Fazio Foothills Review

Texas Outside Rating: 9.3

Golf - Resort Private Course · 18 Holes · Par 72
Austin
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· Stay & Play

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Fazio Foothills Review

Review and Rating of Fazio Foothills in Austin

Fazio Foothills is one of four courses at the magnificent Omni Barton Creek Resort & Spa. The Omni Resort and Fazio Foothills are consistently rated by most golf and resort magazines as the top resort and resort course in Texas.  The Dallas Morning News ranked Fazio Foothills as #26 in their 2019 list of the Best Golf Courses in Texas.  All four of the courses at the Omni Barton Creek are fantastic and some of the best in Texas.  Read Texas Outside's Reviews to learn more about each course:

In 2018 Fazio Foothills was included as a part of the $150 million renovation and improvements at Omni Barton Creek.  Some of the improvements made at  Fazio Foothills included:

  • a new Pro Shop
  • removal of over 1000 scrub trees
  • redoing several greens
  • renovation of all the bunkers
  • a new irrigation system

The improvements were obvious - the greens were perfect, the bunkers were the best we've seen in years, the fairways were in excellent condition, and the course was a little more playable.  In addition to all of that, what makes a round of golf on Fazio Foothills fun and challenging includes:  beautiful scenery with panoramic views of the Austin hills dotted with some huge stunning homes, ponds and cascading waterfalls, split fairways, significant elevation changes, doglegs, contoured fairways and berms, natural hazards, blind shots, forced carries, and narrow approaches and challenging green complexes.  Thanks to all of that we added Fazio Foothills to Texas Outside's list of the Best Resort Courses in Texas.

Fazio Foothills has a reputation of being very challenging and we would agree - the tips can be a monster and the wind and elevation changes can be a huge factor on your score. 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, and avoid some of the risk-reward shots, then you will score well and have a very memorable and fun round.

Some of the holes that we found unique and really enjoyed included:

  • #2 is a 377-yard par 4 with an uphill blind shot off the tee box, a tree splitting the fairway, a pond on the left, and a slightly raised green with a huge right bunker and smaller bunker next to it
  • #5 is a fun 601-yard par 5 that includes a split fairway (the right side is elevated and wider but has a downhill shot to the green while the left side is tighter and riskier), a roller coaster ride to the fairway, and a creek and rock wall that crosses the fairway and guards the front of the green
  • #9 made our list of the Most Scenic Holes in Texas
  • #16 is a great 417-yard par 4 (#2 handicap hole) with an elevated tee shot and a challenging slight uphill approach shot across a creek with a waterfall to a small oval green with a rock garden in the back and the Resort as a backdrop
  • #18 will make you want to come back and play Fazio Foothills again - a wide rolling fairway with a big pond off the left side than a very steep climb up and over a ravine to the green - all of the resort guests in the pools, restaurants, and Pavillion will be cheering your shot

The greens are about average size, gently rolling with some undulation, very true, and run at a great speed of around 10 to 11.  The majority of the greens are guarded by at least one bunker and several have little to no room for error

The Fazio Foothills fairways were in also excellent condition and the first cut was well maintained and very playable - miss that and you're most likely lost. The course is well maintained and beautifully landscaped.

The bunkers were perfect - soft, white, fluffy, deep sand with manageable faces.  The faces are steep but groomed and packed smooth, which means your ball may roll back to the middle of the bunker. 

You have to be a member or a resort guest to play any of the four Omni Barton Creek Resort courses.  The Omni has a very good stay and play package and the resort is fantastic.  Read our article about a 4-day visit to the Omni Barton Creek Resort and Spa.

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Course Slope & Ratings

Tee Box Yardage Rating Slope
Black 7,087 75.3 141
Blue 6,311 71.8 134
White 5,922 70.0 131
Gold 6,685 73.4 139
Red 5,092 71.3 126

Course Information

Course Architect:
Tom Fazio
Greens Type:
Championship Bent
Greens Condition
9.8
Greens Difficulty
8.0
Fairway Condition
8.8
Bunker Condition
10.0
GPS:
Yes
Walkable:
Very Hilly
Scorecard
Course Map
Beware of water on 8 holes and the 63 sand traps.

Texas Outside Rating

Overall Rating:
9.3 out of 10
Beauty:
10.0
Difficulty:
9.0
Variety:
8.9
Fun to Play:
10.0
Value:
8.2
Condition:
9.4
Front Nine Rating:
9.3
Back Nine Rating:
9.1
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FEES & AMENITIES

Initiation Fees: $100,001 to $150,000

Service is good, the pro shop has the basics, the Resort has 5 good restaurants, and practice facilities are good

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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.