas is a cool place to hang out and play

67

golf and enjoy life.We have our booth here to showcase to the golf pros and our Texas friends what’s new for the golf season,” cofounder Billy Nachum said.

Edel Golf, in Liberty Hill, had its full range of custom putters and wedges on display on the show floor along with company namesake David Edel on hand to Edel,Torque Balanced Putter answer questions about their product.

“We just want to showcase what we have,” he said, carrying a full load of putters and wedges into the show. “It’s a fun time to see people and talk golf.”

Eric Smith, head golf pro at The Top of the Rock courses at Big Cedar Lodge in Branson, Missouri, has already welcomed plenty of South Texas golfers to the scenic Southeast Missouri links location and said bigger plans are already in the works to expand its golf offering.

“Our owner Johnny Morris (who also owns Bass Pro Shop) is determined to make this the next great golf destination in America.Texas and the cities in a six-hour radius has always been a great market for us, but we want to take it national.

“Johnny Morris and Donald Trump are the only two developers in America interested in developing large golf resorts and we want to make sure we continue to succeed on a grand sale.”

The 13-hole Gary Player designed par 3 short course is scheduled to open in May TheTexasGolfInsider.com

68

FEATURE STORY

with the new championship golf course designed by Austin’s Ben Crenshaw and partner Bill Coore ready in 2018.

Both golf facilities will be open close to the Top of the Rock Course and the Tom Fazio designed Buffalo Ridge which annually hosts a PGA Champions Tour event in the spring.

“Top of the Rock has always been a great drive destination for golfers in Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and the surrounding area, Edel,The Brick Putter but this will open it up to more golfers everywhere,” Smith said.

Two relative newcomers to the PGA Show, Frank Fornari, with BioMech Sports and Vertical Line Golf, were no less eager to grab their piece of the golf business.

“We feel like we have a product that can help everyone from the top professionals to amateurs anywhere,” Fornari said of the bio

feedback system, which measures a golfer’s performance in a variety of areas. He also offers the Biomech putter which has been tested and trusted by thousands.

“We come to the show to meet with golf pros who would like to use it themselves and for their members, to talk with media and to see our friends in the golf business.”

“The golf business has been missing technology to expand its business for a long time. It’s been an old school idea to tell one golfer at a time. It needs more accurate data and this can help anybody, all the time,” Fornari added about the company at www.biomechsports.com Tim Krocnuk, Executive Chairman of Vertical Line Golf, said he has owned a number of other businesses in his career, but nothing has been more fun than his new The Groove Driver

Top of the Rock Practise Course

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FEATURE STORY

69

away sidespin on missed shots and helps golf company and its new driver which is you hit better and straighter drives off the endorsed by John Daly. tee.While Daly will forever be known as “It’s great to be in a business with so golf’s original long drive king, just hitting much passion,”Tim said. “It’s been great working with John and we hope we’re do- a half dozen balls with the new Vertical Groove driver gives you ing this for a long time.” the feeling of solid contact The 2017 PGA Show and straighter, low rising proved once again that drives even without the sometimes the best ideas Long John length. are often the simplest.

While it’s way too Like the soft spikes of early to say if John Daly another era, where most and Vertical Groove will golfers thought, ‘I wish have the same impact as I had come up with that soft spikes and the original idea,’ the Vertical Groove Callaway Big Bertha Driver driver and the driver, for one sunny PGA startup company Vertical Merchandise week in Groove Golf, with pitchOrlando, driver grooves man John Daly, could do were certainly groovy and much the same. lead golf media and club The metal headed merchandisers to think, driver has vertical grooves Art Stricklin does his best to emulate on the driver head and John Daly while trying outVertical ‘why didn’t I come up with Line Golf’s new driver. that?” face, which helps take

