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By James McAfee

After spending three days at the newly-renovated Omni Barton Creek Resort & Spa, secluded on 4,000 acres in the rolling hills of Austin, Texas, in April, 2022, it’s easy to see why it was named among the top five resorts in the Southwest by Conde Nast Traveler and the top five resorts in Texas by Texas Travel + Leisure World.

It’s the perfect place for a vacation for golfers because you have the opportunity to play any of the four courses designed by nationally known architects like Tom Fazio, Ben Crenshaw and Bill Coore and Arnold Palmer and enjoy the luxurious over-the-top accommodations along with members of its private club.

The Fazio Canyons, ranked third in the state among courses that are open to the public by Golfweek, re-opened in the fall of 2022 after a major $5 million renovation that included the addition of new tees, allowing the course to be lengthened to 7,433 yards–long enough to handle major events with players hitting 300+ drives. Getting input from members of Barton Creek, new forward orange tees were also added, shortening the length for short hitters to 4,600 yards.

The re-do also included a new state-of-the-art practice facility. Rufus Brijalba, the Barton Creek director of golf, believes the addition of Toptracker Range technology that allows members and resort guests to track data about their shots along with the Barton Creek Golf Academy and Barton Creek Fitting Center will make coming here a “one-stop destination for game improvements.”

Canyons, located two miles away from the resort, offers plenty of awe-inspiring views of the roller-coaster ups and downs facing players with scenic holes framed by Red Oaks and Sycamore trees plus limestone cliffs. Short Springs creek adds to the challenge when playing risk-reward chances. The course was the first one in the state certified as an Audubon International Signature Sanctuary. The new Canyons Clubhouse sits at the edge of the driving range. More