THE TEXAS GOLF INSIDER - Spring 2023

Award-winning dining, a booming craft beer scene, luxurious resorts, and exceptional year-round golf on courses along the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail await you in Alabama. Plus, with Jerry Pate’s Kiva Dunes and Arnold Palmer’s Craft Farms in Gulf Shores, from the mountain lakes to the Gulf Coast, you can take it all in.

www.GolfAlabama.org

Renaissance Ross Bridge Golf Resort & Spa on the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail, Birmingham

The Alamo City Golf Trail is a 501(c)(3) non-profit that operates the City of San Antonio's golf facilities. We offer EIGHT unique golf experiences for you to enjoy.

Be sure to play Historic Brackenridge Park, the original site the Texas Open and the oldest municipal golf course in Texas.

Brackenridge Park - Est 1916

Cedar Creek - Est 1989

Mission del Lago - Est 1989

Northern Hills - Est 1969

Olmos Basin - Est 1963

Riverside - Est 1929

San Pedro - Est 1950

Willow Springs - Est 1923

Letter From The Publisher

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

Director of Marketing: Melanie Grafe, National Office: 979-732-1909

Joe Valentino, DFW Office: 940-735-1265

Durwyn Williams, Houston Office: 832-978-6929

Editor: Ava Ratchman

Contributing Writers: Steve Habel,, Art Sticklin, Shane Sharp, Andrew Marshall

Contributing Photographers: Connie Black, Mark Lindsay, Steve Giles, Justin Becker, Office Manager/Social Media: Marcede Pullen

3 ANNUAL EDITIONS

Copyright ©2020 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

For the Texas Golf Insider’s 25th anniversary issue, in addition to being the publisher, I feel especially honored to be part of a vital resource for the game of golf in this great state of Texas. It’s hard to believe that two and a half decades ago we launched a golf magazine with the vision of catering to golfers and showcasing the beautiful Central Texas Hill Country (Austin, San Antonio) to travelers, vacationers, corporate visitors and the thousands of northern winter friends that visit this part of Texas annually. Never back then did I think we would grow to cover the entire state and beyond and be the only statewide Publication for Golf in Texas, and the oldest. I have had some time now to look back and reflect a little. Starting a golf magazine in the late 90’s during the Tiger Woods era was more fun, exciting and made it a little easier to get our first edition off the ground. It was crazy.

Now don’t get me wrong, it hasn’t been all fun and games because there were many times we were tested. The 2008 recession, Hurricane Harvey in 2017, several devastating floods that hit South Texas, not to mention a worldwide pandemic. Oh! And don’t forget the many years when all I heard was print is dead. Those were some lean years. But not once did I think about quitting.

After all these years I will continue to believe there will always be a place for print, because there is always going to be more to write about, courses to play, getaways to travel to and you, our readers, have proved that for 25 years. I took a few pages in this issue to reflect on the many relationships we have built over the years, answer a few questions, and to give a little insight on what the future holds for The Texas Golf Insider. I want to thank our great staff, writers, distributors, customers and you, our readers, who have allowed us to serve you for the past 25 years. Happy Anniversary to all of us! And Cheers to many more.

Mike Ratchman

Melanie Grafe

National sales for the Texas Golf Insider, over 15 yrs experience in marketing and advertising. CEO of e-Graphics Marketing and Advertising providing marketing and graphic design services.

Joe Valentino

A forty year veteran of the construction industry, he’s marketed products all over the world.

Golf is his passion and he has been fortunate enough to play top courses in seven countries. Joe loves calling on North Texas courses for TGI.

Durwyn Williams

Houston Marketing Director Durwyn brings over 30 years of sales and marketing experience in Technology and Golf. He promotes a creative approach to building strong and profitable partnerships with his customers.

Steve Habel

Contributing golf writer and correspondent for TGI, 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.

Art Stricklin

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

Attention to detail, programs for members help Golf Club of Texas rise above the

rest

By Steve Habel, Contributing Writer The Tin Cup

There’s never been a doubt about the quality and playability of the course at the Golf Club of Texas, and that has not changed. But over the past year the southwest San Antonio facility has enjoyed a surge in popularity because of its renewed attention to detail and a series of new programs designed for players to get the most bang for their buck.

The Golf Club of Texas has always been considered the “friendliest course in Texas.” Now that its course and facility conditioning has been upgraded and its player-friendly attributes enhanced,

it has become the “go-to” course for players in the booming section of the Alamo City off Highway 90.

Under the direction of Bo LeHew, the Golf Club of Texas’ General Manager & COO of Fortune Golf Management, improvements are in place with many more underway. Those include the first thing players encounter when entering the property – the leveling and repaving of the road to the clubhouse and the parking lot, a move that immediately shows visitors that things have changed, and for the better.

“And that’s not all,” LeHew explains. “We’ve also made a ton of improvements on the course itself, including new sand in the bunkers, new Zoysia sod to repair areas where it was needed and the little things that make a golfer’s round special, like cleaning up places on the edges of the course to esthetically enhance the experience.”

“We are literally leaving no stone unturned out there.”

One thing that’s always set apart the Golf Club of Texas is the way a golfer is treated on the course and while using the

facility’s cool amenities after the round. Because of that the facility had already earned a spot in our hearts and a place on the list of “must plays” in South Texas.

“We all take great pride in what we have here,” said LeHew, whose enthusiasm and outgoing and friendly personality set the standard for his team. “Our staff is amazing and their efforts to provide our guests the best experience possible allow the Golf Club of Texas to stand out.”

The facility has also received the confirmation of a new fleet of Yamaha

Practice Green # 1

golf carts, a prize in today’s world of supply chain challenges.

The course has always been great

The course at the Golf Club of Texas, located on a 1,900-acre site on the edge of the Hill Country, incorporates the rugged South Texas landscape at the edge of a lush, sprawling flood plain.  It has always been a showcase and turns up the fun factor a notch or two with its Roy Bechtol-designed, links-style course that’s turfed throughout with different strains of Zoysia grass.

The Golf Club of Texas was originally designed by Bechtol, the Austin-based golf course architect and master planner, as a Lee Trevinosignature track. It opened in 1999 and in 2014 was renovated, reworked and re-routed, with the nines switched.

Four-holes wide in spots and following a meandering creek, the course provides a core-golfing experience at its best. Indigenous plants are juxtaposed against surprisingly wide fairways and mostly large and challenging greens.

#15 Green

#14 and #15 Green

“You really have the feeling of isolation when you are on the course, and I know that’s what was wanted from the start,” LeHew said. “But that attribute is rare in this region where neighborhoods are sprouting up every day. I love the way our course plays and the sensation that you are constantly surrounded by golf and nature.”

There’s the feeling at the Golf Club of Texas that golf was the most important aspect of the site. And while the course is challenging, it is rarely

punitive, allowing the golfer to play to his or her strengths. There are places you can miss a shot or two, but the routing provides ways to get those shots back with good execution.

One of the calling cards at the Golf Club of Texas is that it’s the only course in the United States whose putting surfaces are Zoysia, an experiment that was embraced nine years ago when it was renovated. The grass makes every lie in the fairway seem like it’s on a tee and it repels pitch marks on putting surfaces

#12 Green

Special Event Fun

while allowing the greens to remain receptive to approach shots.

Golfers will also love the facility’s expanded practice area, which includes a dual-sided driving range and a private teaching area. Two lighted practice putting greens have also been fashioned in the shadow of the updated clubhouse, one with some challenging slopes that acts as its own place for fun and competition.

New food options and member perks

The circular outside bar is adjacent to the clubhouse and driving range and is the perfect place to recap the day on the course, to settle up bets, and enjoy

a few more minutes with friends, both those you knew before the round and those you’ve made during your stay.

The Golf Club of Texas has added to its food offerings with a new halfpound hamburger on the menu made with fresh, never-frozen Angus beef. LeHew couldn’t stop raving about the burger, saying his customers are calling it “the best in San Antonio.”

LeHew has also upped the ante for the club’s members, scheduling monthly tournaments in which participants earn points toward the end-of-year grand prize of a Royal Caribbean cruise for two.

“We want to encourage participation, of course, but we also feel our members deserve something big for being a part of our club and its success story,” LeHew said.

The bottom line is that the Golf Club of Texas is, in itself, something big. And that’s why we keep coming back.