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GENERAL DIRECTORY

COURSE

TYPE

AUSTIN: Avery Ranch Semi-Private Falconhead Semi-Private Gray Rock Golf Club Semi-Private Hancock Park Golf Course Municipal Jimmy Clay/Roy Kizer Golf CourseMunicipal Lions Municipal Golf Course Municipal Morris Williams Golf Course Municipal Riverside Golf Club Public BANDERA: Flying L Ranch Golf Course Resort BASTROP: Colovista Golf Club Semi-Private Hyatt, Wolfdancer Resort Pine Forest Golf Club Public BLANCO: Vaaler Creek Golf Club Semi-Private BOERNE: Tapatio Springs Resort BURNET: Delaware Springs Golf Course Municipal CANYON LAKE: Lakeside Golf Club Public CASTROVILLE: Alsatian Golf Course Public CIBOLO: Northcliffe Golf & Country Club Semi-Private COMFORT: Buckhorn Golf Course Public CONCAN: Club at ConCan Resort DEVINE: Devine Golf Course Public FLORESVILLE: River Bend Golf Club Public FREDERICKSBURG: Lady Bird Johnson Golf Course Municipal GEORGETOWN: Cowan Creek Golf Club Semi-Private Legacy Hill Golf Club Semi-Private White Wing Golf Club Semi-Private HORSESHOE BAY: Horseshoe Bay Resort Resort Apple Rock Resort Ram Rock Resort Slick Rock Resort HUTTO: Golf Club at Star Ranch Semi-Private KERRVILLE: Scott Schreiner Municipal GC Municipal KINGSLAND: Legends Golf Course Public KYLE: Plum Creek Golf Course Public LAGO VISTA: Lago Vista Semi-Private Highland Lakes Public LAMPASAS: Hancock Park Golf Course Public LEANDER: The Golf Club at Crystal Falls Municipal

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PHONE COURSE (512) 248-2442 (512) 402-1558 (512) 288-4297 (512) 453-0276 (512) 444-0999 (512) 477-6963 (512) 974-8333 (512) 386-7077 (800) 646-5407 (512) 629-4585 (512) 308-9653 (512) 321-1181 (830) 833-0706 (830) 537-4197 (512) 756-8471 (830) 899-3301 (830) 931-3100 (830) 606-7351 (830) 995-5351 (830) 232-4471 (830) 665-9943 (830) 216-2800 (830) 997-4010 (512) 864-1244 (512) 864-1222 (512) 864-1244 (830) 598-8600 (830) 598-8600 (830) 598-8600 (830) 598-8600 (512) 252-4653 (830) 257-4982 (325) 388-8888 (512) 262-5555 (512) 267-1170 (512) 267-1170 (512) 556-3202 (512) 259-5855

TYPE

LLANO: Llano Golf Club Municipal MANOR: Shadow Glen Semi-Private MARBLE FALLS: Hidden Falls Golf Club Semi-Private NEW BRAUNFELS: The Bandit Golf Course Public Landa Park Golf Course Municipal PLEASANTON: Pleasanton Country Club Semi-Private PFLUGERVILLE: Blackhawk Golf Club Public ROUND ROCK: Forest Creek Golf Club Public The Golf Club of Star Ranch Semi-Private TeraVista Golf Club Semi-Private SALADO: Mill Creek Inn & Country Club Semi-Private SAN MARCOS: Quail Creek Country Club Semi-Private SAN SABA: San Saba River GC Municipal SEGUIN: Starcke Park Golf Course Municipal SPICEWOOD: Pedernales Golf Course Public SPRING BRANCH: River Crossing Club Private The Club at Rebecca Creek Semi-Private SAN ANTONIO: Alamo Golf Club Public Brackenridge Park Golf Course Municipal Canyon Springs Golf Course Public Cedar Creek Golf Course Municipal Gateway Hills Golf Course Military Golf Club of Texas Public Hyatt Hill Country Resort Resort La Cantera Golf Club Public La Loma Grande Public Mission Del Lago Golf Course Municipal Northern Hills Municipal Olmos Basin Golf Course Municipal Randolf Oaks Golf Course Military Riverside Golf Course Municipal Salado Del Rio Public San Pedro Range & Par 3 Public Silverhorn Public The Palmer Course Public The Quarry Golf Club Semi-private The Republic Golf Course Public TPC San Antonio Resort Windcrest Golf Course Semi-private Willow Springs Golf Course Municipal UNIVERSAL CITY: Olympia Hills Golf & Conference Center Public UTOPIA: Utopia Golf Course Public WIMBERLEY: Quicksand at Woodcreek Public

