Horseshoe Bay Golf

HOW HSB’s GOLF RANKS – STATEWIDE & NATIONALLY.

Three weeks ago, the Beacon reported details of a new Golf Digest study that identified “America’s Top-18 Emerging Golf Retirement Regions” - published in the November 13^th issue of Business Week.  Our region, which ranked third among the 18 areas, was defined as a two-county area comprised of Burnet, western Travis and eastern Llano counties - i.e., the Texas Hill Country’s northeastern corner. 
    

HSB falls in the center of the region.  This fact caused us to wonder: Was the region centered on HSB as a mere coincidence or does the action have real significance?   Initially, we took it as a demonstration of Golf Digest’s respect for HSB’s golf.  After sleeping on it, we decided to investigate.  We were surprised at what we found.

We went to Amazon.com and bought the two latest surveys that rank North America’s public and resort golf courses – Golf Digest’s 2006 (7^th) edition of “Best Places to Play Golf” and "Zagat’s 2006/07 Guide to America's Top Golf Courses.”  The Golf Digest study surveys golfers’ actual preferences  and includes more than 4,000 of North America's best public and resort courses.  “More than 20,000 avid golfers rate the courses, their playability, setting, scenery and service . . . the whole golfing experience.”
    

Zagat's guide “rates every course on a series of variables including course, facilities, services, value and price.  In addition, it informs readers whether courses are carts only, make caddies available, have restricted tee times, or are guest-only facilities.  And finally, the guide makes sure golfers are aware of a course's yardage, USGA rating and slope.”
    

"Whether you're planning a golf trip or looking for links near home, whether you shoot in the seventies or nineties and whether you're playing on a budget or your company’s expense account, the 2006/07 guide has everything a golfer needs to find the perfect course," says Nina Zagat, co-founder of Zagat Surveys.

Here’s what we found.
    

Golf Digest identified no 5-Star public-accessible courses in Texas and only 16 in all of America.  However, as identified below, it came up with 24 that rated 4½-Stars, three of which are located in HSB and owned by the Resort.

     GOLF DIGEST’s 4½-STAR PUBLIC-ACCESS GOLF COURSES in TEXAS

        1)  Austin – Barton Creek’s Fazio Canyons.
        2)  Austin – Barton Creek’s Fazio Foothills.

        3)  Bee Cave – Falconhead.
        4)  Cypress – Blackhorse South.

        5)  El Paso – Painted Dunes Desert (27 holes).
        6)  Ft. Worth – The Links at Waterchase.
        7)  Frankston - Pine Dunes.

        8)  Graford - The Cliff’s on Possum Kingdom Lake.

        9)  Grapevine – Cowboys.

        10)  Horseshoe Bay - Applerock.
        11)  Horseshoe Bay - Ramrock.
        12)  Horseshoe Bay - Slickrock.
        13)  Irving – Four Seasons.
        14)  Katy – Meadowbrook Farms.
        15)  Lufkin - Crown Colony. 
        16)  New Ulm - The Falls.     

        17)  Round Rock – Teravista.
        18)  San Antonio - La Cantera’s Palmer.
        19)  San Antonio - La Cantera’s Resort.
        20)  Sealy - River Ridge (27 holes).
        21)  Spring Branch – River Crossing.
        22)  The Colony – The Tribute.
        23)  The Woodlands – The Oak
    

The study taught us that HSB’s golf separates it not only from all other resorts in Texas but also from all other cities in Texas.  No other Texas city or resort has as many 4½-Star courses that are accessible by the public.  In fact, only two other Texas cities and only two other Texas resorts have as many as two 4½–Star courses.  Austin has its Fazio Canyon and Fazio Foothills courses at Barton Creek and San Antonio has the Palmer and Resort courses at La Cantera. 

Better yet, when the Resort’s Nicklaus Signature course, certain to be at least another 4½-Star, becomes operational in 2008, HSB will rank has having more public-access courses that are 4½-Stars or better than any city of its size in the country, save one – Kiawah Island, South Carolina (population 1,163).  Kiawah Island has one 5-Star and four 4½-Star courses.

In fact, besides Kiawah Island, there are very few areas of any size that will beat HSB in this regard - the best known being Monterey/Pebble Beach, California; Myrtle Beach, South Carolina; and Scottsdale, Arizona.  Note that Escondido doesn’t count as a fifth 4½-Star or better course for HSB because it’s not open to the public.