Lighted Driving Range

GCT LightBar

Texas Golf Insider magazine celebrates a

quarter-century

in businessIt’s all about Golf

By Steve Habel, Contributing Writer

A lot has changed about golf in Texas since 1998 and Texas Golf Insider magazine (and its earlier renditions) has been there all along to chronicle those changes. The much-awarded magazine you are now holding in your hands – or reading online –has been a constant in the Lone Star State’s golf landscape for a of a century, never been Owner and publisher Mike Ratchman deserves the lion’s share of credit for the continued success of Texas Golf Insider.

Through the years Ratchman

has adapted with the times and flourished by making his customers and supporters understand their importance.

The people that have had their courses profiled and publicized by Texas Golf Insider over the past 25 years are quick to credit Ratchman’s work ethic, his stickto-itiveness, his attention to detail and his never-wavering creed to always keep his word as both rare and welcome in the publishing business.

Ratchman and his publication are survivors in a world where the weak are cut from the flock.

It says a lot that Texas Golf Insider is Texas’ only statewide golf publication, with magazines placed in golf shops and clubhouses from Amarillo to South Padre Island, from Beaumont to El Paso, and out of state in golf travel destinations such as Louisiana, Oklahoma and New Mexico.

Adam Grosch, director of golf at Vaaler Creek Golf Club in Blanco, credits Ratchman for developing and nurturing

Survival and success attributed to hard work, the fostering of relationships and attention to detail

a marketing plan that has helped his course’s success.

“I’ve known Mike almost from the start of Vaaler Creek Golf Club back in 2007,” Grosch explained. “In the beginning, all of our marketing was focused on Rockin’ J Ranch land sales, but Mike put together a package for us to start a little advertising in his magazine. I got quite a few comments from new customers saying that they had seen us in the magazine when they picked it up at other courses, and actually a bunch that had picked it up at Hooters.”

“It wasn’t long before we got involved in the radio show and what has evolved into the podcast show. Over the years we have

About the only thing more impressive than Texas Golf Insider magazine is Ratchman’s enthusiasm and constant optimism, sometimes in the face of disasters like hurricanes and pandemics and obstacles such as recession, supply chain issues, the lack of paper and shortages in the work forces.

“Mike is one of the few people I know who can match my intensity,” said Bo LeHew, the Golf Club of Texas’ General Manager an COO of Fortune Golf Management. “He’s good people. From the moment I met him I knew we would be friends.We love doing business with him because he cares and he does what he says he will do.”

Mike Ratchman, the magazine, the online presence and the Golf After Hours Show.”

Ratchman and his magazine have been awarded by the Southern Texas PGA for their contribution to golf in south Texas. And just last year, Ratchman was asked to be on the prestigious voting panel to choose honorees for the Texas Golf Hall of Fame.

“Mike has been a big supporter of golf for many years, said Thomas Hutton, the executive director of the Southern Texas PGA. “The STPGA appreciates his support in sharing our story of the hard work that our members do each day and all the initiatives that the STPGA is involved in to grow the game.”

“And his magazine gets results for us. There have been challenges for us all, but he’s always been there. That means a lot.”

Without being too self-serving, we sat down with Ratchman as he was getting the

Interview & cocktail with Singer/Golfer Mickey Gilly

Masters winner Patrick Reed at Horseshoe Bay

Arnold Palmer at Grand Opening, Palmer Course SA

Spring 2023 edition of this magazine ready for publication.We had a few questions for him about how the magazine started, how he’s kept it at the forefront of the attention of the state’s golfers and some of the secrets of his success.

First of all, give me some background about how the magazine started.

Oh, man that goes back 25 years. I was running a driving range in San Antonio and all I used to get was people making phone calls wanting to know which golf course in town to go play. It was a part-time job of mine – I only did that so I could hit free buckets of balls –and I loved it.

It got to a point where I would tear out a sheet from the telephone book and put it down by the phone. I’d ask the caller where they were in town so I could tell them what would be the closest golf course that they could go play.

Meanwhile, I told my buddy after we were hitting balls and having a couple of beers one night, “you know, I think I spend more damn time on the phone telling people where to go play golf. My buddy said somebody needs to come up with some sort of directory of some kind,” and

Antonio and he knew someone that might be interested in investing in something like that.Within six months we were doing analysis of the market. (A guide for) San Antonio just couldn’t cut it by itself and one for the Hill country couldn’t either. But a magazine that would support AustinSan Antonio and the Hill Country made sense. So in 1998 we published our first magazine. And the rest is history.

How long were you affiliated with Golfers Guide?

I was there for pretty close to 15 years. It was called “The Golfer” at the very beginning, but then the Golfers Guide came in and bought up all the print contracts that we had with The Golfer magazine. And those guys wined and dined us, flew us to Vegas, you know, and really gave us a deal that we couldn’t refuse. Man, they were in 37 different markets, they had a print company, and they took care of us really well. They had online services that we never had as a small company. And they did very, very well by us. And so we stuck with them for a long time.

I was an independent so I wasn’t company owned.

Jack Nicklas and Caddie Jack Jr.

4-some at George Strait Charity Event with David Feritey

About 10 years in, my partner investor told me he wanted to sell his part of the magazine and gave me a price I couldn’t refuse. And so for a year after that I stayed with Golfers Guide magazines, and when that went away, I went ahead and decided to pick up the mantle as Texas Golf Insider magazine.

All the relationships that I had had from the Golfers Guide magazine went over into the Texas Golf Insider. That was 10 years ago – I can hardly believe it’s 10 years. Now we’re the only statewide publication that’s left out there. It’s been a lot of fun, but it’s not an easy business.

So what’s been the secret to your survival and your success?

You have to work this to make it all happen, and it’s a lot of hard work.We’ve had a lot of people you know…all the writers are Texans, all the distributors are from Texas, our printer is from Texas. My wife Ava is our editor, my daughter is our office manager and my grand kids do distribution so this company is Texas born and raised.

What we went through in 2008 was a test because the economy just went in the toilet. Fortunately, you know, we’re a very conservative company.We worked hard, we played hard and we saved hard, you know, so we were the ones that were left standing when it was over.

Once everything settled I had several customers throw me a bone so I could keep my lights on. And we’ve had to endure a hurricane or two. That was a very rough time because not only did we lose advertisers in Houston, but we also lost all of our equipment over there.We lost all of our (magazine) racks. That was rough. Then in 2020 the pandemic hit and you would think that was going to take me to my knees, you know, that I’m going to be done. There’s no way I’m getting out of this one. But who would have thought that someone would say “this virus does not like the heat or sun, so go for a bike ride or walk. And if you’re going to walk you’re going to play golf.” And you know what happened? Everybody who used to play golf got back into it, then everybody who played golf played more because they’re working out of their home and now they could work their schedule around their tee times. And it still has not slowed down. How long that’s going to last I don’t know, but we’re all enjoying it right now. You know, so coming around to the 25th anniversary, sure we’ve been up and down but you know, I think a company that works with as much passion for the game as we do is going to get through it.We were lucky enough to figure it out.

Those personal relationships paid huge dividends, right?

It really does come down to when you say you’re going to do something,

Youngest reader ever, Grand daughter Gracie Pullen

It all started with a twelve year stint at ESPN

you do it and you do it to the best of your ability. If you do it really well, it travels pretty quickly in our industry. It really does.You know, I have had some great relationships over the last 25 years, and I’m still in contact with them all, whether they are an advertiser or not. People will call and say “hey, I’m at a new place and I need to get my information out.” It’s always good to hear from old friends.

I also think our success has to be attributed to that fact that every place they go they see our magazine in some form, whether it’s sitting at a counter, it’s in a bathroom, or it’s on their way out the door. And let me tell you when there’s an empty rack, that’s a good thing. There’s a lot of people that call me and say, “we need more magazines,” and that’s a plus. That means people are picking it up.

You’ve had to make decisions about continuing as a print publication in an age when most are going to a digital only format. How did you decide on that balance?

I think the digital book does have a place in our market. There’s no doubt. I mean, because of some of the younger folks that are coming into the game, you know, have something right on the phone.

Their phone is an extension to their hand now, so we have to be there.We have a more enhanced digital magazine that plays really well into the internet market. Our digital platforms are going to be more interactive than they ever have been before, with videos, commercials and recorded interviews. Readers will have links to all of our customers websites to purchase products and make tee times.

