TJGT Will Host Two Tournaments At The Challenging Horseshoe Bay Resort Courses
The AJGA Stars of Texas Junior Presented by Horseshoe Bay Resort (www.hsbresort.com) was a 54-hole stroke play event held at Horseshoe Bay Resort — Ram Rock Course, June 9-12, 2008. The tournament field featured 102 boys and 42 girls, ages 12-18, from 17 states, Mexico, Venezuela and British Columbia. The field was cut in half to include the top 51-boys and ties and top 21-girls and ties after the second round Wednesday. Many TJGT players performed well at the well known “Challenger”. In fact, Ram Rock is called the “Challenger” course and has been voted the toughest course in Texas numerous times. Ram Rock features narrow fairways, natural streams, plenty of water and sand, lots of trees and vegetation and its share of blind tee shots. Only one girl and three boys in the 144 players field managed to shoot below 80 in all three rounds, no player broke par. The “Challenger” is the winner and holds its reputation well.
Nestled in the heart of Texas, just 45 minutes west of Austin, is the renowned Horseshoe Bay Resort. Conveniently located in the center of the Texas Golden Triangle, where two-thirds of the state’s wealth and population reside, the Resort lies along the panoramic shore of beautiful Lake LBJ in the midst of the scenic Texas Hill Country. This geographic locale creates the ideal location for golfers due to its mild summers and short winters. Horseshoe Bay Resort, named one of America’s Best Golf Resorts by Golf Magazine in 2006, is home to three championship Robert Trent Jones, Sr. golf courses – Slick Rock, Ram Rock and Apple Rock. Golf course architect Robert Trent Jones, Sr., designed an estimated 500 prestigious courses during his lifetime. His three creations for Horseshoe Bay Resort are among his finest works of art. The courses have all been featured in the “50 Best Courses in Texas” list in the Dallas Morning News every year since the origin of the annual ranking in 1989. Horseshoe Bay Resort will soon boast a Jack Nicklaus Signature Golf Course, Summit Rock, scheduled to open in 2009.
The three golf courses at Horseshoe Bay Resort are more than just an opportunity to play a couple of rounds of golf during a vacation or conference. Indeed, they present the opportunity to experience the finest collection of golf courses in the country. “I know of no area… that has a more interesting variety of golf than Horseshoe Bay. I rank this among the best in the world,” said Robert Trent Jones, Sr. As reported in USA Today’s “Golf Line,” members of the American Society of Golf Course Architects, the National Golf Foundation and the Golf Course Superintendents of America selected the entire Horseshoe Bay golf complex as one of the “Best Built in the U.S. since 1962,” placing all three courses “among the top one percent of golf courses in America.”
GOLF COURSES:
• Slick Rock was built in 1971 and spans approximately 170 acres, providing more than 33,700 feet of golf frontage property. With multiple tees on every hole, more than 71 sand traps and 12 water hazards, Slick Rock embodies the Robert Trent Jones, Sr. philosophy of “hard par, easy bogey.” The front nine is topographically routed through colorful outcroppings of Texas granite and a magnificent mixture of trees: native oak, persimmon, willow, chinese tallow and eldarica pine. The back nine is open and rolling with Crenshaw Bentgrass greens and 419 Bermuda tee boxes. Yardage markers are hollywood juniper clustered with purple sage. Extensive planting of bamboo and pampas grass adds color and texture to this unforgettable course. Slick Rock is home to Horseshoe Bay Resort’s awe-inspiring “Million Dollar Hole” (No. 14) featuring a winding cart path that takes golfers on a ride through a waterfall that spans more than 35 yards and dumps more than 8,000 gallons of water into Slick Rock creek each minute.
• Ram Rock was constructed in 1981 and is infamously known as the “Challenger”. Narrow fairways and rolling Crenshaw Bentgrass greens are surrounded by 62 deep bunkers, ten water hazards and natural dry creeks on six holes. With its dramatic elevation changes, Ram Rock offers enough length and difficulty to challenge scratch players in any group and features an especially demanding island green par 3 hole (No. 4). The fairways and tee boxes are 419 Bermuda with native landscaping throughout, including juniper phitizer and natural rock outcroppings. Author, journalist and golf enthusiast Turk Pipkin writes, “If you want to put your game to the ultimate test of Texas golf, the breathtaking, backbreaking, eye-pleasing Ram Rock has all you could want and a little more.” Ram Rock received a 4½ star rating from Golf Digest and was named as one of the top 15 courses in the state by Golfweek in 2006.
• Apple Rock, Horseshoe Bay Resort’s third championship Robert Trent Jones, Sr. course, was completed in 1986 and received distinction as “Best New Resort Course” by Golf Digest. Widely known as one of the most scenic courses in the state, this spectacular course spans 147 acres of the rolling Texas Hill Country along the shores of Lake LBJ, and offers 46,540 feet of frontage for prime real estate development. The Apple Rock course is situated in high, rocky terrain, offering stunning views of the lake and the Tif-Eagle Bermuda elevated greens are surrounded by 56 sand traps. Tee boxes and fairways are 419 Bermuda. Offering a dramatic elevation change are back-to-back par 5 holes No. 10 and No. 11 taking golfers from one of the highest points at Cap Rock down to the shores of Lake LBJ in just a few strokes. Though not overly tight, this course still demands well-placed drives and accurate club selection.
• Perhaps the most unique of all the courses at Horseshoe Bay Resort is Whitewater, a multi-million dollar, 18-hole, par 72 Bermuda grass putting course, complete with waterfalls and grazing flamingos. Located adjacent to the Marriott Hotel, this night-lit facility boasts Dwarf Bermuda grass, cascading waterfalls, lavish rose gardens, a collection of exotic birds and a scenic fitness trail. Whitewater Putting Course is designed like a regulation 18-hole golf course, complete with fairways, bunkers, water hazards and the finest of putting surfaces, but on a smaller scale. Every shot is played with a putter, but unlike a practice green, Whitewater is a fully-landscaped competitive course. Beverage service is available for guests wanting to enjoy a refreshing libation while playing the course.
TJGT will host its Thanksgiving tournament and Tour Championship at Horseshoe Bay Resort in the 2008 season. Come and play TJGT to take the challenge!