The Vaquero Club in Westlake, Texas, has reopened its golf course following renovations by Andrew Green.
The architects rerouted some holes, widened the fairways and added teeing options. The number of bunkers increased from 61 to 92, but bunkering decreased from nearly 7 acres to about 2.5 acres.
The greens have been redesigned to add more definition and give each one a distinct personality. Most are now also accessible from the ground.
“The goal was to encourage our members to play more on the golf course than ever before, while also making them better players,” Green said. “Members are constantly faced with different types of shots and must find new and different ways to navigate the golf course. Even if it doesn’t show up in the score, they’re going to have a lot of fun.”
The most notable change to the original Tom Fazio design is the new first hole, which plays in the opposite direction from the previous hole at that location. On wide fairways, you can take a challenging line to the right of the fairway trees, making the hole significantly shorter.
The fourth hole is an easy par 4 to drive for those who can take advantage of the fairway to carry the bunker and hit the ball onto the green. On his seventh hole, a par-5, the bunker was relocated to be more visually prominent while reducing the sand area by about 70%, making it more challenging.
Also new is the “Devil's” par 3, No. 16, a 130-yard slight uphill climb with multiple levels from between two post oaks to the green.
Mr Green said the redesign “revealed the potential of the property and took advantage of the stunning topography”.