That’s going to be launched right at around when the magazine comes out for the Spring issue. And I will say to this day that I have checked with many of my customers in reference to if I just went completely digital and that didn’t fly. I think the combination compliments each other. There’s something psychological about having something in your hand to read. I’m that guy, and I think many of my customers and readers are too.

It has really been nothing other than people picking up the magazine, and they wouldn’t do that if we were not giving them information about golf in Texas and about what’s going on in the golf industry. As long as people keep picking it up, and customers keep taking my phone call,you know I’m probably going to stick around for a while longer.

Media Partners:

Driftwood Golf & Ranch Club

Finishing Kick Adds Sweet

Music to Powerful Central Texas Drama

By Art Stricklin, ContributingWriter

Like a stirring symphony, a great golf course may start slowly, even plainly, but raises to a great crescendo by the time you putt out on the 18th green. Augusta National, Pebble Beach and the Old Course at St. Andrews are all prime examples.

For a better and much closer Texas showcase, you can look to the outstanding Tom Fazio designed private layout, Driftwood Golf & Ranch Club just south of Austin in the small town of Driftwood,Texas.

While the outstanding layout, a product of the highly successful Discovery Land Company, has been open for just over a year, the final nine holes opened in 2022 and the result was a spectacular finish to an already satisfying design.

“I always thought the entire course would be really good, but I think the last holes have a chance to be very, very special,” said Driftwood president Casey Paulson.

Photos coutesy of Matter Films - Hole 4

Back Nine Holes

“The final four holes at Driftwood are poised to become some of the finest finishing holes in golf” added course architect Tom Fazio, who has seen plenty in his time.

Add the new elaborate practice facilities plus the indoor teaching center and it’s clear a finished Driftwood property is more than holding its own as one of the great new golf outlets in the Lone Star State.

“People will expect it to be good because it’s Hill Country, because Discovery Land Company is involved, because Fazio is involved - all those expectations are high,” Fazio said. “When they come here and see it, they will be shocked because it’s even more substantial than their expectations could lead them to believe.”

“When the top players come here, they may never leave the practice facility because it’s the best they’ll ever see. When they get to play the course, they’ll never want to leave.”

The par 72 course is routed through some huge mature hardwoods and native Texas brush which was once belonged to the famed Salt Lick BBQ Empire, but what makes the closing stretch so enticing is the presence of very scenic or dangerous water.

It clearly comes into play on several of the back nine holes which could drown or buoy any promising round.

The par 5 15th hole is a challenging layout which can play 594 yards from the very back tees and forces you to plot your way strategically to reach the green in

Holes 1-4-5

Hole 18

regulation. Water comes into play all along on the right side and is more dangerous as you get closer to the green.

The par 4 16th hole takes you on a drive over a large lake right off the tee box and then has a Texas size cascading stream all the way down the right edge of the fairway to snag any wayward approach shots. There is a large fire pit and chairs to the right of the green, on the other side of the water, to allow your friends and competitors to cheer or jeer any of your efforts.

On the par 3 17th, it measures 191 yards from the member tees and much of the distance is covered by lake, making your tee shot all or nothing if you’re looking for a par or birdie.

The finishing hole, the par 4 18th, has another long drive with more bunkering and trees near the final green.

“Our variety of tees, ranging from 5,004 to 7,720 yards, offers a challenge for the best tour players as well as easygoing playability for novice golfers. The front nine offers solid holes that require precision shot making, while the elevation of the back nine has some of the most dramatic stretches of golf holes in Austin that create challenging strategic options for players,” said Driftwood head professional Tim Phelps.

Of course all that Texas Hill Country scenery and watery danger can make a person powerfully hungry and, of course, the signature Discovery Land comfort stations come in play in a Texas sized way.

“Driftwood has taken the traditional golf

Sunset Comfort Station

Hole 17 Aerial shot

experience and elevated it to an all-encompassing thrill for the spirit and revival for the senses,” said Texas golf legend and Driftwood Senior VicePresident Brent Buckman.

“Between the Golf House, Starter Silo, two Comfort Stations, known as Sunrise and Sunset, and a cheeky “JPH Bar” (Just Past Halfway) located just past halfway at Hole #10 green, golfers are never more than three holes from a place to grab refreshments served with Discovery’s signature level of exceptional hospitality.”

Of course, in keeping with the, ‘Everything is Bigger in Texas,’ theme, not only does the comfort station offer snacks and cold drinks, but also a Beer Garden with rotating seasonal taps, live fire cooking and other relaxing and refreshing items.

But with all the back nine fireworks, that doesn’t mean the front nine at Driftwood is totally overlooked. After a pleasant opening through the trees on the first tee box, the best holes are the par 4

4th hole which asks players to hit a long tee ball to get into place for a challenging approach, along with giant trees and bunkering to a large and undulating green.

The par 4 8th hole is a dogleg left, but a very fun risk-reward drivable challenge for many players.

With the practice facility, short game park, golf house and full 18 holes all now open at Driftwood, the symphony is nearly complete, with members and guests enjoying the sweet music of Texas’ next great golf experience.

Short Game Park

JPH Bar

The Comfort of a well built home keep sales strong at Blanco’s Rockin’ J Ranch

By Steve Habel,

Sales are still going strong here at Rockin J Ranch, with lot sales rolling and literally hundreds of homes under construction in the community that has become the pacesetter for excellence in the Texas Hill Country.

Where other neighborhoods are still on the drawing board and with home sales across the area slowed by high interest rates and the recession, Rockin J Ranch has bucked the trend. The highly desirable private community five miles south of Blanco continues to be successful where others have been wracked by inflation.

“We have seen little, if any, slowdown for our homesite sales, and we are getting closer and closer to selling out Rockin J Ranch with every day that passes,” said Ryan Brubaker,

Rockin’ J Ranch’s sales manager since nearly Day 1. “People genuinely love and appreciate what we have here.”

Rockin’ J Ranch is a 1,064-acre luxury neighborhood of spectacular Hill Country homes and homesites set amongst rolling fields of flowers and stands of oak and cedar trees. And at its centerpiece is one of the region’s most enjoyable and recognized golf courses –Vaaler Creek Golf Club.

Located less than an hour north of San Antonio and just a half-hour further drive from Austin, the community differentiates itself from the many others in the region. It’s setting is bordered by sprawling, green-grassed ranches and provides a sense of isolation that’s becoming just a bit too scarce these days.

Contributing Writer

Rockin’ J Ranch has grown up over the 20 years since development began on the spectacular Hill Country neighborhood that was once just rolling fields of flowers and stands of oak and cedar trees. There were 1,800 homesites plated for the community, and all but about 100 have been sold since 2004.

Rockin’ J Ranch was the brainchild of Colonel Lee Roper, an El Paso businessman and 24-year Army veteran who was entranced by the land that would become the community from Day 1 more the three decades ago.

Roper has helped bring families to the region via dozens of successful projects through his company, Rinco of Texas, a firm that has been ultimately responsible for developing more than 30 properties across the Hill Country.

“We’ve developed and sold more than

8,000 tracts of land over the past 30plus years,” Col. Roper said. “I don’t think anybody else has done that.”

Brubaker concurred, saying “the interest in this community and what Colonel Roper envisioned from the start has not waned and continues to grow. Everyone wants a little piece of the heaven we have here, and we try to help them.”

One of the earmarks of Roper’s communities – including Rockin’ J Ranch – is its use of a centralized water and sewer systems rather than the well water and septic fields used in the majority of other Hill Country de-

velopments. That matters because water is a precious resource and so scarce in the region, even more so now than when Rockin’ J Ranch first came on line.

The Colonel still offers in-house financing for his lots (“we still make deals on a handshake,” Brubaker said). He continues to live on the same ranch he originally developed, and he still comes into the office to sign checks and have lunch with his team.

Rockin’ J Ranch feels like home – but that was the plan.

Colonel Lee Roper

Ryan Brubaker, Real Estate Manager

Texas Golf Hall Of Fame Where Eagles Fly

In case you haven’t figured it out yet, Texas is the greatest state for golf in the country. And it isn’t even close, according to Executive Director of the Texas Golf Hall of Fame, Katie Manor.

Ten of the 30 U.S. Ryder Cup Captains, 85 major winners, 897 LPGA/ PGA Tour winners, are all individuals from the Lone Star State, and every single one is a member of the prestigious Texas Golf Hall of Fame.

