Austin’s amenity-rich Travis Club to soft open Beau Welling course by late 2025 (Golfweek)
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Golf course architect Beau Welling had just walked off the 15th hole at Travis Club, about 15 miles west of Austin, Texas, when he was asked what drew him to the site for his latest project.
The 15th, “a big-boy par 5,” as Welling calls it, stretches more than 600 yards, but plays nearly 150 feet downhill.
Welling, who studied physics at Brown and Irish literature at Trinity College in Dublin, was almost lyrical as he described, in his native South Carolina drawl, the Hill Country setting high above Lake Travis, looking across steep ridges, ravines and rock outcroppings toward a church steeple in the distance. It was a reminder that, even for a seasoned architect focused on infusing his courses with strategy and variety, there’s no substitute for being entrusted with a spectacular natural canvas on which to carve 18 holes.
“You just can’t replicate this property,” said Travis Club member Brian Petrauskas, a Houston businessman who grew up in Austin and plans for his family to spend more time in his hometown. “It’s almost 400 feet of elevation change. Most of Texas is flat. So you’ve got the elevation changes and multiple holes with views of Lake Travis, which is the best lake in Texas for scenery, for recreation, for everything.
“If it’s 80 percent as good as I hope, I’m just tickled pink. Everything about the whole property looks amazing.”
(Click to read Martin Kaufmann’s full story at Golfweek)