PHONE (325) 247-5100 (512) 278-1304 (830) 693-3300 (830) 609-4665 (830) 221-4340 (830) 281-3486 (512) 251-9000 (512) 388-2874 (512) 252-GOLF (512) 651-9850 (254) 947-5698 (512) 353-1665 (325) 372-3212 (830) 401-2490 (512) 264-1489 (830) 904-4653 (830) 885-5168 (210) 696-4000 (210) 226-5612 (210) 497-1770 (210) 695-5050 (210) 671-3466 (210) 504-2550 (210) 647-1234 (210) 558-4653 (210) 222-9386 (210) 627-2522 (210) 655-4148 (210) 826-4041 (210) 652-4570 (210) 533-8371 (210) 222-9386 (210) 349-5113 (210) 545-5300 (210) 558-2365 (210) 824-4500 (210) 359-0000 (210) 491-5800 (210) 655-1421 (210) 226-6721 (210) 945-4653 (830) 966-5577 (512) 847-9700

THE PERFECT DRIVE

71

THE COAST COURSE

TYPE

Alice Municipal Golf Course Brownsville Golf Center Buccaneer Bay Public GC Colony Creek Country Club Corpus Christi Country Club Cottonwood Creek Golf Course Edinburg Municipal Golf Course El Campo County Club Fort Brown Municipal Golf Course Ganado Golf and Country Club Goliad Country Recreation Assoc.

Grande Caribbean at Dune Crest Harlingen Country Club L.E. Ramey Golf Course Lorenzo Golf Center Oso Beach Municipal GC Northshore Golf Course Padre Isles Country Club Palm View Golf Course Palmilla Beach Golf Club Rio Colorado Golf Course South Padre Island Golf Club The Victoria Country Club Tierra Del Sol Golf Club Tierra Santa Golf Club Treasure Hills Country Club Village Executive Golf Course Valley International Country Club

Public Public Public Semi-Private Private Public Public Private Public Public Public Public Private Public Public Public Public Private Public Semi-Private Public Public Semi-Private Public Public Semi-Private Public Semi-Private

PHONE (361) 664-7033 (956) 541-2582 (361) 790-7513 (361) 576-0018 (361) 991-2811 (956) 428-7758 (956) 381-1244 (409) 543-6592 (956) 542-9861 (361) 771-2424 (361) 645-2144 (361) 749-1974 (956) 412-4110 (361) 592-1101 (361) 826-8017 (361) 826-8010 (361) 643-2798 (361) 949-8056 (956) 687-9591 (361) 749-4653 (979) 244-2955 (956) 943-5678 (361) 573-3712 (956) 702-2320 (956) 973-1811 (956) 365-3100 (956) 968-5331 (956) 546-5331

Where price & service matter!

RIO GRANDE VALLEY COURSE Adobe Wells Country Club Alamo Country Club Brownsville Municipal GC Cimarron Cottonwood 21 Ebony Hills Golf Course Fair Winds G.C & Practice Range Fort Brown Memorial GC Harlingen Country Club Jim Paul Golf Course Llano Grande Golf Course Los Lagos Golf Club Martin Valley Ranches Golf Course McAllen Country Club Meadow Creek Golf Club Palacio Real Golf Course Palm View Golf Course Rancho Viejo Country Club Raymondville Municipal Course River Bend Resort Shary Municipal Golf Course South Padre Island Golf Club The MAX Golf Course Tony Butler Municiapal GC

TYPE Private Private Public Private Semi-Private Public Public Public Private Public Public Public Public Private Public Semi-Private Public Semi-Private Public Semi-Private Public Public Public Public

PHONE (956) 686-8801 (956) 787-0910 (956) 541-2582 (956) 581-7408 (956) 428-0766 (956) 381-1244 (956) 423-2010 (956) 541-0394 (956) 412-4110 (956) 943-7520 (956) 565-3351 (956) 316-0444 (956) 585-6330 (956) 928-0440 (956) 581-6267 (956) 381-0964 (956) 687-9591 (956) 350-4000 (956) 689-9904 (956) 548-0191 (956) 580-8770 (956) 943-5678 (956) 726-2000 (956) 216-5970

TexasGolfTournamentGifts.com

210-508-6201

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16

127

ConCan

Harper

Utopia

9

39 77

17

53

Castroville

1604

Comfort

26

473

67

2342 1431

19

8

46 64 85

46

1604

35 75

725

73

28

84

Kyle

25

620

Marble Falls 41 Leander

87 87 Spring Brand

Kingsland

3

130 1825

11

Comanche Trace Course (830) 895-8505 13 39 2801 Comanche Trace, Kerrville, TX 78028

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Practice Fac. Restaurant Banquet Fac. Pro Shop Instructions Ad on Page

Yardage /Rating /Slope

Par

Type: M=Municipal, PR=Private, P=Public, SP= Semi-Private.

