Boot Ranch: Hal Sutton's Gift

By J.Frank Hernandez

The word “expansive” is defined as “having a wide range or extent; comprehensive; extensive.” It is a word that can apply to many people, places and things, yet is not one that is often accurately applied.

However, when it comes to the state of Texas, the world of golf, the life of Hal Sutton and the experience that is Boot Ranch, expansive is the right word at the right time – and it applies in many, many ways.

Located only 70 miles from San Antonio and 80 miles from Austin, Boot Ranch is located just outside the historic town of Fredericksburg, Texas. This quaint, 10,000-resident town is one of the most popular destinations in the state. The town’s history is rooted in agriculture, which continues through to today, and has been emboldened by a strong tourism industry. With four million Texans living within 90 minutes of this wonderful town, Fredericksburg’s past, present and future are definitely expansive.

Boot Ranch is the realization of Sutton’s lifelong dream and his lifetime professional career. His golf career is incredibly expansive: 1980 Golf College Player of the Year; 1980 winner of the U.S. Amateur Championship; 1982 Rookie of the Year on the PGA TOUR; winner of 14 PGA TOUR events; member of four Ryder Cups, as well as captain of the 2004 Ryder Cup American team; wire-to-wire winner of the 1983 PGA Championship, defeating Jack Nicklaus by one stroke; wire-to-wire winner of THE PLAYERS Championship in 2000, defeating Tiger Woods by one stroke, some 17 years after his first victory at THE PLAYERS Championship; more than $15 million in career earnings on the PGA TOUR; and much more.

Sutton’s off-the-course life has been equally expansive: Sutton donated $100,000 to his alma mater Centenary College and to United Way of Northeast Louisiana in 2000; was awarded the Omar N. Bradley Spirit of Independence award, which
he accepted at the Independence Bowl on New Year’s Day 2004; opened Christus Schumpert Sutton Children’s Hospital in Shreveport, Louisiana, a five-story wing with 80 beds, in Shreveport in May 2006; shared the Golf Writers Association of America’s 2006 Charlie Barlett Award with Louisianans Kelly Gibson and David Toms for their
combined $2 million-plus in aid to Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita victims; and again, much more.

However, Sutton is the first to say that Boot Ranch is his way of giving back to the game that has provided him with so much in life. In fact, his outlook on life – his view of the world – stretches the word expansive as far is it can go.
Sutton first envisioned Boot Ranch five years ago after traveling the world as a player. While creation of the course actually began three years ago, Sutton says that he made mental notes throughout his career of everything that he loved about the game and put it all into play at Boot Ranch.

“My past is what’s allowed me to have the experience to put that into this place,” he says. “It’s not just something that I shared with another developer, built it, left, and don’t care how it goes. I did this for golf and I’m staying here nurturing it all the time.”
Sutton spent more than 180 days at the course during construction, something that is unprecedented for PGA TOUR players who move into course design. In fact, Sutton now calls Boot Ranch home and plans to spend the majority of his time at the course.
Boot Ranch began with 30 founding members, including Sutton’s mentor Jackie Burke and former President George H. W. Bush. The club will eventually have 400 members.

Most will construct second homes, although a number are expected to make Boot Ranch their primary residence. Members receive custom M. L. Leddy alligator boots. Think of them like the green jacket at Augusta National Golf Club: The boots remain at the club at all times and are typically worn during formal club events.

Situated at an elevation of 2,000 feet, Boot Ranch is centered around a clubhouse area that Sutton designed as an old European-style village. Six separate buildings make up the village, with a gazebo located in the middle of the area.

In addition to the expansive home sites that are available at Boot Ranch – on which extensive information can be found at www.bootranch.com, including a homesite map – the club will also have eight “Sunday Houses.” Each house has five distinct structures: Four fully furnished master suite cottages and a gathering home in the middle (complete with dining room, full kitchen and outdoor cooking area). Eight member families will be able to buy into a given Sunday House, thus making the opportunity available to 64 families. Each family will be able to use the Sunday House for 35 days each year.

The 7,178-yard, par 71 course itself is a wonderful design, flowing first from the natural earth with the benefit of the eye of a professional. That said, Sutton humbly defers the credit for the course’s beauty.
“This is a to-grade golf course,” he says. “That means that God did all the work and we didn’t have to.”

One very creative aspect to the course is its two ninth holes – yes, there are two ninth holes (9a and 9b). Sutton originally designed 9a as the actual ninth hole. However, upon considering a redirection of the hole, he discovered a second ninth hole that led to the perfect back nine. The decision was made to keep the original hole intact because it finishes at the clubhouse. Therefore, players that only have time to get nine in can play 9a without being inconvenienced by having to drive back to the clubhouse.

Another exciting creation is the three-hole par-three course at Boot Ranch. Each hole was created with three distinct tee boxes per hole, so you can actually play nine holes by utilizing the different tee boxes. Sutton designed this area to be a place where players can learn the game without having to play the full 18-hole course.

