Texas Outside review of Barton Creek

Barton Creek - Fazio Foothills

Texas Outside Rating: 9.2

18 Holes - Golf - Resort
Austin, TX
512-329-4000
Website
Stay & Play

Date Played: September 30, 2007
Front Nine Rating: 9.0 Stars
Back Nine Rating: 9.5 Stars
Approximate Weekend Price Range: $105.00 to $180.00
Brief Description:
Fazio Foothills is one of four courses (Crenshaw Cliffside, Fazio Canyons, and Palmer Lakeside) at the magnificent Barton Creek Resort. Barton Creek and Fazio Foothills are consistently rated by most golf and resort magazines as the top resort and resort course in Texas and Barton Creek is usually in the top 50 resorts nationally. Currently Fazio Foothills is rated #2 in Texas and it's sister course, Fazio Canyons, is rated #1. Fazio Foothills is well deserving of all the accolades - we found it to be in near perfect condition and was challenging but fair, amazingly beautiful with panoramic views of the Austin hills and some huge beautiful homes, and was very well landscaped. Some of holes are very memorable with waterfalls, significant, elevation changes, natural hazards, and narrow approaches.

Fazio Foothills has a reputation of being very challenging and we would agree, the tips can be a monster and the wind can be a huge factor. However, if you can hit the ball straight and low if the wind is blowing, employ some good course management particularly on some of the approach shots and the split fairways offering risk reward shots, then you will score well and have a very memorable and fun round.

The greens are about average size, gently rolling with some undulation, very true, and somewhat slow when we played (however, they had just been aerated). The fairways were in excellent condition, the rough was well maintained, and the course is beautifully landscaped. Fazio Foothills is an excellent 18 holes of golf. The locker rooms are fantastic, the pro shop is well equipped, and the service is excellent and the staff is very friendly.

You have to be a member, a member's guest, or a guest at Barton Creek Resort to play any of their courses. Don't let that stop you, you will thoroughly enjoy the resort and they have a good Stay & Play package. So what are you waiting for, book a reservation now and set a goal to play all four of these great courses!

Here's How Texas Outside Determines the Scorecard Rating

The Texas Outside rating scale ranges from 1 to 10 – a perfect 10 course would be something like this: links along a cliff overlooking the Pacific ocean and bordered by tall trees; lush fairways on rolling hills with lots of natural hazards; water (which is crystal clear) on most of the holes; immaculate greens (but they are undulating and tough); lots of variety and character (each hole is completely different and includes blind shots, elevation changes, doglegs, and significant challenges); perfectly manicured traps with the whitest and prettiest sand you’ve ever seen; a nice club house with great food and a 19th hole; a GPS; plenty of beverage carts or your own cooler and ice; and it only costs $40 bucks! What this means is that you probably won’t find any 10s in Texas – try Cabo San Lucas, Pebble Beach, or some of the Hawaii courses!
Texas Outside rates courses on the following:

Beauty – tall trees, rolling hills, beautiful houses, waterfalls, and similar stuff would score high; a 1 would be flat, bushes or cactus instead of trees, and some grass but mostly weeds

Difficulty – a straight, 300 yard par 4 with no traps or hazards, no out of bounds or water would probably get a 1; if it is a 460 yard par 4 over two ravines, with water along one side, natural hazards on the other, strategically placed traps or that dreaded tree right in the middle of the fairway, we are talking a 10.

Variety – what would you give a course where all the holes looked and played exactly the same (“I thought we just played that hole!”); were side-by-side, which is good for finding or dodging other people’s balls, but not much fun; and you can see the flag from every tee box? That’s right, it gets a 1.

Fun Scale – a 10 is where you walk off the course and say “now that was fun” and you can’t wait to get back, or you immediately turn around and play another 18 holes

Value – a 5 is $50 to $60, a 10 is $20 to $30, and 1 is $200 or so – of course all of this is dependent upon how you liked the course. For example, if a run down, boring municipal course, with six players on each hole was only $10; it would still get a value rating of 1.

Condition – this one’s pretty easy – what condition are the fairways. A 10 commands very lush perfectly manicured fairways, compared to a 1, which has fire ants, weeds, and more dirt than grass!

Condition of Greens and Difficulty – very hard to read greens with lots of undulation and tough pin placement, rate very high on the difficulty scale. Condition is self-explanatory.

All of the above determines the overall score for the golf course. In other words, we like courses that are pretty, fun, very challenging with a lot of variety, and fairways and greens in excellent condition – all for $40. We also tend to play the courses that are affordable for the masses, which means in the $30 to $80 range. We rate hard and we haven’t found a 10 in Texas yet – don’t worry we haven’t given up and we’re still looking.