Type Hole

Map Number

SAN ANTONIO |HILL COUNTRY | AUSTIN COURSES

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www.comanchetrace.com/courses

Delaware Springs Golf Course (512) 756-8471 41 41 600 Delaware Springs Blvd., Burnet, TX 78611 www.delawaresprings.com

Gateway Hills Golf Course 26 1800 Dimsted Pl., Lackland AFB, TX 78236

(210) 671-3466 1

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www.myjbsa-fss-mwr.com

Lady Bird Johnson Golf Course

(830) 997-4010

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LaLoma Grande Golf Club (210) 222-9386 85 1050 Harry Wurzbach, San Antonio, TX 78209

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53 341 Golfers Loop, Fredericksburg, TX 78624 www.golffredericksburg.com

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www.ftsammwr.com /recreation/golf.html

Landa Park Golf Course

(830) 221-4340

73 180 Golf Course Rd., New Braunfels, TX 78130 www.landaparkgolfcourse.com

Olympia Hills Golf and Conference Center (210) 945-4653 35 12900 Mount Olympus, Universal City, TX 78148 www.olympiahillsgolf.com

Randolph Oaks Golf Course

(210) 652-4653 1

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75 Bldg. 1300 Golf Course Rd, Randolph AFB, TX 78150 www.myjbsa-fss-mwr.com

Riverhill Country Club

PR

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(512) 252-4653

S1

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(830) 257-4982

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(512) 278-1304

S1

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(830) 792-1143

77 100 Riverhill Club Lane, Kerrville, TX 78028 http://riverhillcc.com/golf/

Salado Del Rio Golf Course (210) 222-9386 85 1050 Harry Wurzbach, San Antonio, TX 78209 www.ftsammwr.com/recreation/golf.html

Star Ranch Golf Club 3 2500 FM 685, Hutto, TX 78634 www.starranchgolf.com

Scott Schreiner Golf Course

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17 1 Country Club Lane, Kerrville, TX 78028 www.golfkerrvilletex.com

Shadow Glen Golf Club 11 12801 Lexington St., Manor, TX 78653 www.shadowglengolf.com

Find it all in the Texas Golf Insider

Golf

Dining

Acommodations

TheTexasGolfInsider.com

The Legends Golf Club 67 105 Rangeway Circle, Kingsland, TX 78639

Practice Fac. Restaurant Banquet Fac. Pro Shop Instructions Ad on Page

Yardage /Rating /Slope

Type: M=Municipal, PR=Private, P=Public, SP= Semi-Private.

Par

COURSES SAN ANTONIO | HILL COUNTRY | AUSTIN

Type Hole

Map Number

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(325) 388-8888 41 www.

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The Quarry Golf Club (210) 824-4500 1 www.

64 444 East Basse Rd., San Antonio, TX 78209

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legendsgolftx.net

The Max

(956) 726-2000

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“Pars & Stripes”

6 of the best public courses

by Andrew Marshall 18th Green and Clubhouse Caledonia Golf & Fish Club Photo: Brian Oar, Fairways Photography

Buy your airline ticket, pack your golf clubs and get ready to unleash your inner Jordan Spieth, Rory McIlroy or Jason Day. Here’s six of the best public golf courses in the USA...

SOUTH CAROLINA - Caledonia Golf & Fish Club.

Voted the “Fifth Best New Public Course in America” upon opening its gates in 1994, the accolades have never stopped rolling in for Mark Strantz’s first design on the Grand Strand, Myrtle Beach. It feels like a journey back in time as you drive along the grand entrance lined with rows of centuriesold live oaks draped with Spanish moss to reach the Old South clubhouse.

Often compared to Augusta National for its exquisite style, floral beauty, and velvety fairways and greens, Caledonia has a sleepy ambiance that embraces its Southern roots.

Built on the site of an old rice plantation and TheTexasGolfInsider.com

overlooking the picturesque Waccamaw River, Strantz has artfully crafted the site’s streams, ponds and moss-covered oaks to create a hugely enjoyable test of golf. Amid the scenic backdrop of blooming flowers and colourful shrubs are some memorable holes such as the picturesque par-3 11th with a snaking creek to the green, the par4 13th that doglegs around a giant oak tree and the wonderful closing hole.

