64. Trip to Deep South and Lower Plains, October 30-November 9, 2016 (Part III)

Trip to Deep South and Lower Plains, October 30-November 9, 2016 (Part III)

18th--par 5 at Barton Creek Fazio Foothills

Barton Creek Resort—Fazio Foothills, November 7, 2016:  Was up very early and around 6:45am was picked up by David W. (GD rater from Houston with whom I played Bluejack National eight days earlier) who then drove us to the course.  David was driving about 500 miles today…Houston to Austin to San Antonio to Houston…just a great guy.  Looking forward to hosting at Brookline as well as Pinehurst.

Getting on the Fazio Foothills course proved more difficult than expected due to my schedule.  Raters are usually welcome but on Mondays not all of Barton Creek’s courses (they have 4) are open, so raters must play with a member on Mondays.  We played with two members, Tom V. (another GD rater) and Bruce L.  Both were good players and good guys.

Fazio Foothills was designed by Tom Fazio and opened in 1987.  Subsequently, another Fazio course (Canyons), an Arnold Palmer courses, and a Coore-Crenshaw design were added.  From 1990-1994 Fazio Foothills played host to the Senior Tour’s Legends event.  Today it stretches to 7125 yards (par 72) from the tips.  In terms of Top 100’s, Foothills was rated #60 in the USA on GD’s 1993 list and #94 on GD’s 1995 list, after which it dropped off GD’s lists.  On the merged GW list, it was #64 on GW’s initial 1997 list and #100 in 1998, and then dropped off.

We were the first group off (in slightly foggy conditions) teeing off at 8:00am…we needed to play in 3:30-3:45 as David and I had a drive of almost 2 hours to the course outside San Antonio, and with Standard Time, the sun would be setting by 5:15pm or so.  The course is much better than I expected.  In general, I am not a big fan of Tom Fazio courses; they are simply beautiful and every thing is laid out right in front of the player…and to my mind, the latter is a problem.  I think architecture is a “chess match” between the architect and the player, and the architect needs to disguise or camouflage aspects of the course and leave the player with a bunch of options to choose from…thereby potentially confusing the player.  One Fazio course I love is Gozzer Ranch (ID) that offers lots of options and disguises aspects of holes superbly. 

Overall I liked the course a lot…but it felt “tired” and in need of a renovation.  I doubt that it has the potential to be a top 100 even with a renovation but it certainly could move up in Golf Digest’s Best in State list for Texas (currently #27 in Texas).

I started by hitting the fairway and green on hole #1 a 460 yard (from the back…378 from my tees) downhill dogleg right par 4.  Then I proceeded to sink a 40’ birdie putt (comments from the peanut gallery about that only happening because the fog obscured the hole location are not appreciated) and was off to the races.  Had a 40 on the front and then got hot on the back with an even par 36 for a 76 (birdied signature hole #16 and missed 6’ putt on 18 or would have birdied both signature holes).  See photo below of 18^th hole at Fazio Foothills…560 yard uphill par 5 (I played from 511). Photo taken from my tee box, you can see a deer crossing the fairway ahead of the forward tee box), and green can be seen just above the canyon below the left side of the hotel (just above and to the left of the bunker to the left of the right tree line).  

By far best round of the trip.  And we were super lucky with the weather.  It was cloudy and threatening all through the round, but only rained for about 3 minutes.

After the round, David and I thanked Tom and Bruce and hightailed it to Briggs Ranch, west of San Antonio.  Drive was about 105 miles.  We arrived around 1:40 and were on the course before 2pm. 

Briggs Ranch Golf Club, November 7, 2016:  Briggs Ranch is a very upscale golf club with large high-end real estate lots about 25 miles west of San Antonio.  It was organized by some members of San Antonio GC who wanted a place with no tee times, etc etc.  In May 2014 the golf course and real estate development was sold to Z Golf Properties of Marblehead, MA. 

The course also was designed by Tom Fazio and I liked it, but it shows definite signs of maintenance budget cutbacks.  The course is 7247 yards long (par 72) and had the “feel” of a very “big” course.  The land, close to Texas Hill Country, has good topography and Fazio makes excellent use of the land.  The signs of maintenance cutbacks are obvious just off the course.  So far the course itself had not been affected, but the greens were visually affected by some sort of disease, although they putted well.

The course was on GW’s merged top 100 in 2006, ’07, and ’08 peaking at #81 in 2008. 

