The best view of many great ones at the University of Texas Golf Club was behind the 15th green, with a look down to Lake Austin, which is actually the Colorado River.

Golf Course Review:  University of Texas Golf Club 

    I played the University of Texas Golf Club today.  The course smelled pretty ripe after an application of organic fertilizer to the greens -- organic as in chicken manure.  I'm not complaining, mind you.  It is good for the planet and the local wildlife, and real golfers will put up with a lot if a course's greens are good, and these putted in inverse proportion to how they smelled.  The rest of the course was pretty special as well, a splendid Bechtol Russell Golf design that has been babied to near perfection by the club's owners and course superintendent.
    Despite heavy rains in the prior days that forced cart-path only restrictions, I saw no casual water on the course, and even though we were beyond the workers who were raking the sand bunkers, the sand was essentially dry with no casual water anywhere.  You can tell the owners, who are putting the finishing touches on a new $16 million clubhouse to open in the spring, lavish much attention and investment in the course.  Everyone has been exquisitely trained as well.  The greetings from the bag drop to the pro shop to the snack bar were as friendly as I've encountered at any private club, with a professionalism to match.  Assistant pro Jean-Paul Hebert, a former All American for the UT Longhorns, even furnished me with a rangefinder that was icing on the cake for the good yardage book available to guests and members.  
    I played with two members, Ron and Gareth, in a best two of three-ball match with the threesome in front of us.  Ron, a former regional director for the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, and Gareth, a lawyer and former tax executive, were excellent companions and played Mutt and Jeff for most of the 18 holes (I contributed just one of our group's six birdies for the round).  We beat the other guys out of few dollars.
    The UT course is not for the timid but it will delight anyone who appreciates the kind of design that rewards and punishes in about equal measure.  From the white Longhorn tees we played at 6,600 yards, there are some intimidating drives over ravines, and correct fairway placements on your tee balls are imperative to have reasonable entries to the well-bunkered and tilted greens.  The views from a number of holes are quite impressive, nowhere more so than behind #15 which is perched pretty much at the edge of a cliff overlooking Lake Austin way below.
    The focus on the member "experience" at the UT Golf Club is apparently quite strong.  One example:  The course, just five years old, was redesigned a year or so ago with input from Tom Kite, Ben Crenshaw and Justin Leonard, as well as the original designers.  The owners put four different types of sand in the bunkers for three months and then asked members to vote their preference.  That's the sand that is now in all the bunkers on the course.  I'll have much more on this terrific golf course and the Steiner Ranch community in an upcoming issue of the HomeOnTheCourse community guide.
    For membership information, contact UT Golf Club's Lisa Coffman at (512) 266-6464.  The club's web site is at www.utgolfclub.com.

Ron, left, and Gareth were fine companions and fierce competitors.  They led us to victory in a best ball match against another threesome at the University of Texas Golf Club.

The uphill dogleg 7th is what a short par 4 should be -- challenging off the tee with a tough approach shot (see photo below).

Rain doesn't dampen experience at Avery Ranch

    It was cart path only and water-filled sand bunkers at Austin's Avery Ranch golf course today after a night and morning of heavy rains.  The course was very wet; that's the bad news.  The good news is that only a few groups were out there, so I could savor a trip around a nice routing with many interesting views, some challenging shots and some brutal pin positions.  And greens fees were incredibly reasonable at just $52, cart included.  I'll report on the course in detail in an upcoming issue of HomeOnTheCourse, but here are a few highlights.
    In launching me out onto the five-year-old routing, conceived by Nicklaus Design protégé Andy Raugust, the friendly starter Gil warned me to stay on the right side of the fairways on the front nine.  The indigenous mesquite trees block shots that are just a little left of the fairways, and on the 2nd hole, after my slightly hooked drive ended up on the left edge of the fairway, I had to lay up and around the trees from 135 yards.  Always listen to the starter.
    I was struck by how many pin positions were tucked just over steep sand bunkers at greenside.  On the very short par 4 16th, which plays to just 300 yards from the middle tees (6,229 yards overall), I had a lob wedge from 55 yards over a sand trap to a front pin position on an elevated green.  I thought I hit the lob perfectly, and with spin.  But the front pin was on a slope that tilted from front to back; my ball hit about three feet short of the pin and rolled 25 feet past.  With a lob wedge!  I suppose such short par 4s should be tough around the greens, but the positioning of a pin should never be such that birdie is impossible.
    The greens at Avery Ranch were wonderful to putt if difficult to read.  A few times I misread putts I was sure of when I lined them up.  I thought the greens were a little slow.  When I mentioned this in the pro shop after the round, the two assistant pros insisted the stimpmeter readings were around 10 and invited me to the 18th green for a test with the stimp stick.  (They had some time on their hands because of the weather.)  The reading was 9.6.  Close enough.
    Par 5s were all challenging and most required three good shots to get to the putting surface.  The par 3s were all approachable and a nice variety of short (145 yards) and long (205 yards) from the middle tees.  Of the testing par 4s, my favorite design was #7, an uphill dogleg left that played to only 360 yards from my tees.  The drive needed to carry 180 yards to clear a ravine.  Left of the fairway was wilderness stroke-and-distance territory, while a trap at the elbow of the dogleg 235 yards out was within reach.  Good players would probably opt for 3-wood or less.  Then the approach had to clear a creek, a rock wall and a bunker to get anywhere close to the pin.  It was a wonderfully designed short par 4, one of many nice holes at the fine Avery Ranch Golf Club.
    Avery Ranch Golf Club, Avery Club Drive, Austin, TX.  (512) 248-2442.  Black tees, 7,121 yards (recommended for 0 to 4 handicap players), 74.3 rating, 133 slope.  Gold tees, 6,594, 71.8, 133.  Blue tees, 6,229, 70.0,126. Ladies white tees, 5,724, 74.0, 135.

The approach at #7 at Avery Ranch is both intimidating and exhilarating. 

Footnote to those who care about my Texas barbecue obsession:  Tonight I sampled the smoked brisket from Bill Miller's in Austin, with a side of cole slaw (just mediocre, a little too shredded and a little too much vinegar).  The brisket was terrific in texture and taste, more moist than Rudy's brisket (see yesterday's post).  Bill Miller's cows must really love their salt licks because the meat was saltier than it needed to be; the tasty, mild barbecue sauce that was generously spooned out for me would have been enough seasoning for the smoke and natural beefiness of the meat.  On the other hand, the salt sure made the beer taste better.  On my rating scale of 1 to 5, I give Miller's brisket 4 pigs (might have been a 5 if they had rationed the cows' salt licks).  Yes, I know brisket does not come from pigs.