Such a consideration for those learning the game is a hallmark of Sutton’s philosophy of the game of golf and a cornerstone of life at Boot Ranch.

“If you quit learning, you become stagnant,” Sutton says. “We owe it to the future of the game and to the kids” to teach them the game of golf the right way.
Sutton believes that today’s PGA professionals should be much more focused on teaching the game of golf as opposed to other areas that have been emphasized at many golf clubs today.

“We need to be spending less time teaching pros how to merchandise,” he says, “and more time teaching pros how to teach the game correctly.
“And I’m sorry, but it takes time to learn how to do that. You can’t learn how to do that in a six month period of time,” Sutton says.

“We’ve got to get more out there on how to do this. Everybody’s wanting to make money off of the game. To me, I want to give something back to the game.”
That focused belief in teaching the game first and foremost is equally embodied by the entire staff of Boot Ranch.

“The people we’ve hired here are cut from the same cloth,” Sutton says. “They want to help.”

Three interesting examples of Sutton’s belief in having the opportunity to learn the game while playing came to light in a recent discussion. First was his choice to make every hole on the course play slightly downhill, sometimes almost imperceptibly downhill. This assists players in the proper weight transfer during their downswing.

“People have trouble transferring their weight to their front foot,” he says. If you’ve hit any balls uphill, you’ve seen people get hung back on their back foot.
“I said, okay, I’m going to teach everybody how to transfer their weight to their front foot,” which Sutton believes is one of the keys to the proper golf swing that eludes many beginning players and high-handicappers. By making the course play slightly downhill, the proper weight transfer occurs almost naturally.

The second example is the 34-acre, 360-degree practice range. Players can work on their games from all sides of the range, thus experiencing all directions of wind that will be found on the course. There is no fear of feeling cramped because the range is 440 yards long and 360 yards wide. Additionally, Sutton has included fairways on the practice range so that players can have a legitimate target as opposed to just hitting balls into the distance.

“There is not a driving range in America like this,” Sutton says. The third example has to do with the decisions that golfers must make when playing a round.

“I think the architects are making all the decisions for the players,” Sutton says. “There is only one decision in the way that they’re designing the golf courses today.”
Sutton believes that a course should provide players with multiple shot options that will allow the player to be the final decision maker. The choices a player makes should be based on that player’s ability and individual thought process, as opposed to the singular choice that some architects create for players.

“Here at Boot Ranch, there are plenty of options. I’m not going to chose it for you. You’re supposed to choose it as a player. To me, that’s what makes a player smart,” he says.

A prime example is hole #10, a dogleg right hole with a creek, pool and 30-foot waterfall that separates the fairway from the green. Playing only 364 yards from the Tournament tees and 355 yards from the Medal tees, players are immediately confronted with the choice of driver or iron off the tee. Those hitting driver will have to play the shot to the right, over the trees and toward a very short second fairway that fronts the green. It’s a makeable shot if you have the length and accuracy, but the penalty for a poor shot is stiff.

Conversely, players choosing an iron off the tee will have to decide whether to play it safely down the left side of the fairway (away from the creek) or try to cut off some distance from the second shot by playing the ball to the right side of the fairway and closer to the creek. Be careful, though, as there is a bunker in the center of the fairway that will create a very tough approach shot if you find yourself in it.

Once in the fairway, the downhill approach shot will range from 40 yards to 110 yards and will need to carry the creek. Being long on the approach shot will bring trouble into play, so accuracy is a premium. Thus, the decision off the tee will be the major factor in determining whether this hole will provide a birdie opportunity.
Boot Ranch’s elevation creates another set of decision-making opportunities due to a constant wind that can be found on many holes. Here again, Sutton has brought his years of experience to the course design.

“There are five par-threes and all five go a different direction,” he says. “So if the wind doesn’t change, you experience all the winds on the par-threes.”
While the wind is not oppressive in any way, it definitely will affect ball flight. Whether a player chooses to ride the wind on a given hole or play a fade into a draw wind, a well thought out decision must be made before the shot is played.

That is the essence of Boot Ranch and of Hal Sutton’s belief in the game of golf: immaculate conditions, a variety of options, a necessity to make a decision, and the opportunity to learn the game of golf the right way – on the course.
Sutton says that he set out to create the Aspen or Vail of Texas. Having reviewed, visited and played hundreds of golf courses and met thousands of players and professionals, it is evident to this writer that in the future people will set out to create the Boot Ranch of whatever place they reside.

It is that incredible; a complete, encompassing, and invigorating place. Yet, for all the descriptions and for all its expressions of the word expansive, Boot Ranch can best by summed up by Sutton himself. “This is my theory and this is what we’re trying to do.”

For extensive information on Boot Ranch, visit www.bootranch.com

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