And those numbers don’t include future members like Stacy Lewis, Jordan Spieth, or Scottie Scheffler.

Did we mention 24 of the 164 of the World Golf Hall of Fame members (15%) are in the Texas Golf Hall of Fame? Our state has produced generations

of incredible golf talent, and not just professional players. Six of the 67 PGA of America Golf Professionals of the Year are from Texas. 25 NCAA Division I Men’s Golf Team Titles have been won by Texas universities (including a record 16 by the University of Houston). And 13 U.S Amateur titles have been claimed by Texan men and women. When listed all together, the stats are truly staggering. Every two years the Texas Golf Hall of Fame recognizes up to five membership categories. They are Amateur Player, Professional Player, Golf Professional/ Teacher, Lifetime Achievement, and Texas Registry of Historic Golf Courses. There are stringent requirements to be considered a finalist, including a

From left to right: Ronny Glanton, Ira Green (President of Houston Country Club), Barney Adams, Gordon Johnson, Brad Elder & Ryan Palmer

professional having won at least four times on the LPGA or PGA Tour. Just 150 individuals and 14 golf courses have been inducted into the Texas Golf Hall of Fame since its inception in 1978.

The Class of 2022 (Ryan Palmer, Brad Elder, Barney Adams, Ronny Glanton, PGA, Gordon Johnson, PGA, and Houston Country Club) were inducted last October.

Professional Player - Ryan Palmer

Amateur - Brad Elder

Lifetime Achievement - Barney Adams

Golf Professional/Teacher - Gordon Johnson

Golf Professional/Teacher - Ronny Glanton

Texas Registry of Historic Golf CoursesHouston Country Club

On October 17th, 2022 the Texas Golf Hall of Fame inducted its newest individuals and golf course into its storied membership in a day-long event called The Gathering of Eagles.

Until Manor’s hiring in October 2021 (she is the first ever full-time employed staff member), that was the extent of what was done to celebrate the membership. During COVID, The Texas Golf Hall of Fame Board of Directors conducted a feasibility study to determine the future

of the organization. Texas golf, and Texas Golf Hall of Fame members, deserved so much more in recognition and awareness of achievements, and the Board moved quickly to bring on someone who could live and breathe the Hall every day.

Future site of Texas Golf Hall of Fame Walk

Texas Golf Hall of Fame Ceremony at San Antonio Country Club

Since starting in her role, Manor has made sure the future of the Texas Golf Hall of Fame is bright. Starting with social media followers, which have grown from a little over 100 in December 2021 to almost 3,000 at the end of 2022, there are big plans in place to properly honor the past, celebrate the present, and create the future greats of Texas golf. The Hall is making moves to ensure its members, and Texas golf, is acknowledged on a grand and lasting scale.

The Texas Golf Hall of Fame will unveil a new physical structure in the fall of 2023 at PGA Frisco on the Northern Texas PGA’s campus. The Frisco anchor site will be an addition to the Texas Golf Hall of Fame’s footprint in the state, joining the Texas Golf Walk of Fame at Brackenridge Park Golf Course.

“The opportunity to have a prominent presence on the Northern Texas PGA campus at PGA Frisco is an incredible addition to the Texas Golf Hall of Fame, and significantly helps us reach our goal to bring as much awareness as possible to the greatest golf hall of fame in the country,” said Manor. “It is the modern home of golf in America and Texas golf will be on display in all ways.”

In addition, the Hall has a new partnership with Veritex Community Bank - the Official Bank of the Texas Golf Hall of Fame and Presenting Sponsor of the future Texas Golf Hall of Fame anchor site at PGA Frisco. Veritex’s commitment to golf in Texas is unparalleled and felt at all levels. It sponsors 23 LPGA/PGA/ Korn Ferry/Champions Tour players, including TGHoF Member Ryan

Site of Texas Golf Hall of Fame structure at PGA Frisco

Palmer and 2022 Masters Champion Scottie Scheffler. It is also the Title Sponsor of both the Veritex Bank Championship Korn Ferry Tour event and the historic Veritex Bank Byron Nelson Junior Championship.

“Golf has always been aligned with our brand, which is why this partnership made sense and we are known as the Golf Bank of Texas,” says Malcolm Holland, CEO & President of Veritex Community Bank.

Finally, both the Walk of Fame in San Antonio and PGA Frisco location will incorporate QR codes which will lead visitors to a one-of-a-kind interactive virtual museum highlighting individual members with his/her own digital exhibit and collection.

These exhibits will include high-level films about each member, as well as separate videos diving into specific details of the individual’s career and artifacts. In addition, a comprehensive library of artifacts, photos, memorabilia, trophies, and articles will be made available in a digital archive. Future special exhibits are also planned, to broaden the scope of stories captured and brought to life.

Manor has even provided readers with a sneak preview of some of the

completed content: Scan the QR Code.

“The entire history of Texas golf will be in the palm of your hand through this incredible platform and resource. Texas greats looking back at you, telling you their stories and anecdotes. It is a gift that the Texas Golf Hall of Fame is giving back to the game, to our great state, and to anyone who visits our virtual exhibits from anywhere in the world,” Manor added.

And so, Texas golf just keeps getting better – and bigger – just as we do with everything in this great state.

Keep up with all the latest happenings with the Texas Golf Hall of Fame, including details about the unveiling of the PGA Frisco Anchor Site and Digital Museum, by following on social media: Instagram: Texas.golf.hof

Facebook: Texas Golf Hall of Fame

LinkedIn: Texas Golf Hall of Fame

For more information on how to support these initiatives through the Texas Golf Hall of Fame’s capital campaign, please contact Katie Manor, via phone or email: 214.294.7967 or katie@texasgolfhof.org.

by Andrew Marshall

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 centuries-old 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 overlooking the picturesque Waccamaw River, Strantz has artfully crafted the site’s streams, ponds and mosscovered 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 par-4 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 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 clubhouse porch and enjoy a cold beer, while taking in what must be one of America’s best 19th-holes. Visit us atwww.fishclub.com for more information.

NEVADA – Wolf Creek

Located 77 miles north of Las Vegas at Mesquite, this is 18 holes of fantasy golf at its ultimate best. Opened in 2000, this visually captivating desert design immediately drew rave reviews and Wolf Creek is now firmly 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.

Set high above the desert floor among red-rock canyons, teeming waterfalls and glistening creeks, it looks as though strips of green velvet have been laid out on a Mars-like landscape. After the tee shot at the 579-yard par-5 opening hole its a roller-coaster golfing adventure among

“Pars & Stripes” 6 of the best public courses

18th Green and Clubhouse Caledonia Golf & Fish Club

Photo: Brian Oar, Fairways Photography

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 result. On the 2nd tee box, for example, 90 granite steps lead up to the driving area, which is located some 11 stories high. The 3rd hole plays uphill to one of the highest points on the course with 70-mile views, and par-3 11th’s green is an island in a sea of red rock and typical of Wolf Creek’s dazzling visual appeal. Visit us at www. golfwolfcreek.com

WISCONSIN – Whistling Straits

Billionaire bathroom supplier Herb Kohler had a dream of building a Scottishstyle links sculpted along a two-mile stretch of the Lake Michigan shoreline in Wisconsin, and Pete Dye’s creation in 1998 exceeded his expectations, going on to become a major championship venue. The course first hosted the fourth major of the year, the PGA Championship, in 2004 when Vijay Singh was the champion, and since then,

Martin Kaymer in 2010 and Jason Day in 2015 have made up the trio of golfers to lift the Wanamaker Trophy. It also hosted the Ryder Cup in 2021.

Rendering of Hotel Entrance

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 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.Visit www. americanclubresort.com

Wolf Creek Photo: Wolf Creek

Straits Course atWhistling Straits

Photo: Kohler Co

CALIFORNIA – Pebble Beach

“If I had only one more round to play, I would choose to play it at Pebble Beach. I’ve loved this course from the first time I saw it. It’s possibly the best in the world,” said 18-time major champion Jack Nicklaus, and there are few thrills in golf 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 six U.S. Open Championships and the annual AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.

