Web.com Tour Puts Tom Fazio Courses on Display
By Steve Pike • April 27, 2019
Briggs Ranch
With more than 200 golf courses around the world bearing his name, Tom Fazio has long been counted as one of the game’s most celebrated architects.
No living designer has more courses ranked among America’s best. Numerous major championships on each of the professional tours have been played on golf courses Fazio designed or renovated. In addition, Fazio is Augusta National’s consulting architect, having overseen much of the course work since the 1990s.
Starting with the inaugural Dormie Network Classic at Briggs Ranch Golf Club this weekend in San Antonio, Tex., Fazio-designed courses will be celebrated on the Web.com Tour. The event will field 156 players competing for a $550,000 purse.
During Labor Day weekend, the Web.com Tour concludes its season at Victoria National Golf Club in Newburgh, Ind., which will once again serve as host venue for the newly named Web.com Tour Championship presented by United Leasing & Finance.
Briggs Ranch and Victoria National each are Fazio designs, as well as parts of the Dormie Network.
“Sometimes I’ll walk by a television in a locker room somewhere, and I see a golf course that looks familiar – and it’s one I designed,” Fazio said. “I guess when you’ve been around as long as I have and done as many golf courses, those kind of things happen. It’s wonderful for me to see Briggs Ranch and Victoria National – great stories, great involvements, great memories – wonderful, fabulous golf courses. Both those golf courses were a dream for us.”
Along with Briggs Ranch and Victoria National, the Nebraska-based Dormie Network includes Dormie Club (Pinehurst, NC), Ballyhack Golf Club (Roanoke, Va.), ArborLinks (Nebraska City, Neb.) and Hidden Creek Golf Club (Egg Harbor Township, N.J.).
Offering regional, national and corporate memberships, the network’s full-service accommodations, premium amenities and renowned courses provide a combination of best-in-class golf with an intimate and casual retreat experience ideal for business or leisure.
“A program like Dormie Network, where they take existing facilities and have new young people coming in and energizing things, it’s just fabulous,” Fazio said. “Things move on and you get new ownership, which is great. You get new blood, new energy; you get new young people and excitement.”
Dormie Network has invested millions in capital improvement projects, currently at various stages of planning, execution, and completion at every club.
At Briggs Ranch — where Fazio’s design opened in 2001 and has been ranked among the top 20 layouts in Texas — Dormie Network is constructing an on-site lodging in the form of casitas, as well as a TrackMan performance center that will be ideal for corporate gatherings and client entertainment.
“The focus at Briggs Ranch was really about creating a great golf experience, creating great conditions for golf and creating a great environment that people would enjoy,” said Fazio.
“This was a group of passionate people who really loved the game and were committed to creating a top-notch facility in a growing area. You had some movers and shakers who really committed to doing the best golf that could be done. That’s what got my attention and made me excited to be involved. These people had the dream of creating something special.”
- Tom Fazio
At Victoria National, which Fazio designed in 1998, Dormie Network is adding cottages that will double the club’s current accommodations.
“I think the quality of these two golf courses will be shown,” said Fazio. “When players the caliber of the Web.com Tour come to Briggs Ranch and Victoria National and see the golf courses — I run into these really good players who are moving on the way up, and they remind me of the quality and character of those golf courses. It’s fun to sit and listen to good players talk about them.”
Original article by Steve Pike on myspiketravel.com on April 27th, 2019.
