Premier Central Texas vacation destination is ready for prime time
Horseshoe Bay Resort has never been a modest proposition. The place has a lot to offer its guests, including opportunities to play 54 holes of golf, attend a golf school, and take part in all sorts of water recreation, racquet sports, and enjoy exquisite dining along with an action-packed sports bar.
But Horseshoe Bay Resort, founded more than 50 years ago in the Texas Hill Country on Lake LBJ, about 45 minutes from Austin, Texas, never stands pat. The owners and management there continue to refine all aspects of the resort year after year. There’s no better example of that than the golf experience itself, which is arguably in its golden era.
This year, the whole nation will be able to witness how good the golf is firsthand as the Golf Channel’s Big Break returns with a full season of episodes filmed at Horseshoe Bay Resort, featuring all four courses, three of which are open to resort guests. (Horseshoe Bay’s fourth championship course, Summit Rock, is members-only) These championship layouts have never been better and continue to improve.
“The thing I’m most excited about is showcasing the variety and quality of golf that we have,” said Anthony Holder, PGA director of golf operations at Horseshoe Bay Resort.
Holder added that Big Break X Good Good (sponsored by the popular golf influencer group, Good Good) really showcases the 7,000-acre Texas Hill Country resort, which is situated around a beautiful lake and all its amenities.
“For a long time, I think we’ve been this sleepy little secret,” he said. ”I think hosting this season of Big Break, called Big Break X Good Good, really puts us out there in a resonant way that brands Horseshoe Bay Resort as a national bucket list destination.”
The event will begin to air on Golf Channel in August, bridging the gap between the long-running reality show’s legacy viewer and Good Good Golf’s growing legion of YouTube golf fans.
Horseshoe Bay Resort being ready for its closeup coincides with the continuing upgrades of the resort itself, which most recently have included the popularity of a new dining yacht, on-water obstacle course, playground, and the new 10,000 sq ft Live Oak Pavilion near the Whitewater Putting Course, which sits adjacent to the 250-room tower hotel.
It’s also paramount that conditions across the three resort courses are consistent with each other. They all have bentgrass greens, zoysia collars, and 419 Bermuda on the fairways and tees. The goal is for all three courses to play the same in terms of conditions and green speeds, Holder said, which is made easier by having a director of agronomy who oversees individual course superintendents.
One of the biggest game changers recently has been the addition of the new Horseshoe Bay Resort Golf Academy, headed up by Director of Instruction Bobby Steiner. The state-of-the-art 3,000-square foot facility is equipped with indoor/outdoor lesson bays as well as eight covered practice bays equipped with Toptracer Range technology.
Horseshoe Bay officials knew it would help attract guests who wanted to improve their games through clinics and schools as well as enhance the member experience, but it proved to be far more valuable. They’ve been able to tie it into their men’s and women’s golf association functions as well as their nine-holers and introductory classes.
The impetus of Big Break X Good Good goes back to the Good Good Lone Star Shootout, an event Horseshoe Bay did with the influential social content creator collective last June. It was a 12-hole event that featured Good Good Golf Creators and celebrity athletes (like Reggie Bush and Matt Ryan), who formed two-man teams in a competition, exhibition, and even a concert.
Big Break will include members from Good Good as well as 10 other male players. The winner of the competition will get a spot in the upcoming Good Good Championship on the PGA Tour to be conducted this November in nearby Austin.
And while Big Break is another milestone for Horseshoe Bay, you can expect the resort to keep on growing and evolving. There has been talk about possibly adding even more courses, like a tour-level championship layout and perhaps a shorter course for resort guests. So stay tuned.
To see everything that is new at Horseshoe Bay Resort, visit HSBResort.com.