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 $595? 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 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 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

Pebble Beach Golf Links

Photo: Bart Keagy

Snead, Ben Hogan, Jack Nicklaus and Payne Stewart. The course will host the U.S. Open once again in 2024.Visit pinehurst.com

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 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 riskreward 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 CoursesYou 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

Pinehurst no. 2 - 13th hole

Photo: Pinehurst Resort

Pinnacle Course

Photo:Troon North

•

Kerrville Scott Schreiner Golf Course

BEST KEPT SECRET OF THE SOUTHWEST

Scott Schreiner Golf Course is an 18-hole course that is nestled among the rolling hills in the heart of the Texas Hill Country. Redesigned by renowned golf course architect Joe Finger in 1999, it is one of the best kept secrets of the southwest.

The layout features mounded greens in a variety of sizes and shapes. The fairways offer generous landing areas, yet are tight enough to present a comfortable challenge. The signature hole is number 17, a 535-yard par-5. Water comes into play on the second shot, then again on the approach to the green, which is surrounded by water on three sides. A waterfall to the left of the green adds a pleasing aesthetic. Set against the beautiful hills and rustic Texas landscape, this course is fun for all.

The course is located in Kerrville, Texas making it an easy drive from San Antonio or Austin. A putting green, driving range, chipping greens with sand bunker, complete pro shop, and available golf lessons are some of the amenities found at the course.

Kerrville boasts over 900 acres of public spaces to paddle, bike and play in. Enjoy eclectic restaurants, local music and local breweries and wine during your stay.

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

ACCOMODATIONS/ DINING

Alabama | Ad Page 2

Alabama | www.golfalabama.org

Coushatta Casino | Ad Page 84

777 Coushatta Drive, Kinder, LA | www.CoushattaCasinoResort.com | 800-584-7263

Double Schotts Sports Bar & Grill| Map #22 | Ad Pg 43

2055 Central Plaza # 102 | New Braunfels, TX www.doubleschotts.com | 830-632-5355

Driftwood Golf & Ranch Club| Ad Page 22

582 Thurman Roberts Way, Driftwood, TX | www.driftwoodgolfclub.com | 737-241-3500

Rockin’ J Ranch | Map# 87 | Ad Page 26

288 John Price, Blanco, TX 78606 | www.rockinjranch.net | 830-833-2266

SentryWorld Golf| Ad Page 74 www.SentryWorld.com | 866-479-6753

Terrace Rooftop Bar & Kitchen| Map #23 | Ad Pg 43

2031 Central Plaza # 101 | New Braunfels, TX www.terraceskybar.com | 830-358-7316

Vaaler Creek Golf Club | Map# 87 | Ad Page 29

228 Jeff Vaughn, Blanco, TX 78606 | www.vcgc.golf | 830-833-0706

SHOPPING/SERVICES

Bash in the Box | Ad Page 66 www.bashinthebox.com

Coby Stevens | Ad Page 14 www.cobystevens.com

Edwin Watts | Map # 3 | Ad Page 38-39

1050 N,.E. Loop 410, San Antonio, TX www.worldwidegolfshops.com | 210-822-4060

Edwin Watts | Map # 83 | Ad Page 38-39

4526 South Padre Island Dr., Corpus Christi, TX www.worldwidegolfshops.com | 361-852-0358

Facebook Live ‘Golf After Hours’ | Ad Page 21

Thurdays 7-8 pm |

The Golf Ranch | Map #84 | Ad Page 7

610 N Austin Ave., Georgetown, TX | 35 & Williams Drive at exit 262 www.golfranchshop.com | 512-863-4573

INSTRUCTION/TOURNAMENTS

David Orgin Golf Academy | MAP # 42 | Ad Page 42 1235 Wald Rd., New Braunfels, TX 78132 www.davidorgingolfacademy.com | 830-660-3998

Vaaler Creek Golf Club | Map #87 | Ad Page 29

Golf Lessons with Edwin Dickens | 228 Jeff Vaughn, Blanco, TX 78606 www.vcgc.golf | 830-833-0706\Real Estate

Rockin’ J Ranch | Map# 2 | Ad Page 26 288 John Price, Blanco, TX 78606

RIO GRANDE VALLEY

By Art Striclkin, Contributing Writer

The golf dreamers, doers and devoted all flocked here to the massive Orange Country Center in late January, by the tens of thousands, intent of celebrating the traditional start of the 2023 golf season boosted by the continued postCOVID boom.

More than 800 golf companies took part in the annual gathering to showcase the weird, wacky and wonderful products which will be appearing on golf store shelves later this spring.

“The energy on the PGA Show floor was fantastic. I grew up on a trading floor (on the New York Stock Exchange) and this reminds me of the energy and enthusiasm of a busy trading day.  It is reflective of the (golf) industry, basically booming. The industry played defense for

a couple of years during the pandemic, but this week has underscored that golf is back and the PGA Show is back in a big way,” said Seth Waugh, Frisco-Texas-based PGA of America CEO.

Among the many new trends at the 2023 PGA Show, technology was one of the leaders, with golf companies of all kinds using everyday technology to further enhance their products and introduce new people to the game.

Texas-based Top Tracer technology had a massive display on the show floor where golfers could line up their practice shot on a I-pad sized computer screen and then see how close they could get to their target line

“This is the first computer-based system which can hold you accountable to practice and send your results to a teacher or golf pro,” said Shaun Hansen, an executive with Top Tracer.

The system will debut at the new public Omni PGA Frisco Resort, which opens in May, giving golfers and hotel guest instant feedback on their game and their skills

Martin Wyeth brought the technology

Top Tracer

of Power Tee from his home in England, where his company controls 80% of the UK Market including the Old Course at St. Andrews, to America.

“We have to see customers here, both current and potential.You have to give them the best experience and that’s the difference between the demo day and the convention center, you can see balls flying in the air here and we have people going from a skeptic to why doesn’t everybody do this.”

The Power Tee is a synthetic turf platform elevated 8 inches from the ground, with an automatic tee up for each ball and automatic shot display.

Another giant leap in technology came from one of the most unlikely of sources, Augusta National Golf Club. They teamed with EA Sports and the PGA Tour to produce the Majors Collection. It features an exacting computer replica of Augusta National, allowing players to play the famed, highly exclusive course or even insert themselves as a player in the 2023 Masters Tournament.

While the tournament clings to its manual scoreboards and $1.50 egg salad sandwiches, the current club staff is downright progressive on what

technology can bring the Masters and the game of golf.

The game, which can be purchased on-line or in retail shops, will include all four major championship venues this year plus the Ryder Cup and 30 of the top courses in the world all in colorful, exact detail.

When it comes to technology of a different kind, incorporated into a golf shoe, Mike Forsey, the co-founder and CEO of Payntr Golf engineers classic spiked and spikeless golf shoes.

They include a clear propulsion plate to help with lift off the ground, full leather uppers and soles and the first blister proof guarantee, something any golfer who’s tried to break in new pair of shoes can appreciate.

“We are seeing sales boom 580% year over date. We seemed to have solved the

Jim Furyk & Martin Wyeth of Power Tee

Payntr shoes and bag

supply chain crisis and we are getting the shoes into the hands of more people every day,” he said.

A first timer to the show, Kenneth Duncan, the CEO of Atlanta-based Renegade Golf, was on site with his newly conforming USGA approved golf balls and custom golf bags.

“I wanted to come to the show to see how the big boys do it vs. the small guys like me. I want to grow my business, but I don’t have any celebrities like they do. I’m just here learning.”

“I want to make golf and golf balls more accessible, cheaper and cooler. Nobody in my circle at home plays golf, we have to reach those people. We’ve got to get busy.”

Another popular product at the show were golf-related food and drinks. There was chocolate to give you more energy on the course, CBD gummies to give you more passion and Ginn Fizz drinks promoted by Annika Sorenstam to help you forget any bad shots.

Austin-based Old Trapper jerky is available for consideration in your essential snacking or golf stories. Old Trapper is the 2nd largest jerky brand in the world.

Another golf-related organization which is a major part of the 2023 PGA Show is the Oklahoma-based Folds of Honor organization, which provides college scholarship to children of fallen military, first respond and others.

“We come to the PGA Show every year with grateful hearts and thanks for

the many people who have helped us,” said Folds of Honor founder Col. Dan Rooney.

Rooney said Folds of Honor has raised a staggering $55 million dollars to help those in need through Patriot Golf Days at golf courses all over the country, corporate sponsors and the new American Dunes course in Michigan designed by Jack Nicklaus.

