Austin County Club

This week the PGA tour stop is at Austin Country Club located in the hills on the outskirts of  Austin, Texas along the Colorado River.  I had the opportunity to manage this dramatic course earlier in my career.  Architect Pete Dye used tremendous creativity in designing this stunning layout with long and forced carries, severely undulating greens, distinctive elevation changes and "eye-catching" native rock features.   The 6800 yard course plays to a challenging 74 course rating.   While the pros may find the length very short compared to their normal course lengths, the average golfer finds the layout to be extremely difficult.   Before we  cleared some of the native trees and brush in the rough areas, combined  with the number of forced carries, it was not uncommon for the members to lose 6-10 golf balls a round.