4 Reasons to Saddle Up and Go Play Austin

Omni Barton Creek Resort
Omni Barton Creek Resort & Spa

Golf aficionados know Austin is a premier winter vacation destination. Similar to Texas Hill Country neighbor San Antonio, Austin is highly admired for its entertainment, culture and cuisine, and perhaps even more so for a recreational billing that includes the resplendent Austin Golf Trail.

What’s cool about Austin? Here are four reasons why the “Live Music Capital of the World” should be high on your travel plans this winter:

  1. As suggested, the Austin Golf Trail is an enticing 17-course experience that illustrates the world-class design talents of Tom Fazio, Ben Crenshaw/Bill Coore, Jay Morrish, Robert Trent Jones and others. Stalwarts include 72-hole Omni Barton Creek Resort & Spa, 36-hole Horseshoe Bay Resort, Wolfdancer Golf Club, Grey Rock and Star Ranch. And if you’re visiting in March, go watch the PGA Tour vie for $9.75 million in prize money at the World Golf Championships-Dell Match Play at private Austin Country Club.

  1. Austin is a music mecca for nearly 2,000 bands and performing artists that live in and around the city. From blues to indie rock to country to jazz, Austin delivers on 200 live music venues including PBS television’s Austin City Limits, a vibrant and intimate showcase for Grammy-winning musicians like Willie Nelson, Robert Plant, Florence + The Machine, the Dixie Chicks, Alabama Shakes, Phish and Lyle Lovett. Plus, this is home to many of the world’s largest musical events, like the Austin City Limits Music Festival (October), Pachanga Latino Music Series (October-May), Fun Fun Fun Fest (November), SXSW (March) and the Urban Music Festival (March).
Austin SXSW
Austin’s famous South By Southwest (SXSW) Conference and Festival returns March 10-19, 2017.
  1. Austin is bursting with big-name hotels, and the biggest of them all is the 1,012-room JW Marriott, a 34-story behemoth that’s ideal for do-it-all travelers. Destination golfers might opt instead for the Hyatt Regency Lost Pines Resort & Spa, renowned for its Arthur Hills-crafted golf and Harvey Penick Golf Academy; Omni Barton Creek’s four layouts (Crenshaw/Coore, Fazio, Arnold Palmer); or Horseshoe Bay’s three Robert Trent Jones courses including the newly renovated Slick Rock routing.
  1. Winter is the very best time to enjoy the area’s great outdoors, like sailing Lake Travis, road biking the 7.8-mile Barton Creek Greenbelt, hiking Wild Basin Wilderness Preserve, swimming the spring-fed waters of Barton Springs Pool, or kayaking the Lower Colorado River. For something even more spine tingling, go spelunk the dark and dank limestone surrounds of Airman’s Cave or Goat Cave Preserve.

For more about Austin, go online to austintexas.org.

Barton Creek

RELATED:

Five Reasons to Play Golf in San Antonio

San Antonio in Spring is Sublime

San Antonio Golf is All That

Chris Duthie is a Durango-based contributor to Colorado AvidGolfer. Colorado AvidGolfer is the state’s leading resource for golf and the lifestyle that surrounds it, publishing eight issues annually and proudly delivering daily content via coloradoavidgolfer.com. Follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

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