Mad About the Max

Challenging golfers to think their way around a golf course, Robert Trent Jones II built risk/reward options into more than half the par 4s and par 5s on his critically acclaimed Max A. Mandel Municipal Golf Course in Laredo, Texas. The straightforward 417-yard 16th, however, is not among them.

That is, unless you’re playing with Dennis Gutierrez.

The general manager of the course that’s known to one and all as “The Max,” Gutierrez tosses a ball onto the Bermuda teeing area and faces southeast, perpendicular to the fairway that runs parallel to the Rio Grande below. Thick stands of Carrizo cane line the bank, their stalks parting occasionally to reveal the river separating Texas and the Tamaulipas bosque.

Gutierrez pulls pitching wedge. “We like to have a contest here,” he says. “Let’s see who can hit it closest to Mexico without it going in.” His shot splashes about 10 yards from the shore; mine dives in midstream. We don’t risk more than our pride, so we’re both rewarded: he by his victory, I with a story.

Of course, if our President-elect makes good on a certain campaign promise, this little competition will literally hit a wall.

On the risk/reward scale, crossing the Rio Grande with a scratched-up ProV1 doesn’t compare with swimming across to find a safer, more prosperous life in El Norte. Like much of the 1,254-mile shoreline between the two countries, the lushly vegetated portion flanking The Max conceals motion sensors and border patrol agents, Gutierrez explains. You’d never know it, though. “The only time we see the border police or the FIS (Federal Inspection Services) at the course is on their days off,” he laughs. “A lot of them have regular games.”

THE COMMUNITY

Regulars also include a small but growing percentage of the 282,000 people in the greater Laredo Metropolitan Area, the vast majority of whom have had little exposure to the game. Before The Max opened in 2012, Laredo only claimed two courses—the private Laredo Country Club and county-owned Casa Blanca Country Club.

Gutierrez, who grew up in Laredo, didn’t pick up the game until he worked for Mark Cuban at Broadcast.com. He became so hooked on golf that he retired at 36 and enrolled at Texas A&M International University in Laredo and joined the golf team.

He now oversees an operation in his hometown that Golf, Golf Digest and Golfweek rank among the top public courses in Texas. That notoriety brings visitors from across the county, state, country and border. On any given day, the tee sheet will feature leaders in Laredo’s thriving import-export business (approximately half the trade between the U.S. and Mexico passes through Laredo, making it the largest inland port on the border). On the day of my round, a golfer arrived from Arkansas to play 61 holes on his 61st birthday.

Snowbirds—or “winter Texans” in local parlance—also flock to The Max. The course enjoys a stay-and-play partnership with Laredo’s elegant La Posada hotel, and Gutierrez plans to work with the Kickapoo Lucky Eagle Casino Hotel two hours upriver.

Despite a location 14 miles northwest of downtown Laredo, The Max maintains a strong connection to the city. Green fees cap at an affordable $50 for residents (and about $10 higher for nonresidents), with juniors and seniors getting huge discounts. It plays host to participants on the golf teams at Texas A&M International and the local high schools, as well as to hundreds of younger students who receive free lessons.

“I believe this is a landmark project for Laredo, all of South Texas and even our friends in Mexico,” Laredo Mayor Raul G. Salinas said at the 2012 opening ceremony.

A year later, The Max’s clubhouse debuted with a dedication by World Golf Hall of Famer Nancy Lopez. The riparian views from the 9,000-square-foot hacienda-style building make it a go-to venue for tournaments, weddings, quinceañeras and conferences. The balconies overlook the river and course, and the food—especially the smoked salmon nachos with pico de gallo—is as inspired as the vistas are.

THE COURSE

This great source of civic pride is exactly what the family of Laredo banker and community leader Max A. Mandel envisioned when it donated water rights, $1 million and 280 acres of forest and farmland for the course. A statue of Mandel, who died in 2002 at age 87, stands near the clubhouse entrance, and a photograph of his wife, Roslyn, hangs in the banquet room.

Roslyn Mandel died in 2013, six years after the RFP for the golf course went out. At that time, new U.S. golf construction projects were scarcer than hen’s teeth, so 26 architects responded, many arriving via private jet to bid the $8.5 million project. One even had George H.W. Bush call on his behalf.

In the end, City Manager Horacio de Leon says his board chose Jones because he offered a course stout enough to challenge golfers and host championships, but also one that Laredo’s many novices could enjoy.

He nailed it. The Max tips out 7,069 yards with a slope/rating of 74.5/132, but four other sets of tees bring it within reach of all handicaps. Jones also designed it with loops of three, six and nine holes for young families and other time-pressed players. You’ll want to experience the entire opus.

The course unfurls over three types of land—vega, farmland and river silt—each with its own characteristics and vegetation. A number of arroyos come into play, and water only factors into one hole—the wild par-5 17th, where one can just as easily card an eagle as an eight. The wind figures into numerous holes so all but a few greens receive shots along the ground. White-tailed deer and wild boars make the occasional cameo. So do white-collared seedeaters, much to the delight of the thousands of birders who alight in Laredo every November.

