Crenshaw Cliffside Course at Barton Creek to be Renovated

The Crenshaw Cliffside course at Barton Creek Resort & Spa is undergoing renovations this summer and is scheduled to reopen September 15. Recipient of the 2006 “Reader’s Choice Best Course to Play in Austin” (4.0 rating) in Golf Digest, Crenshaw Cliffside is reminiscent of a links-style golf course with wide fairways and opportunities to run the ball up to the greens.

Designed by Ben Crenshaw and design partner Bill Coore, the 18-hole track occupies gently rolling hills, providing elevation changes and outstanding views. The greens are large and well-contoured, while numerous fairway and greenside bunkers also serve as impediments to par.

The scope of work includes the greens, bunker and tees. The putting surfaces are being re-grassed to provide a uniform and consistent turf. The upper five inches of the greens will be replaced with Champion Bermuda grass, the same turf used on the greens at Barton Creek’s Fazio Canyons and Palmer Lakeside courses. The contours of the greens will remain the same, though a few areas will be softened enough to preserve hole locations.

The bunkers will receive new sand and internal drainage will be replaced. A fourth set of tees is also being added. Currently, Crenshaw is the resort’s only course with only three sets of tees. When the project is completed, there will be five sets of tees on both Fazio courses and four sets of tees on both the Crenshaw Cliffside and Palmer Lakeside courses.

Barton Creek sits on 4,000 acres in the Hill Country of Texas. Conde Nast Traveler recently named the Resort No. 39 in the magazine’s 2006 list of the Top 100 Golf Resorts in the world. Its four 18-hole layouts – Fazio Foothills, Fazio Canyons, Crenshaw Cliffside and Palmer Lakeside – offer challenges to golfers of every skill level while carefully preserving and integrating the natural environment, allow the resort to receive Certified Audubon Golf Course distinction. Among the subsidiary benefits for golfers at Barton Creek are waterfalls, native plants and abundant wildlife.

The resort is home to the Chuck Cook Golf Academy. The facility is led by Chuck Cook, an instructor to four U.S. Open champions, a U.S. Amateur champion and five NCAA champions. Cook has been named by three top golf magazines as among the top 10 teachers in the world.

Barton Creek Resort & Spa also offers 300 finely appointed rooms, various dining experiences, meeting facilities and a full-service spa. For more information about Barton Creek, call 800/336-6158 or 512/329-4000 or visit www.bartoncreek.com.