There were also plenty of golf destinations and travel companies here at the show. Ireland and Scotland had large booths here along with the new Ryder Cup site in Rome and many locations in the Caribbean.

Renegade MBU golf balls

Renegade golf bag

Gather Your Friends to plan Your Next Trip

ACCOMODATIONS / DINING

Alabama | Ad Page 2

Alabama | www.golfalabama.org

Coushatta Casino | Ad Page 84

777 Coushatta Drive, Kinder, LA | www.CoushattaCasinoResort.com | 800-584-7263

SentryWorld Golf| Ad Page 74

www.SentryWorld.com | 866-479-6753

Somervill County | Ad Page 82

Explore Glen Rose, TX www.exploreglenrose.org

The Colony CVB | Ad Page 57

6900 Main Street, The Colony, TX | 75056 www.visitthecolonytx.com | 972-624-5253

The Hideout Golf Club & Resort | Map# 44 | Ad Page 83 185 Hideout Lane, Brownwood, TX 76801 www.thehideouttexas.com | 325-208-1937

SHOPPING / SERVICES

Bash in the Box | Ad Pg 66 www.bashinthebox.com

Coby Stevens | Ad Page 14

www.cobystevens.com

Golf After Hours | Ad Pg 21 Facebook Live Thursdays 7-8pm

STPGA and Susie Redman, PGA Win National Awards

The PGA of America announced the 2023 class of National Award winners during PGA Show Week in January, and the Southern Texas PGA is honored to be recognized as the 2023 Herb Graffis Award recipient.

The Herb Graffis Award is designed to recognize a PGA of America Section for extraordinary and exemplary contributions and achievements in the area of Player Development. This award considers local initiatives designed to grow the game, impact the next generation, and involve Section PGA Professionals and the STPGA is honored to receive this award.

The Southern Texas PGA, led by President James Brown, PGA and Executive Director Thomas Hutton, PGA, has seen

the importance of growing junior golf since the Section Foundation’s inception in 1994. Now, the STPGA has an established player pathway on how to become a lifelong golfer. All STPGA programming is designed to drive revenue and exposure to STPGA Professionals and their facilities. Junior Golf programming provides a minimum of a $14 million economic impact each year towards golf in Southern Texas, with over 4,100 juniors taking part in the STPGA Junior Golf program.

The Section prides itself on the fact that a junior can start off with a lesson from a PGA Professional and work their way up to a 36-hole Championship with college coaches watching, utilizing the STPGA Junior Golf Journey.

STPGA Staff, Winners of 2023 Herb Graffis Award

In partnership with PGA of America programs, the STPGA is also proud that 29 STPGA Junior Golfers have made it to the Drive, Chip and Putt Finals since the program started, 1,400 juniors participated in PGA Jr. League in 2022, and 300 Veterans went through PGA HOPE programs last year.

Along with earning the Herb Graffis Award, the Southern Texas PGA is excited to announce Susie Redman, PGA Teaching Professional at The Woodlands Country Club, as the 2023 PGA Youth Player Development Award winner!

The PGA Youth Player Development Award bestows special recognition on a PGA Professional who has displayed extraordinary and exemplary contribution and achievement in the area of Youth Player Development. All 41 Sections that make up the PGA of America nominate deserving winners from across the country for this award and the STPGA is extremely proud that one of our own won this award.

Susie spends her days working to grow the game among junior golfers and lives by her philosophy to “make a difference, one youth, one swing at a time.” As a proud PGA Class A Member for 23 years and

Life Member of the LPGA for 38 years, Susie understands the importance of Youth Player Development and always aims to bring fun, enthusiasm, knowledge, and diversity to the sport.

Excelling in the area of Youth Player Development requires a Professional to lead by example and Susie does this

STPGA Junior Golfer Program

Susie Redman 2023 National Youth Player Development Award

through her self-described leadership style as a servant leader. As a Youth Player Development coach, Susie has direct contact with many people from children, parents, other coaches, PGA Professionals, and more, and her goal is to impact everyone in a positive and transformational way.

On a personal and professional level, Susie has taken the holistic “kaizen” approach of continuous improvement. This approach has led her to an impressive continuing education resume centered on girls and women in golf, coaching, and the American Development Model (ADM) through which she earned her ADM PGA Coach Certification in 2019.

The Southern Texas PGA is excited to congratulate Susie Redman as the 2023 National PGA Youth Player Development

Award recipient. Susie and the Southern Texas PGA will be honored throughout the year in various ways with the culmination happening at the PGA of America Awards Banquet on November 7, 2023 at PGA Frisco in Frisco, TX.

The STPGA wants to thank all the parents, juniors, volunteers, staff members, and PGA Professionals for supporting junior golf and our STPGA programs. It is only fitting that both a PGA Professional and the entire Section get recognized together for growing this great game in Southern Texas!

Summer with the STPGA Junior Golf Program

STPGA Junior Golf is ready for a big summer of golf! This year’s Houston Area Chevy Dealer Summer Series will kick

The Woodlands Country Club

2022 AnnikA FoundAtion ShAre My PASSion CliniC

off on May 13 and run through July 20, culminating in the Houston Area Chevy Dealer STPGA Junior Championship at The Woodlands Country Club (Palmer Course) on Monday, July 24 – Wednesday, July 26.

Registration for the Houston Area Chevy Dealer Summer Series will open on Tuesday, April 4 for our Little Linksters, Junior Links, and Junior Tour and includes all tournaments from May - July, as well as the August Summer Series. To find out more information, head to www. stpgajuniorgolf.com

Southern Texas PGA Scholarships Program

The STPGA is excited to announce that the 2023 Scholarship Applications are now open to all applicants! This is an exciting opportunity for 2023 High School graduates and current college students who grew up in the Southern Texas Region, as well as played in the STPGA Junior Golf program.

In 2022, the PGA REACH

Southern Texas Scholarship Program awarded a total of $168,000 to 36 individuals, helping to continue their academic career. In 2023 we have over 30 scholarships to give out and antici-

pate an even greater increase in scholarship funds from the previous year.

Since 1999, the PGA REACH

Southern Texas Scholarship Program has awarded more than 425 scholarships and over $1,480,500 to young adults seeking higher education. Each of our scholarship names help continue a tradition of giving back and honoring an individual or organization that believes in the next generation.

All applications will be due on Friday, March 17.

Houston Area Chevy Dealer STPGA Junior Championship

Ty Roberts, STPGA Scholarship Recipient

2800 Dudley Dr., Texas City, TX 77590

www.bayougc.com

1700 Sydnor Ln., Galveston, TX 77554

www.moodygardensgolf.com

ACCOMODATIONS / DINING

Alabama | Ad Page 2

Alabama | www.golfalabama.org

Bayou Golf Course | Map #17 | Ad Pg 64

Fire of Ring Brew & Que

2800 Dudley Dr., Texas City, TX 77590

www.bayougc.com | 409-739-9622 | 409-643-5852

Coushatta Casino | Ad Page 84

777 Coushatta Drive, Kinder, LA |

www.CoushattaCasinoResort.com | 800-584-7263

Moody Gardens Golf | Map #23 | Ad Pg 59

1700 Sydnor Ln ., Galveston, TX 77554

www.moodygardensgolf.com | 409-683-4653 |

SHOPPING / SERVICES

Bash in the Box | Ad Pg 66 www.bashinthebox.com

Edwin Watts | Map # 3 | Ad Page 38-39 5395 Westheimer, Houston, TX 77056 www.worldwidegolfshops.com | 713-627-2411

“Golf After Hours” On Air ‘Texas Golf Insider’ | Ad Page 21 Facebook Live | Thurdays 7-8 pm |

GOLF ACADEMY/INSTRUCTION

STPGA Juniors & Professionals | Map # 60 | Ad Pg 60-63 www.stpgajuniorgolf.com

Rumbling Bald Announces Winter, Spring

2023 Golf Packages

36-Hole Golf Retreat on N.C.’s Lake Lure

Ideal for Groups of All Sizes

Amid record demand for golf stayand-plays – Rumbling Bald – the 36-hole golf sanctuary on Lake Lure an hour east of Asheville in the Blue Ridge Mountains, announces its winter and spring golf packages for 2023.

Winter rates start at $308 per golfer for two nights lodging in a Rumbling Bald vacation rental and two rounds on its Apple Valley and Bald Mountain Golf courses. Three-night, three-round and four-night, four-round options are also available for $452 and $574 per golfer, respectively.

