FAZIO FOOTHILLS
My round at Foothills was highlighted by one of my playing partners, the new Director of Golf Operations, Spencer Cody.
He had just taken the position at Barton Creek, coming to the club from PGA West in La Quinta, California, so this was his first time playing the course. I knew Cody from his previous job at Sewailo in Tucson, Arizona, where I covered golf for the PGA magazine there.
Cody was as impressed with the Fazio layout as I was, both of us noticing the target golf aspect of the track, as opposed to the more open layout of the Crenshaw course.
“It’s a wonderful layout,” he said. “Good shot-making is needed, as we saw today. You have got to manage your game for sure — sometimes we did that today and sometimes not — but that’s golf.”
Marburger accompanied us for the round and pointed out where trees and bunkers had been removed (or added) to make the course more amateur-friendly.
“The renovations have certainly allowed for the mid- and high-handicappers to experience the golf course in a different light,” Cody said.
The greens were perfect, not as large as some of the other Fazio layouts we had both played.
“Some of them are smaller than I’ve experienced with Fazio layouts in the past,” Cody said. “I think there are reasons for that, whether it’s the yardage to the hole or the way the green sits to the fairway. There aren’t two holes that are alike.”
“That goes for the green complexes as well — they are all different. He keeps you guessing out there.”
The newly renovated bunkers were great to play out of, with smooth surfacing that provided near perfect lies.
“The surface in the bunkers is firm enough that you can hit a crisp bunker shot,” Cody said. “It’s nice, pearly white sand that looks beautiful and plays that way. In talking to the members, they’ve said that the traps are new and improved for sure.”
I was particularly impressed with the variety of the holes, as no two were alike.
The two par-5s on the front — No. 5 with a split fairway and blind second shot, and No. 8, with a creek down the entire left side and a decision whether to challenge that creek on a second shot into the green — stood out to me on the front side.
The green on No.12 and the entire 13th hole sit on a high cliff over the resort’s namesake, Barton Creek, with an expansive view of the hill country to the north and east, while the par-5 18th meanders back to the resort and features a small cave-like rock structure just below the elevated green.
