By Vinnie Manginelli, PGA
Alex Rhyne, PGA
The title of this piece says it all – 12 GRAA Top 50 Private Facility Awards. That’s every year since 2012, when we started recognizing the many stellar private, public and stand alone facilities in the U.S. Boot Ranch, in Fredericksburg, Texas, has a good story to tell.
Sharing that story is Alex Rhyne, the PGA of America Head Golf Professional. Rhyne is a graduate of the Professional Golf Management Program at Campbell University in Buies Creek, North Carolina. He was hired as an assistant golf professional out of college in 2017 and became the club’s head golf professional the very next year.
Boot Ranch was designed by 1983 PGA Championship winner and two-time PLAYERS Championship winner Hal Sutton and opened in 2006. Sutton won 14 times on the PGA Tour and now manages his own golf academy in Houston. We covered it back in 2020 and chatted with Hal again a couple of years later.
Boot Ranch was purchased by Terra Verde Group and Wheelock Street Capital in 2015. Today, the club has 420 members, slightly more than half of whom are golf members who enjoy a pristine 18-hole layout, three-hole Par 3 course and practice facilities that are second to none.
Boot Ranch’s 34-acre Practice Park includes a three-sided driving range, a three-target short-game range and the three-hole Par 3 course that offers distances from 80-200 yards in length. Putting Park is an 18-hole putting course that is lighted for night play and has an adjacent pavilion so Boot Ranch members can enjoy a drink and the camaraderie of others while practicing, competing or otherwise hanging out on and around this stellar putting amenity.
In addition to these golfing opportunities, Boot Ranch members are treated to three heated pools, a fitness center and tennis, pickleball and basketball courts. Metzger Park is an open activity field that allows kids to run around and be kids while mom and dad enjoy other club amenities.
The Lake Club is the place to be to enjoy fishing, paddle boards, swimming and many other water activities. The Clubhouse Village offers exceptional dining opportunities, social events, shopping and member locker rooms. No wonder they’ve earned 12 Top 50 Facility awards – what a place!
Rhyne talked about Boot Ranch’s efforts to give back to its community. “Back in the day, Hal Sutton and our current GM Emil Hale would give free junior clinics every Tuesday for local kids,” Rhyne explained. “Fast forward all these years and Boot Ranch is still giving back by opening our facilities to local high school golfers on Monday and Wednesday afternoons.”
With five PGA of America Golf Professionals on staff, Boot Ranch has a growing junior golf program. In addition, Rhyne says that Boot Ranch is partnering with their local muni, Lady Bird Golf Course, to offer free instruction to junior golfers from each facility.
“We’ll switch back and forth each week – one week the kids will go to Lady Bird after school, and the next week they’ll come here for free clinics,” Rhyne explains.
He also says they’ll open their Par 3 course on Wednesday afternoons to some of the more advanced golfers in their junior golf program to enjoy on the house.
Rhyne says Boot Ranch is a family-oriented club, and the amenities that he discussed, the images of smiling faces on the website and the collaborative efforts to create player development opportunities for local youth reinforce that reputation, justify their accolades and help make Boot Ranch a home away from home for members. After all, at what other club can you get a free pair of handcrafted cowboy boots from M. L. Leddy’s of Fort Worth? That’s right, that club in Georgia might have its green jackets, but when you join Boot Ranch, a custom pair of boots comes with membership.