Spring rates start at $363 per golfer for two nights and two rounds, $501 for three nights and three rounds and $640 for four nights and four rounds.

Rumbling Bald will again offer its popular Weekday Specials starting April 1, 2023. Rates start at $330 per person for two nights and two rounds, $452 for three nights and three rounds, and $574 four nights and four rounds.Weekday Special rates are available for any combination of Sunday through Wednesday nights only. Rates include all taxes and fees and are based on full occupancy (blackout dates apply).

Lodging options geared specifically for golfers include the Apple Valley Studios (across from Apple Valley) and two- and four-bedroom Fairway Villas situated along Bald Mountain just steps from its first tee.Via its wide variety of spacious vacation rentals, Rumbling Bald can accommodate golf groups of all sizes. Luxury vacation homes are

Apple Valley Studio

16th Hole on Bald Mountain Course

also available for extended stays and golf rounds can be added a la carte.

“We can’t wait to welcome golfers to Rumbling Bald in 2023 and showcase all the enhancements we’ve made to the golf courses, practices facilities and amenities,” says Rumbling Bald General Manager Jeff Geisler. “Whether it’s a foursome or large group, we provide a relaxing, fun golf experience that provides an escape from the day-to-day grind.”

Rumbling Bald continues to extend complimentary golf rounds to leaders of groups of 12 or more when booking their first trip to the property. The Large Groups 12+ Comp is ideal for PGA Professionalmember trips, small tournaments, or large golf buddy trips. The shoulder- and offseasons are ideal for group play, with ample value and typically a faster pace of play than the peak spring and fall periods.

To learn more about Rumbling Bald’s golf courses and packages, visit www. rumblingbald.com, or email jdoran@

rumblingbald.com. To book packages directly, or to speak with a golf vacation planner, call (828) 694.3072. Golfers are advised to call, email or check the website for course maintenance and closure schedules. Rates include all taxes and fees and are based on full occupancy (four players in a two-bedroom villa or two in a one-bedroom studio).

About Rumbling Bald

Tucked along scenic Lake Lure and surrounded by the Blue Ridge Mountains,

15th Hole at Bald Mountain Course

Aerial of Rumbling Bald

Rumbling Bald is secluded yet eminently accessible from numerous metro areas. Charlotte, Asheville and Raleigh, N.C., Knoxville and Nashville, Tenn. and Greenville and Spartanburg, S.C. are all one to five hours away. The idyllic retreat features two contrasting 18-hole layouts: W.B. Lewis-designed Bald Mountain and Dan Maples-designed Apple Valley.

Rumbling Bald’s marquee course, Apple Valley, stretches to nearly 6,800 yards and features expansive views of Bald Mountain and the surrounding Lake Lure area. Maples estimated 75% of shots at Apple Valley are either level or downhill, virtually unheard of for a mountain course. Shimmering mountain lakes adorn 12 holes, but water only occasionally comes into play.

Bald Mountain, at 6,300 yards, is renowned for its unique configuration of five par 5s and five par 3s. Movie buffs appreciate the 16th green, the backdrop of a scene from “Dirty Dancing.”  A protégé of golf course architect George Cobb, Lewis is known for his traditional approach to course design. This philosophy is reflected in Bald Mountain’s playability from tee to green.

The property’s 115 vacation rental homes, condos and studios are ideal for golf groups of various sizes and feature golf course and mountain views. Postround, golfers can relax at Legends on the Lake, casual dining along the shores of Lake Lure.

Rumbling Bald is rich with amenities and activities, including scenic Lake Lure

11th Hole on Apple Valley Course 18th Hole on Apple Valley Course

boat tours, boat rentals, tennis, pickleball, a full-service spa and hiking trails. Families enjoy the Trout Stream Pool and Lazy River, winding its way through the outdoor pool area where guests relax under fan-cooled covered seating. It’s the perfect basecamp for exploring the natural wonders of western North Carolina.

For extended stays, Rumbling Bald is the perfect homebase for exploring North Carolina’s famed Blue Ridge Mountains. The nearby Blue Ridge Parkway is a National Parkway and All-American Road known worldwide for its scenic beauty and panoramic views. The parkway is America’s longest linear park, stretching for 469 miles through North Carolina and Virginia.

Enjoy a Scenic Ride

Guests also have easy access to myriad shopping options in famed Asheville, just under an hour away. The Antique Tobacco Barn is an eclectic experience and is recognized as one of the premier antique malls in the Southeast. For a more traditional experience, the Asheville Mall is home to department stores and shops like Old Navy, The Gap, Eddie Bauer and Dillard’s.

Water Activities for the Whole Family

Trout Stream Pool

Golf at Wisconsin’s SentryWorld A Whole New World of Golf

By Steve Habel, Contributing Writer

There’s few destinations in golf that combine “money-is-never-an-obstacle” conditioning, absolute drop-dead beauty, an “are-we-the-only-group-on-the-course” sense of isolation and privilege with playability and challenge and public access.

In fact, the list of golf courses that fit those parameters might have a solo member – the peerless and sublime SentryWorld in Stevens Point,Wisconsin.

You might have heard about SentryWorld, a 40-some-year old Robert Trent Jones Jr. creation that was Wisconsin’s first genuine “destination” golf course.

It’s famous for its par-3 16th “flower” hole, which is likely one of the most recognizable and unique golf holes in the world. More than 33,000 petunias, snapdragons,

marigolds, geraniums and other annuals grown on site are planted around the hole’s playing corridor every year, updating the design and colorways for each season.

But SentryWorld is far from an “onehole wonder.” It’s wall-to-wall challenge and importance in the world of golf was justified by the United States Golf Association when the course was picked to host the 2023 U.S. Senior Open.

In announcing SentryWorld as a host, John Bodenhamer, the USGA’s senior managing director, Championships said that “SentryWorld will provide a complete test for an international field competing for the Francis D. Ouimet Memorial Trophy.”

What makes SentryWorld rise above is that there won’t be a lot of changes, if any

The 17th Hole at Sunset

The 16th Hole

at all, from the day-to-day experience at the course just because the USGA will be in town.

“We didn’t create a golf course for the U.S. Senior Open,” said Mike James, SentryWorld’s longtime general manager. “We created a course that’s going to challenge the best players in the world, but also one that can be tailored to the everyday player while delivering an exceptional on-course experience for all.”

The only thing that will be different this year from the regular schedule is that when the course thaws from the Wisconsin winter cold and the weather turns warm enough to play golf, SentryWorld will remain closed to the public until after the Senior Open has its run June 29-July 2.

“We’re proud of the world-class nature of the golf course, and obviously proud that the USGA has entrusted us to host this fantastic championship,” said Danny Rainbow, SentryWorld’s director of golf. “This was a great opportunity to take a bar that’s already very high and take it up a couple more notches on the golf course.”

SentryWorld was developed by Sentry Insurance in 1982 as part of a sports complex that includes indoor tennis courts, banquet space and restaurants as well as a lavish on-site boutique hotel. Jones Jr.’s parkland-style championship layout is at the heart of the 200-acre property.

SentryWorld has previously hosted two USGA championships – the U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links in 1986

The Inn at Sentry World

The 9th Hole

and the U.S. Girls’ Junior Championship in 2019. In 2013, Jones Jr. oversaw a major renovation that was led by architects Bruce Charlton and Jay Blasi.

“Golf is part of our DNA,” said Pete McPartland, Sentry’s chairman of the board, president and CEO. “The camaraderie of play helps create the perfect environment for developing and building great relationships with our customers, business partners and the community. It’s why we built SentryWorld.

“When the 2023 U.S. Senior Open Championship is played here, we’ll again get to show the world what our beautiful course and community have to offer.”

Stevens Point is located in the center of the state, where fields meet forests and cool, calm lakes lie under wide, open blue skies. The course reflects this landscape, providing players with gorgeous views at every turn.

SentryWorld is renowned for its flawless conditioning and constant attention to detail that make its players walk off the course feeling like a king or queen for a day. Tee times are spaced 20 minutes apart, providing the isolation and pace of play that golfers crave and embrace.

Through location and design, SentryWorld challenges low-handicap golfers with narrow corridors off the tee and looming fairway hazards while also offering recreational players a friendly, inviting experience, all with breathtaking views and countless opportunities to use their preferred style of play.

