HAL SUTTON, the original “Next Nicklaus,” on the PGA Tour in the early 1980s, has built quite a career for himself over the last two decades. He is now poised to add another large chapter in Texas golf architecture with the opening of his new private course, Boot Ranch, outside of Fredericksburg.
Sutton has been at the top and bottom of the professional golfing mountain since he burst on the professional golf scene in the early 1980s. Sutton won seven times in his first five years including the 1983 Players Championship and PGA Championship where he chased down his idol Jack Nicklaus in the final round, beating him by a single shot. But Sutton struggled with his game and his confidence in the ensuing decade and he found himself embarrassed by his own admission to show up on the Tour's driving range to hit balls in the mid-1990s because his form was so poor.
His victory in the 1998 Texas Open at LaCantea Golf Club in San Antonio stamped his long comeback was finally complete and Sutton went on to win the Tour Championship a few weeks later, the 1999 Canadian Open and the 2000 Players Championship where he defeated Tiger Woods in a tense final round showdown. Sutton remains the only player to defeat both Nicklaus and Woods in the final round of a major Tour event.
Sutton was named captain of the 2004 U.S. Ryder Cup team at Oakland Hills Country Club outside of Detroit, which ended in a humiliating American defeat. But he has turned his considerable talents to designing golf courses, opening up one in his hometown of Shreveport, Louisiana and designing Boot Ranch which will have its grand opening in May.
Despite his busy schedule, Sutton found time to talk with Texas Golfer Senior Writer, Art Stricklin, about his new course, his Ryder Cup experience and his longtime Texas ties.
There has been a lot of positive buzz about the new golf club you designed, Boot Ranch, in Fredericksburg. How did you decide to build the course there?
I've always loved the Hill Country, always thought it was a beautiful spot and have always spent a lot of time here. We found a special piece of land and wanted to build a special course. We wanted to build a true statewide private club and that's what we did here.
How did you pick Fredericksburg as your own bit of Hill Country heaven?
When we started looking at the map, we are just about an hour from four million people, but once you get here you don't see anybody at all. Fredericksburg is really a special spot in Texas. It's kind of like Carmel without the ocean. You know what I mean, it's just got character. I looked all over the Hill Country to find the right place and settled here for my first course in Texas.
What's your first course in Texas like so far?
I think we've risen to the top in a very short time. We exceeded my expectations and a lot of people's expectations. We're going to have the most spectacular clubhouse ever, some 30,000 square feet, with just some spectacular views. We truly have an outstanding piece of land to build a course on.
It sounds like a great place for a new club. How did you put it together?
I don't give myself any credit because I don't know anything about it except for the golf. I just assembled a great team and helped raise all the money, and they have really done a spectacular job.
Was it early in your career you got interested in golf architecture or later?
It was later on in my career, but I'm not an architect. I don't know much about architecture. I put my name on a project in Louisiana and one in Japan, but this one was different. I spent 180 days out here with the guys driving the CAT trucks and the dumper and scraper. I've got to be here every day, because this was my course. I was hands on and I wanted to take responsibility for everything that happened.
Did you make a lot of changes as the course layout took place?
I moved the 17th green four straight days, six feet at a time, because I didn't like the way it was looking. I did it myself because this is going to be my course. I wouldn't do another one like this because I just don't have the time to be out here every day, all the time, to build a special place. I'm not an architect, not like guys that do dozens of courses. I just wanted to do this course on this spot. I'm an old golfer, my playing days are in the background, but I wanted to try and give something back to the game.Are you already playing on it now?
We opened it up for limited play last fall and have had very limited play during the winter. We're going to have the grand opening May 5-6-7 which will launch this course to the world. I promise you, nobody is going to be disappointed. We built something that doesn't exist before out here and something I'm very proud of.
You've played so much golf in your career, you must have some favorite types of holes. Is that what Boot Ranch reflects?
I would never build a course just to suit my game. I wanted to build something that would suit everybody in the golf world. If you come out here, you'll see that a guy who hits it left to right is not favored or the guy who hits it right to left is not favored. One thing I was thinking when I built it is that what if my son, who is age 3 now, wanted to learn how to play the game. This is a course where you could hit every type of shot there is to prepare him to be a major champion, provided he had the talent to achieve that.
Boot Ranch will be a private club, but do you have a limit on members?
In the bylaws, I think we can have 400 members. When we open in May we'll probably have 100 members so we have room to grow.
What about some course highlights?
We have great natural scenery, but we probably have the smallest green in Texas at number 14, at just 3,100 square feet, and we have probably the prettiest waterfall in Texas. That's enough to whet your interest. It's a par 71, measuring 7,250 yards from the very back tees.
Do you have a practice facility?
We have a 35-acre practice facility which is going to be one of the finest in Texas. Cameron Beckman (PGA Tour player from San Antonio) is already a member out here and practicing at the center.
How are you recruiting members?
If I hear of somebody who is interested in the project, I'll go in my airplane, pick them up and take them down here. We'll play golf together, have something to eat and then take them back home. If people come down here on their own, they'll see the course and see how wonderful and special it really is.
Texan Lanny Wadkins recently spoke at the Byron Nelson kickoff luncheon about what being a Ryder Cup captain meant to his career. After having a year to reflect, what did being the U.S. Captain in 2004 at Oakland Hills mean to you?
It was nice to do it once, but there is just so much involved, more than just being the captain.
Did you know what you were getting into when you were named captain?
If you're named captain, it's because you have enough time to devote to it. I worked long and hard for two years getting ready for it, doing everything you need to do, picking out the uniforms and everything that goes along with it. When the players come in for the week, they have been working on their careers and playing golf and have only one week to think about what you have been doing for two years. That's not their fault, that's just the way it is.
I'm sure everybody knows the Ryder Cup didn't turn out like you would have wanted it to with the biggest European win in Ryder Cup history. Has the pain subsided for you?
You put so much into it, it's a real letdown after the fact, win or lose.
Do you have any regrets or want any mulligan?
No, I don't think so. I'll just take my mulligan or my OB and move on. Once was enough.
Have you talked with Tom Lehman about this year's Ryder Cup at the K Club in Ireland?
We talked at Bay Hill last year, but that's the last time. The captain can really do only so much. Some days you don't make the putts. There really are a lot of factors in a captain's job you can't control.
You grew up and went to school in Louisiana and still live there most of the time, but a large part of your career has played out here in Texas. How has that shaped your career?
I always did a lot of things here in Texas. I've hunted here and played golf here and matched up against a lot of great golfers here. I won the Texas Open here and met Jack Burke, Jr. here at Champions in Houston, who has really helped my career.
When is the first time you met Mr. Burke?
When I was a senior in high school, the University of Houston was one of the schools that were recruiting me and I came down there for a visit and met Mr. Burke and played golf at Champions. The first lesson ever given at Boot Ranch was the one Mr. Burke gave me on the practice tee. He is a very special and unique individual.
Another Texas highlight was winning the 1998 Texas Open after coming out of your long slump in the 1980s and early '90s. How special was that?
Winning the Texas Open was just a validation of what I was doing and gave me the confidence to keep playing and keep improving. That was the beginning of a very good three-year stretch for me, winning the Canadian Open and the TPC Players Championship and other tournaments. Certainly when you look down the list of players who have won the Texas Open I'm very proud to have my name on that list.
Any Texas disappointments?
My only disappointment was the 1983 Byron Nelson, where I thought I had that tournament wrapped up and Ben Crenshaw, another Texan, nipped me at the end. I've won the Texas Open, but Ben got me at the Byron Nelson. I still remember that.
Thanks for the time and good luck with your new golf club, Boot Ranch.
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