I continued my good play with a 40-41 = 81, playing from 6217 yards, which is fairly long for me these days.

All in all, a course with good bones but in deep need of a big turnaround, which was not visible during our round.  Weather, which was forecast for rain in the afternoon ended up with bright sunny skies for the last 5-6 holes.

After the round, David dropped me off at San Antonio Airport for my flight back to Dallas.  The trip was starting to wind down, and I had somehow survived six straight days of 36 holes/day…even finishing strong on the last day of this stretch.  Flight to Love Field was a little late but with two relatively easy days ahead, I felt I could relax.  Was raining hard when we arrived in Dallas so not sure if Dallas Athletic Club will be open for play tomorrow.

Dallas Athletic Club—Blue Course, November 8, 2016: The DAC started as a downtown Dallas club and opening its initial building in 1935.  In 1954 it purchased a 317-acre plot about 10 miles east of downtown and built two courses designed by Ralph Plummer.  In 1963 the club hosted the PGA Championship on its Blue Course that was won by Jack Nicklaus.  In 1984 Jack Nicklaus led a major renovation of DAC’s Blue Course and then its Gold Course.   The Blue Course’s only presence on a “Top” list was on Golf Digest’s initial 1966 list of USA’s “200 Toughest” courses (listed alphabetically)…note that this was the Plummer design in 1966.  In addition to hosting the 1963 PGA, in 1997 the USGA Mid Amateur Championship was held on the DAC Blue Course.  Today the Blue Course is 6922 yards long (par 72). 

When I left my hotel, the rain had stopped but it had been raining hard through most of the night.  I arrived at the club around 8:00am could see standing water on all the fairways. Thus, I was surprised to be told the course was open for play (carts restricted to cart paths).   But, I figured if they are open, I might as well play. 

I played from the shortest tees on the course…which is the politically correct way of saying that I did not play from the Senior Tees as I usually do, or the Ladies Tees…but from the Old Ladies Tees.  I would guess that something like 70% of the course was affected by “casual water” (per the golf definition…meaning either standing water or water rising from the ground when you take your stance).  I quickly re-learned what a pain in the ass “cart path only” rules were…and started aiming my tee shots in the direction of the cart paths.  I had an 87 and that was with some generous gimmes.  But I did finish my round, just don’t ask me specifics about the course (but it did look like most JWN tracks and suffice it to say that I do not plan a return).  It rained for about 45 minutes during my round…and this of course added to the fun.  In any case, this got me to 16 of 17 courses completed on the trip…one to go tomorrow.

Lesson with Tim Cusick: After the round I dried off my clubs, bag, and clothes as best I could, thanked the staff and was off to Los Colinas…time to catch up with my long time golf coach, Tim Cusick (talk about someone with a tough job…only Pat has a tougher one).

I first met Tim when he was working as golf instructor for Hank Haney at PGA West in Palm Desert, CA in about 1985.  Tim had worked for Hank at Pinehurst Country Club in the early 1980’s and then rejoined Hank in the California Desert.  When Hank moved to Dallas (actually McKinney, TX about 20 miles NE of Dallas) and built his own teaching center (known as the Hank Haney Golf Ranch) in the early 1990’s, Tim moved to Dallas. 

Back when I first started working with Hank in November 1984, many golfing friends asked me why I would spend so much $$ travelling weekends for lessons in Houston, then Palm Desert, and then Dallas.  From a golf standpoint my response is that I probably would have quit the game if I had not…I had been a fairly consistent 8-10 handicap through the 1970’s and early 80’s but had ballooned to a 14 in 1984.  I could hit the ball a very long way, but never knew which fairway I would end up on, or which trees I would end up in.  Starting in November 1984, Hank (with Tim’s able assistance starting two years later) slowly rebuilt my swing.  In 2002-2003 I got down to a 3 handicap (1.9 USGA Index), and right now have a USGA Index (trend) of 7.0…and this is 32 years later…I am 72, not 40!!  From a financial standpoint, in 1992, I invested in HHGR; in 2007 the Golf Ranch closed and my investment liquidated and my annual compound return (pre-tax) worked out to 15.1% per annum.  Trust me, the travel expenses and teaching fees were more than paid for with this return.

By the early 2000’s my lesson mix had become about 2/3 with Tim and 1/3 with Hank…and when Hank started coaching Tiger, his calendar became impossible, and Tim took the position of Director of Golf Instruction at Los Colinas CC (which has hosted the Byron Nelson Classic event on the PGA Tour since 1986). 