The par-4 18th borders the Plantation’s old rice field, and requires a precise drive that sets up a difficult second shot - a forced carry onto a green at the

Par-3, 11th Caledonia Golf & Fish Club Photo: Brian Oar, Fairways Photography

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foot of the clubhouse, where its tradition for onlookers sitting in rocking chairs sipping their drinks, to respond appropriately and sometimes bet on the results of player’s shots.

After your round, pull up a rocking chair on the Wolf Creek Photo: Wolf Creek clubhouse porch and enjoy a cold beer, while taking Set high above the desert floor among in what must be one of red-rock canyons, teeming waterfalls and America’s best 19th-holes. Visit us at glistening creeks, it looks as though strips www.fishclub.com for more information. of green velvet have been laid out on a Mars-like landscape. After the tee shot NEVADA – Wolf Creek at the 579-yard par-5 opening Wolf Creek is Nevada’s Ultimate Golfing Experience hole its a roller-coaster golfing adventure among sculpted hills and canyons with several elevation changes, 98 bunkers and forced carries over streams and ravines.

Developer Doug Clemetson was determined to leave the distinctive natural landscape in place, accepting that a number of non-traditional golf holes would Photo: Andrew Marshall result. On the 2nd tee box, for example, 90 granite steps lead up to the driving area, which is located some Located 77 miles north of Las 11 storeys high.

The 3rd hole plays uphill to Vegas at Mesquite, this is 18 holes of one of the highest points on the course with fantasy golf at its ultimate best. Opened 70-mile views, and par-3 11th’s green is in 2000, this visually captivating an island in a sea of red rock and typical of desert design immediately drew rave Wolf Creek’s dazzling visual appeal. Visit us reviews and Wolf Creek is now firmly at www.golfwolfcreek.com established as one of America’s top public courses. There are precious few courses that can generate a genuine sense of awe for several holes at a stretch and exceedingly rare is the layout that can sustain the feeling for an entire round; Wolf Creek is such a place.

Wolf Creek Photo: Wolf Creek

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a world record. There are several standout holes including two memorable shore-hugging par-3’s; hole-7 (Shipwreck) and hole-17 (Pinched Nerve) with spectacular views over Lake Michigan. Polls regularly acknowledge Whistling Straits as one of America’s top 10 greatest public courses and the Straits Course atWhistling Straits - Hole 7, Shipwreck exciting news for golfers is that it Photo: Kohler Co will be home to the Ryder Cup in 2020. Visit www.americanclubresort.com WISCONSIN – Whistling Straits Billionaire bathroom supplier Herb CALIFORNIA – Pebble Beach Kohler had a dream of building a Scottish“If I had only one more round to style links sculpted along a two-mile play, I would choose to play it at Pebble stretch of Lake Michigan shoreline in Beach. I’ve loved this course from the first Wisconsin, and Pete Dye’s creation in time I saw it. It’s possibly the best in the 1998 exceeded his expectations, going on world,” said 18-time major champion Jack to become a major championship venue.

Nicklaus, and there are few thrills in golf The course first hosted the fourth major of the year, the PGA Championship, in Pebble Beach Golf Links - 18th hole 2004 when Vijay Singh was the champion, Photo: Bart Keagy and since then, Martin Kaymer in 2010 and most recently Jason Day in 2015 have made up the trio of golfers to lift the Wanamaker Trophy.

It’s a rugged, windswept layout which is more akin to an Irish or Scottish links with undulating fairways bordered by wispy fescue grasses, contoured greens and roughly 1000 bunkers, which must be heading for

Straits Course at Whistling Straits Hole 9, Down and Dirty Photo: Kohler Co

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to match teeing off for the first time on Pebble Beach Golf Links, ranked number one on Golf Digest’s ‘100 Greatest Public Courses in America List 2015/2016.’ The course oozes history and atmosphere, and since opening in 1919 it has hosted some of golf’s most prestigious tournaments, including five U.S. Open Championships and the annual AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.

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Pebble Beach Golf Links Photo: Joann Dost

Over the years, the exquisite beauty and unique challenge of Pebble Beach has thrilled golfers and spectators alike.

The course hugs the rugged coastline, providing wide-open vistas, and cliffside fairways and greens, with the ocean’s crashing surf as a backdrop. Some of the most spectacular holes are five to eight, which are on the promontory between Stillwater Cove and the Pacific Ocean.