The Max starts quietly with a pair of medium-length par 4s lined with mesquite trees. These holes also introduce you to the subtle quirks—irreplaceable divots, stippled putts and grain direction—of playing on Bermuda. The left-dogleg par-5 third and reachable par-4 fourth are pure risk/reward gems with trees punishing the greedy. Similar options await on the number-one handicap hole, the 469-yard par-4 fifth, where cutting the dogleg on the uphill, blind tee shot into the wind can leave a wedge into a snug green.

Gutierrez calls holes 7, 8 and 9 “the Gauntlet” because they’re tough even without hitting into the prevailing wind. Nettlesome trees and fairway bunkers make the double-dogleg par-5 7th a true three-shotter, while its successor—a 462-yard par 4 high above the river—asks you to thread two greenside sandpits with a long iron. I managed to birdie the tricky par-3 ninth, which perches on a blustery exposed bluff high above the Rio.

The back nine begins with a multiple-choice par 5 featuring large mesquite trees in the middle of the fairway and a huge arroyo running up the left side and encroaching on the fairway. It doesn’t get easier on the no. 2 handicap 11th, where the green tucks into a pocket on the left side. A short, tough par 3 waits on 12—and again on 15, which asks you to airdrop a pitching wedge between the trees. At 322 yards from the tips, the risk/reward par-4 14th is reachable—and beachable as well, with a bunker yawning beside it.

Bestriding the river, the par-416 has a huge bailout area left but it leaves you no angle to the best-guarded green on the course. The aforementioned par-5 17th is a great hole on which to press. It makes a sharp right around a huge irrigation pond. Bust a drive over the adjacent pump shack and position yourself for an eagle;  miss and you’ll be wet or OB.

The ultimate risk/reward opp may come on the penultimate hole, but 18 is no slouch, requiring a deep drive and a long arroyo carry to a false-fronted green. You can lay up and hope to make par, but did you come all the way to the edge of the United States to lay up? And since when is hope a strategy?

“BUENO-BYE”

The Max gives golfers good reason to visit Laredo, even if just on a day trip from San Antonio or Austin. But the city Max Mandel loved dearly has plenty to recommend it.

For one, Laredo International Airport was once the Laredo Air Force Base, which means long runways. For another, it’s bilinguist’s banquet. With a population that’s 95 percent Hispanic or Latino, Laredoans toggle between English and español with the same ease and fluidity that 1.7 million commercial vehicles annually cross Laredo’s four bridges with Mexico. “Bueno-bye” is a common farewell.

Downtown Laredo sits at right near the entrance to the original crossing, the Gateway to the Americas International Bridge, which also features two pedestrian lanes. Workers and students go back and forth daily, like commuters on the Brooklyn Bridge hoofing to and from Manhattan.

A block from the bridge in historic San Agustin Plaza, the city’s only four-diamond hotel, La Posada, occupies a 100-year-old building that radiates boutique elegance and refinement. A courtyard pool and two superb restaurants—The Tack Room steakhouse and Modern Latin Zaragoza Grill—make La Posada the place to stay.

Next door you’ll find the Republic of the Rio Grande Museum, which immortalizes the 10 months in 1840 that Laredo served as the capital of an independent nation established by opponents of the Central Mexican Government. That’s why six flags may fly over Texas, but seven fly over Laredo.

Other points of interest include the historic Casa Ortiz, with its turn-of-the-century furnishings and lush gardens; the nearby Border Heritage Museum; and the Laredo Center for the Arts, which occupies the celebrated Mercado Building.

Authentic Mexican restaurants also naturally abound. Foremost among them is Palenque Grill, which specializes in  ceviches, Cortadillo, Pescado Zarandeado and Puntas de Filete al Albañil. The dessert churros come with a bowl of the addictive goat’s milk caramel sauce known as cajeta.

And in case you’re wondering, Laredo is extremely safe, thanks to fortified presence of FBI, DEA, FIS and Border Patrol personnel. Some of them might even be watching from the reeds as you tee off at The Max.

For more information, visit themaxlaredo.com; 956-726-2000

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Curiously George

While the rest of the nation celebrates the birthdays of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln on one day, Laredo annually spends almost two months honoring the birth of the first U.S. President. Begun in 1898 as an “American” way to celebrate the best of all cultures influencing the heritage of Laredo’s citizens, this year’s 120th George Washington’s Birthday Celebration festivities run from January 7 to February 20, 2017, with an estimated 400,000 attending.

Dozens of events fill the GWBC calendar. Highlights include the Jamboozie Mardi Gras street festival, Princess Pocahontas Pageant and Ball, Stars & Stripes Air Show, Jalapeño Festival, Noche Mexicana and a Washington’s Birthday Parade.

Two of the most famous events take place consecutive days. On February 17, the Society of Martha Washington stages its annual Colonial Pageant and Ball, where debutante “Marthas” don elaborate, bejeweled gowns weighing as much as 80 pounds and costing upwards of $25,000. The appropriately coiffed and attired “George” and “Martha” receive the debs and their escorts in an elaborate presentation followed immediately by the ball.

The next morning brings the International Bridge Ceremony, a cross-cultural hug between a young girl and boy from Laredo and a boy and girl from Nuevo Laredo. These preselected and sartorially radiant “Abrazo Children” join Mexican and U.S dignitaries in a powerful show of friendship, appreciation and mutual respect between the two nations. wbcalaredo.org

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This article appears in the Winter 2016 issue of Colorado AvidGolfer. Subscribe today!

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