In recent years, my trips to see Tim have been more intermittent, but I have always enjoyed these times…as does Pat when she is along.  Hank is the best teacher of anything that I have ever met…and Tim is not far behind.  He has won North Texas Teacher of the Year twice.  Most importantly, he is a wonderful human being and always great to be with.  His wife, Vicki, is just as nice as is their son Carson, who, not surprisingly has become a very good golfer.  If you do get to meet Tim or Vicki, be sure to ask them about their first date at Wrigley Field for a Cubs game.

Tim watched me hit balls for about 45 minutes and I was hitting it great…much like my rounds the day before at Barton Creek and Briggs Ranch.  Tim pointed out some things I was doing better than in previous visits and emphasized the importance of working to continue these.  After the session, I showered, repacked and headed to DFW Airport for my flight to Nashville. 

In case it escaped you, this was November 8, 2016, Election Day.  Pat and I had both voted the previous week in NC.  I, as you are probably not surprised, voted for The Donald.  I had also voted for him in the NC primary in March 2016.  I grew up in Jamaica, Queens, NY, literally 4 blocks from where Donald grew up…but I never met him as he is 2 years younger than I and went to private school.  I watched the news at DFW but it was too early for any meaningful returns.  On the flight to Nashville, the woman next to me also had voted for Trump and we talked about our election expectations…we were both cautiously optimistic.  Early results from OH and FL looked good but it was way too early to tell without knowing exactly where the votes were from.

Immediately upon landing everyone on the plane accessed the web to see what was happening.  Nothing was clear until I was walking through the terminal and saw on one of the TV screens that NC was too close to call and that GA was awarded to Hillary.  I took that combination to mean that it looked very bad and that Hillary would probably win. 

Listening to a conservative radio talk show during my drive to my hotel, they kept talking about good early results from the Rust Belt (MI, OH, WI, PA).  I wasn’t sure if this was real or whether they were simply trying to make their listeners feel good (and/or make themselves feel good).  But when I got to the hotel and could see real numbers on the TV, the outlook suddenly became very clear and, from my standpoint, very very good.  I went to sleep after the AP awarded PA to Trump and Hillary sent John Podesta to speak to her supporters (I will limit my comment to the following non-PC statement…there are now two reasons that Hillary will never be called a stand-up guy).

I woke up at 4:30am and saw the final confirmation…simply wonderful way to end the trip.

Golf Club of Tennessee, November 9, 2016:  I arrive at GCTN around 7:45 and was immediately impressed by the club.  The clubhouse is certainly one of the best modern clubhouses I have seen.  Set mostly in a valley in the hills west of Nashville, this Tom Fazio course stretches to 7184 yards (par 71) and the facility encompasses 317 acres…equal to the size of Dallas Athletic Club’s facility for 36 holes.  The club opened for play in 1991 and is meticulous.  In 1999 and 2000 it ranked #90 on GolfWeek’s merged USA Top 100 list but has never appeared on a Golf Digest or Golf Magazine Top 100 list.

I started on #2 in order to get ahead of two foursomes.  On this par four I canned a 12 footer for a birdie…good start to a good round.  Had a 39-39 = 78.  Liked the course a lot, but it would be even better with some additional tree removal.  I thought the best holes were #3, #5, #8, #10, and #15.  See photo of #10 below…a 200 yard par 3.

10th hole at GC of Tennessee

Overall this is a very special retreat/national club but not in my mind a top 100 course.  But to be fair, remember that I am not a fan of Tom Fazio designs (or Nicklaus designs).

After the round, it was time to get to the airport for my flight back to Raleigh-Durham.  Pat was due to get back from Yeamans Hall that afternoon and I was looking forward to seeing her.  The next day, Tyler Gosselin, the first Asst Pro at Brookline was coming down to CCNC for a Member-Pro event that should be great fun.  We are playing with our good friend John Hill (of CCNC and Toronto Golf) and his pro partner, Adam Kusher, head pro at Berkeley Hall (SC) and the former head pro at CCNC.  Practice round is Thursday and given I have played 17 rounds over the past 11 days, me thinks less than 18 holes may be in order.

Next Post:       Update of CCNC –Dogwood, Pinehurst, NC

                        Update of Old Town Club, Winston-Salem, NC

                        Update of Chechessee Creek Club, Okatie, SC