AUSTIN, Texas -- Golf architect Roy Bechtol is highlighted on the cover and is the featured interview in the November 2007 edition of Business District magazine, an Austin, Texas-based publication that profiles and reports on area leaders and trends that drive commerce and business in the Central Texas region.
The magazine was mailed to subscribers in early November and is available at selected newsstand locations as well as via the Internet.
Among other topics, Bechtol, principal of Bechtol Golf Design, tells readers the things he looks for when determining if a piece of raw land can become a great golf course.
“In my mind, the primary ingredient for designing a great golf course is the routing,” Bechtol said. “That affects the sequencing of the holes, which affects the playability, which affects how the course fits on the land, which affects the views and the pace of play. If you route a golf course properly, when you are finished and you haven’t moved a whole lot of dirt, it looks like it has been there 100 years.”
Bechtol has designed more than 50 golf courses throughout the United States, either as the lead architect or as a collaborator with other golf course designers. Bechtol Golf Design, which has its home office in Austin, combines cutting-edge technology with creative, traditional design practices to determine the best possible plan for land development.
If golfers don’t know Bechtol’s name firsthand, they surely have played some of the courses he has designed, influenced or said grace over. Among his courses in Texas are tracks like The Golf Club at Circle C in southwest Austin, ShadowGlen Golf Club in Manor, The Golf Club at Star Ranch in Hutto, The University of Texas Golf Club at Steiner Ranch, Austin Country Club, Barton Creek, Great Hills Country Club, RiverPlace Country Club and The Hills of Lakeway.
Other Bechtol courses in play include Somersett Country Club in Reno, Nevada; Saddle Creek Golf Club in Copperopolis, California; Black Bear Golf Club in Delhi, Louisiana; Comanche Trace in Kerrville, Texas and The Legends on Lake LBJ in Kingsland, Texas.
Bechtol-designed tracks run the gamut, from The Ambush at the posh Lajitas Resort in the Big Bend region of Texas to the folksy (and surprisingly great) Concan Country Club adjacent to the Frio River near Garner State Park in southwestern Texas.
Bechtol’s career encompasses nearly 35 years of experience in land planning, landscape architecture and golf course design. On new projects, Bechtol works from a blank slate, and an initial walkthrough on the raw land will produce uncommon and stunningly complete ideas. On renovations, he has the background that allows him to improve already-sound concepts for the benefit of the golf course itself as well as its owners and investors.
From his offices in West Lake Hills on the banks of Lake Austin, Bechtol provides the creative inspiration for great golf courses, golf communities and the building of freshwater trophy fishing ponds and lakes. His three companies – Bechtol Golf Design, Planned Environments, Inc, and Waters of America – employ as many as 20 people and embody the feel of Austin in the 1980s, only more high-tech.
“We are proud to have Roy Bechtol on and in our magazine,” said Jason Myers, Business District’s publisher. “This interview is the latest in a series of features in which we have profiled leaders such as Texas Senator Kirk Watson, Oasis Restaurant owner Beau Theriot, MedSavers Pharmacy founder Chris Johnson and Mike Heiligenstine, the executive director of the Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority. Like these other leaders, Bechtol is passionate about his business and brings a uniquely Austin point of view to our readers.”
Bechtol’s interview is one of handful of features in the magazine, which reaches discerning Central Texas-area business leaders via print and online form (www.abdmag.com).
Other features include: a breakdown of the economic impact of University of Texas sports, and sports in general, on Austin and the Central Texas region; a look at the state of the Austin and Texas film industry in the wake of a new incentive package passed by this spring by the Texas Legislature; and a primer on how to raise funds from an angel investor.
“It is my pleasure to be able to tell readers of Business District magazine a little about the philosophy I am able to bring to table when developers are looking to bring golf to their projects,” Bechtol said.
About Bechtol Golf Design
Bechtol Golf Design’s principal, Roy Bechtol has designed more than 50 golf courses throughout the United States either as the lead architect or as a collaborator with other golf course designers. Bechtol Golf Design (www.bechtolgolfdesign.com) combines cutting-edge technology with creative, traditional design practices to determine the best possible plan for land development.
Upcoming projects include courses in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina, in the mountains of Panama, in the Colorado Rocky Mountains near Vail, on the coast of Mexico, in the hills of western Virginia, in the Texas Hill Country along the upper banks of Lake Travis and on Mustang Island on the Texas coast, as well as various sites in Central Texas.
Bechtol Golf Design’s completed projects, both individually and in conjunction with some of the world’s top designers, include:
The Waterford Club (Smithwick, Texas)
The University of Texas Golf Club (Austin, Texas)
The Golf Club of Texas (San Antonio, Texas)
The Golf Club at Star Ranch (Hutto, Texas)
Black Bear Golf Club (Delhi, Louisiana)
ShadowGlen Golf Club (Manor, Texas)
The Ambush at Lajitas (Lajitas, Texas)
ConCan Country Club (North Uvalde County, Texas)
Great Hills Country Club (Austin, Texas)
El Paso Country Club (El Paso, Texas)
The Golf Club at Circle C (Austin, Texas)
Vaquero (Dallas, Texas)
Barton Creek Resort (Austin, Texas)
The Hills of Lakeway (Lakeway, Texas)
Austin Country Club (Austin, Texas)
RiverPlace Country Club (Austin, Texas)
Media contact:
Steve Habel
Media Coordinator
Bechtol Golf Design
512-474-0806 (office)
512-535-6120 (direct)
512-699-2133 (cell)
stevehabel@hotmail.com