The course incorporates pristine blue waters, impeccable white sands, and a one-of-a-kind course design in a seamless fashion.Water comes into play on 12 of course’s holes, while fairway and greenside

Aerial of the 13th Hole

The Scenic 5th Hole in Fall

bunkers nearly glow against their surroundings and towering trees border wide but formidable corridors.

When the new and improved SentryWorld reopened in 2015, the golf world rediscovered a course that retained its personality and playability, but with an array of new features, including rebuilt bunkers, friendlier sightlines, radically redesigned holes and two new holes. In 2020 and 2021, the course underwent a few more enhancements in advance of hosting the U.S. Senior Open Championship.

SentryWorld won Golf Digest’s firstever Best New Public award in early 1984, but never made the magazine’s 100 Greatest Public ranking until 2017, as the highest-ranking newcomer, on the heels of the renovation by Jones. Jr. and his team.

Most of all SentryWorld is a fun and challenging course to play. Different tee boxes allow players of all skill levels to enjoy their round.

Sentry has been involved with golf since 1982 when it built SentryWorld,Wisconsin’s first destination golf facility located at its headquarters in Stevens Point,

which will host the U.S. Senior Open Championship in 2023. In 2017, Sentry signed on as title sponsor of the Sentry Tournament of Champions, a winners-only PGA TOUR event held on the Hawaiian island of Maui. As title sponsor, Sentry strives to make a positive, year-round impact in the local community supporting several organizations through the tournament, including First Tee – Hawaii. Earlier this year, Sentry also became the USGA’s official insurance partner, allowing them to invest more deeply in recreational golf and engage more golfers in communities across America.

The Fieldhouse offers an indoor driving range, golf simulator, tennis & volleyball

The 18th Hole

SentryWorld to host 2023 U.S. Senior Open

The United States Golf Association (USGA) announced SentryWorld, in Stevens Point, Wisconsin, as the host site for the 43rd U.S. Senior Open Championship, its first major championship.

SentryWorld is proud to host the 43rd U.S. Senior Open Championship from June 29–July 2, 2023. This is the first Senior Open and third USGA championship to be played on our 200-acre parkland course in Stevens Point, Wisconsin.

“The U.S. Senior Open is undoubtedly among the most prestigious golf events in the world,” said Mike James, general manager of SentryWorld and vice president of Sentry Services. “With the help of state and local leaders and business and community partners, SentryWorld will provide a world-class experience and environment for players, officials, and fans alike.”

SentryWorld—Wisconsin’s first destination golf course—was developed by

Sentry Insurance in 1982 as part of a sports complex that now includes indoor tennis courts, a boutique hotel, banquet space, and restaurants. The 7,320-yard championship golf course was originally designed by Robert Trent Jones Jr., who redesigned it in 2013 with on-course architects Bruce Charlton and Jay Blasi. In 2021, Jones and Charlton further renovated the course in preparation for the U.S. Senior Open.

“The USGA is pleased to return to SentryWorld and the state of Wisconsin to conduct the most prestigious championship in senior golf,”

The U.S. Senior Open Championship is open to male golfers age 50 and older with a Handicap Index® not exceeding 3.4. Notable U.S. Senior Open champions include Arnold Palmer (1981), Gary Player (1987, 1988), Jack Nicklaus (1991, 1993), and Wisconsin’s own Steve Stricker (2019). Join us to see who’ll take home the Francis D. Ouimet Memorial Trophy in 2023.

Sunset at SentryWorld’s 4th Hole

By

Jack Burke, Jr., golf’s oldest living Masters and PGA Championship winner, had a party for a Texas-sized golf legend with his 100th birthday party Sunday, January 29. It befitted his legendary status, with some of the golf greats who have a personal connection to Burke at the place he founded, Champions Golf Club.

“I’m so glad so many of Jack’s friends were able to make it for this special event,” said his wife, Robin.

Son, Mike Burke, who took over the club from his dad two years ago, organized a party which included two-time Masters Champion Ben Crenshaw, PGA Championship winner Steve Elkington, teacher Butch Harmon, who was taught the game by Burke, and teacher and former University of Houston golfer Jim McLean.

Longtime family friend and Houston Astros owner Jim Crain was on hand

with the Astros World Series trophy and Burke blew out 100 candles in front of the hundreds of Champions members, family and friends.

Tributes flowed in from all over the golf world, even though most of today’s players never saw him hit a shot and have little, if any, memory of when he dominated the PGA Tour with two major championship wins in 1956, a Vardon Trophy in 1952, and a top 10 US Open finish in 1955 among 19 professional wins and five straight Ryder Cup appearances.

Augusta National Golf Club officials said they plan to acknowledge Burke’s 100th birthday and 1956 Masters win in their Masters Journal program this spring and at the 2023 Tournament.While he

Art Stricklin and Jackie Burke, Jr.

Art Stricklin, ContributingWriter

Jack Burke (left) beat KenVenturi (right) and won the Masters. Burke’s 289 total ties the mark for highest winning score.

can no longer attend the Tuesday champions dinner at Augusta, Burke still shares a locker with five-time winner Tiger Woods, who won the first of his three Tour Championships at Champions.

All to salute the Fort Worth, Texas native who has impacted the game of golf at every level from student to player to teacher to mentor, Ryder Cup captain and assistant and elite club founder.

“Always remember, golf pro is short for promoter, you always have to promote the game,” Burke said among the lessons he’s learned as his enters his 10th decade.

Perhaps no one in golf’s history has done more to promote the game than Burke, who still makes regular visits to his Houston golf club to visit and talk with members and guests and if he feels up to it, uses his cane to come out to the putting green and driving range

Just don’t ask him for a secret to help your game. “I don’t give tips, son, tips are for horse races,” he said.

Known for his straight-shooting style, Burke has been telling it like he sees it for nearly 100 years and doesn’t plan on stopping anytime soon.

But the tough love approach endeared him to a generation of old school students who have made the trip to Houston to soak up his wisdom and stories. Phil Mickelson

once came in and Burke taught him the drill he still uses, making 100 straight putts from four feet and starting over if you miss before 100.

Hal Sutton came for help with his game and mentorship and was so taken by Burke’s style that he named him a Ryder Cup assistant, at age 81, for his captaincy in 2004 at Oakland Hills Country Club.

When the U.S. lost by a historic margin at home with Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson being paired together, Burke got off a classic line.

“I told Hal not to pair Tiger and Phil together, but talking to Hal was like talking to General Patton, he won’t listen.”

Still, Sutton is one of his closest friends. Elkington founded a video teaching company, the Secret Golf, named for Burke’s teaching motto, ‘secret is in the dirt’, and has been replaying some classic videos with Burke teaching timeless golf lessons to honor his friend.

While his playing career was relatively brief, Burke always said his lasting golf contribution was founding Champions Golf

1956 PGA Champion, Jackie Burke, Jr.

Jimmy Demaret (l) and Jackie Burke Jr.(r) founded Champions Golf Club in 1957

Club with good friend and fellow Masters Champion Jimmy Demaret.

Champions, so named by former White House aide Jack Valenti for its two founders, joins Pinehurst as the only clubs in America to have hosted a Ryder Cup, a Men’s and Women’s U.S. Open, a U.S. Amateur Tour Championship and PGA Tour event.

The difference is while Pinehurst has been overseen by a series of corporate

owners, Burke has been at Champions for every moment of its historic life.

Burke’s father, Jack Burke, Sr., was one of the first-ever Texas golf pros, working at Houston’s River Oaks Country Club after moving down from Philadelphia, while the younger Burke grew up and played with a list of Texas golf legends from Babe Didriksen to Demaret, Byron Nelson and close friend Ben Hogan. He served a brief stint in the Marines before turning to golf full time.

“I don’t know anything but golf. That’s what I’ve done my entire life,” Burke said. Asked how he would like to be remembered, Burke said simply, “As someone who upheld the amateur game because amateurs are the backbone of the sport and someone who followed the rules.”

For his 100th, his friends and fellow golf legends gathered with his wife, former Curtis Cup Captain, Robin, and his family to celebrate a man who has meant as much to American golf as Old Tom Morris meant to the Scots.

Jackie Burke, Jr. at Champions Golf Club

1973 Ryder Cup Captain Burke (r) and team won the championship 19 to 13.

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