As you walk in the footsteps of legends, you anticipate each and every storied hole while recounting magical moments in golf history, such as the par-3 17th, where Tom Watson chipped in during the 1982 U.S.Open. Is it worth the eye-watering green fee of $US 495? Yes, at least once in a lifetime.Visit us at www.pebblebeach.com NORTH CAROLINA - Pinehurst No. 2 This star attraction of Pinehurst Resort’s nine courses remains one of the world’s best and most celebrated golf Carolina Hotel - Pinehurst Resort Photo: Pinehurst Resort

courses. Pinehurst no.2 has served as the site of more single golf championships than any course in America and, in 2014, made history again, becoming the first to serve as host to the U.S. Open and U.S.Women’s Open Championships in consecutive weeks. Opened in 1907, Pinehurst No. 2 was designed by Donald Ross, who called it “the fairest test of championship golf I have ever designed.”

Ross was associated with the course for nearly a half-century, improving the course continually until his death in 1948.

Pinehurst no. 2 - 9th hole Photo: Pinehurst Resort

Pinehurst No. 2 is best known for its crowned, undulating greens, which are some of the most complex and widely hailed in the world. In March 2011, the course reopened following a yearlong, $2.5 million restoration by the design firm of Coore & Crenshaw that restored the course’s natural and historic character. Over the years, its champions have included some of the greatest players in history including Walter Hagen, Sam Snead, Ben Hogan, Jack Nicklaus and Payne Stewart.The course will host the U.S. Open once again in 2024.Visit pinehurst.com TheTexasGolfInsider.com

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Pinnacle Course Photo:Troon North

ARIZONA – Troon North Troon North is the essence of the desert golf experience, with two topnotch 18-hole layouts (the Monument and Pinnacle Courses) stretching through natural ravines and foothills of the high Sonoran desert, in the shadows of Pinnacle Peak. Both immaculately groomed courses will challenge you with their lush green fairways bordered by boulders, rock formations and huge Saguaro cactus that can reach heights of 45 feet. It’s the kind

Pinnacle Course - 18th hole Photo:Troon North

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of environment where you half expect to see the ‘Magnificent Seven’ come riding over the horizon on horseback as you tee off.

There are some great holes at Troon North, and none better than the Monument Course’s third, aptly named ‘The Monument.’

This 564-yard, par-5 is an intriguing hole with plenty of risk-reward options, that first requires you to dodge a giant boulder anchored in the middle of the fairway. Over the years Troon North has won a multitude of accolades and awards including Golf Magazine’s “Top 100 Courses You can Play in the US” and Conde Nast Traveler’s “Top 100 Golf Resorts in North America and the Caribbean.” Make sure to add it to your bucket list of places to play in the USA ....go to www.troonnorthgolf.com

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“Spring forward, fall back” is a familiar term that pertains to changing our clocks twice a year, but did you realize it is also related to the real estate market? Indeed, in the spring months, you not only spring forward to get an extra hour of daylight, you should also move forward with buying or selling a property. Don’t fall back and lag behind, as you will miss the best part of the real estate season! If you are ready to sell, it’s time to list. If you are ready to buy, it’s time to start looking. The springtime in Texas, especially in areas with coastal property and vacation homes, is warm enough to tease its residents with the promise of warmer, summer days–that could be enjoyed on or near the water. Vacation homes usually sell quickly during the spring as the new owners prepare for family fun all summer long.

We see our water enthusiasts making plans for boating, fishing, and all water activities available in the area. Coastal, canal and all water-area home sales boom during the spring, usually spending as few as 30-45 days on the market.Therefore, I advise my sellers to wait, if possible, until February or March to list their home, to take advantage of the spring rush. Inland Galveston County is no exception. Spring is a fantastic time to enjoy the cool air and sunny days, while finding the perfect home. None are too far away from a great golf course! If you are looking for an investment property, the effect is no different. As a rental property owner, your phone won’t quit ringing. There are many potential tenants ready for a short-term rental, as a part of the local summer work force; likewise, vacation homes always book quickly in the spring for use in the summer.

Buy now to avoid a very low inventory and much higher prices. Call me to discuss all your real estate questions. Just like spring golf, spring real estate is incredible.

Lee DeForke Jr, Owner/Broker ABR,e-PRO,CNE,SRES,RSPS,GREEN, SFR,MRP,TRLS

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*Price is per night for 2 players/double occupancy staying Sunday - Wednesday. Minimum two (2) night stay required. Price is subject to availability and/or blackout dates. Not applicable to groups (17 or more), conventions, or other discounts or specials.