Among Golf Digest’s 24 4½-Star public-accessible courses in Texas, The Colony’s The Tribute Course was ranked as its best, whereas the Zagat Survey had this course third best.  Zaget ranked Barton Creek’s Fazio Canyons course as the state’s best public-accessible course and Frankston’s Pine Dunes course as second best.

Regarding USGA Course Ratings, Bee Cave’s Falconhead has the highest rating (75.0) among the 24, followed by Cypress’s Blackhorse South (74.7), HSB’s Ramrock (74.5), Ft. Worth’s The Links at Waterchase (74.5), and Frankston’s Pine Dunes (74.4).  Note that all of these measurements are from the back tees.  The USGA’s highest Slope Rating for the 24 went to Fort Worth’s The Links (143) and Lufkin’s Crown Colony (143), followed by La Cantera’s Palmer (142), HSB’s Ramrock (140), Grapevine’s Cowboy (140), and Round Rock’s Teravista (140).
         

Zagat does not use Star rankings.  It ranks on the scale of 10 to 30, with #30 being best.  It identified only one course - Whistling Straits in Kohler, Wisconsin - as deserving of its highest ranking (#30) and only 13 in the country that deserved its #29 rank.
    

America has only 11 public-access courses that received both a 5-Star ranking from Golf Digest and either a #29 or #30 ranking from Zaget.  The 11 are Pebble Beach and Spyglass Hill on California’s Monterey Peninsula; the Bandon Dunes and Pacific Dunes courses at Bandon Dunes, Oregon; Blackwolf Run at Kohler, Wisconsin; Bethpage’s Black course on Long Island, New York; the TPC course at Sawgrass, Jacksonville, Florida; Arcadia Bluffs at Traverse City, Michigan; Bulle Rock in Baltimore, Maryland; Madden’s on Gull Lake’s Classic in Brainerd, Minnesota; and Whistling Straits at Sheboygan, Wisconsin.
     

Zagat ranks HSB’s Ramrock course as eighth best among public-access courses in Texas and second best in central Texas.  It has the Resort’s Applerock course ranked 10^th best in Texas and third in central Texas, and the Resort’s Slickrock course 15^th best in the state and fourth best in central Texas.  Zegat also ranks La Cantera’s two 4½-Star courses fourth and sixth best in Texas and first and second best in south Texas.

Our investigation was an eye-opener for us.  Although we knew HSB offered world championship golf, everyone here has heard that, we had no idea that: 1) our small Resort had 1/8th of the best public-access courses in all of Texas; 2) HSB offered more great golf to the public than any other city in all of Texas; and 3) HSB will soon have more 4½-Star or better courses than offered by any other city of HSB's size (save one) in all of America.     
    

Folks, this is immense!  For beginners, the state of Texas has six of the 21 largest cities in America.  Pardon me, this is not only something to take note of, it’s something to write home about!  In fact, let me write Mom a quick note - before I forget. 

In summary, we have learned that HSB Resort's three courses are respected nationally as magnificent offerings of truly unique proportions, far more important statewide and nationally than most might imagine.  And that’s with HSB’s youngest course - Applerock, built in 1985 – now 21 years old.  Just think how out-of-this world HSB must have been at the end of 1985, right before the price of oil collapsed, sending Texas, Oklahoma and Louisiana into their worst depression since the 1930s.  HSB had reached the very top; everything was new; HSB was one of THE in-places in America, with the largest private airport in the country; today’s competitor, Kiawah Island had only one golf course; but the collapse took HSB and the oil patch down before very many knew how truly great the Resort had become.
    

Well, it's all coming into focus.  While HSB and the oil patch struggled from 1886 through 1993 relative to the rest of the country, new developments emerged and others had a chance to catch up.  But our time has come once again.

It’s now easier to understand why our two-county area (Burnet, western Travis and eastern Llano) is ranked #3 among “America’s Top-18 Emerging Golf Retirement Regions.”  Golf Digest knows our area is anchored by HSB’s great offerings and it knows the economy of HSB and the surrounding exceptionally attractive Texas Hill Country is on a roll unmatched in its history, driven by you-know-what, which will be going strong for many of our lifetimes.  

In coming months, we’ll be reading more and more from wider and wider sources about how our two-county area in general and HSB in particular is emerging as a Retirement Mecca, Extraordinaire – one of America’s very best, yet still noted as laid back and friendly!   However, our area is blessed for a multitude of significant reasons.  We’re not just golf.  We’re all very fortunate to be here!!!