Golf course architect Beau Welling had just walked off the 15th hole at Travis Club, about 15 miles west of Austin, Texas, when he was asked what drew him to the site for his latest project.
The 15th, “a big-boy par 5,” as Welling calls it, stretches more than 600 yards, but plays nearly 150 feet downhill.
Welling, who studied physics at Brown and Irish literature at Trinity College in Dublin, was almost lyrical as he described, in his native South Carolina drawl, the Hill Country setting high above Lake Travis, looking across steep ridges, ravines and rock outcroppings toward a church steeple in the distance. It was a reminder that, even for a seasoned architect focused on infusing his courses with strategy and variety, there’s no substitute for being entrusted with a spectacular natural canvas on which to carve 18 holes.
“You just can’t replicate this property,” said Travis Club member Brian Petrauskas, a Houston businessman who grew up in Austin and plans for his family to spend more time in his hometown. “It’s almost 400 feet of elevation change. Most of Texas is flat. So you’ve got the elevation changes and multiple holes with views of Lake Travis, which is the best lake in Texas for scenery, for recreation, for everything.
“If it’s 80 percent as good as I hope, I’m just tickled pink. Everything about the whole property looks amazing.”
Petrauskas had been monitoring Travis Club since 2007, but an initial development effort was sidetracked by the 2008 financial crisis. In 2021, Austin-based Castle Hill Partners was brought in to develop the community and is now co-developing it with California-based Haas & Haynie Corp. The confidence inspired by this high-powered team was a key reason Doruk Borekci, whose various business interests include commercial development, decided to become one of Travis Club’s 50 founding members.
“What they have done, their history and their success, was a key factor,” said Borekci, who is in the process of relocating his family from Chicago to Austin. “The team that’s executing on it is important from a timing standpoint as well as the quality.”
Asked whether it was an easy decision to build a new home at Travis Club, Borekci didn’t hesitate: “Yeah, it was.”
“I love it in the Hill Country, and this location in particular was special,” Borekci said. “I think that Austin is under-golfed compared to other locations, especially with this kind of gated community. Obviously, the course is going to be great because Beau designed it. And the fact that it’s a gated community was the biggest appeal for me.”
Travis Club, set to soft open its golf course in late 2025, is a 1,500-acre development with nearly two miles of private lakefront. There are 700 homesites ranging from a half-acre to nearly four acres, with lots starting in the $700,000s.
Leisha Ehlert, Travis Club’s CEO, anticipates infrastructure for the first phase of construction to be completed this fall, allowing home construction to commence. Already, more than 85 owners are ready to put down roots at the club.
The appeal is easy to understand. The amenity-rich club’s 10,000 feet of lakefront offers the opportunity for boating and other activities on the water. Additionally, Welling’s course will be complemented by Trackman technology at one of the first planned amenities, the Golf House. This nearly 12,000-square-foot facility will feature a pro shop, food and beverage offerings, and simulators – all located at the practice area in the heart of the community.
“The property, the setting was world-class,” said Chris Little, a founding member. “Travis Club is located on arguably the very best part of the lake.”
In addition to world-class golf, Ehlert shared that Travis Club will offer multiple indoor-outdoor dining options, a marina and boat club, premier fitness and wellness amenities, and a dynamic social calendar – all set against the backdrop of 30-plus miles of scenic hiking and biking trails.
“Our front yard is Lake Travis,” Ehlert said. “While golf is a major draw, the lifestyle here extends far beyond the fairways. Members are equally enthusiastic about the waterfront experience and a full suite of club amenities designed to engage all generations – long after their round is over.”
Ehlert and her team are backing up those words with action. Even though home construction has yet to begin, Travis Club is already “creating a community” for early owners and prospects with monthly gatherings to enjoy various activities.
For instance, Borekci joined other founding members for a retreat at PGA Frisco near Dallas, where they played Welling’s course, then enjoyed dinner and a fireside chat with the architect. Petrauskas enjoyed a Birdies & Brews event at a local par-3 course and is looking forward to a member outing at one of his favorite courses, Bluejack National – a collaboration between Tiger Woods and Welling.
“Travis Club isn’t just being built with bricks and mortar,” Ehlert said. “It’s already a thriving community, shaped by shared experiences and the meaningful connections we’re fostering every day.”
Those efforts to cultivate a sense of community are aligned with Welling’s design philosophy.
“I’m sort of a big-tent person,” Welling said. He calls Alister MacKenzie one of his “guiding lights” and is fond of quoting one of the great architect’s best-known adages: “The ideal course is one that affords the greatest pleasure to the greatest number.”
Welling is conscious of the design maxim that it’s easy to build a difficult golf course, particularly on a site such as Travis Club’s, with its elevation swings, rock outcroppings and deep ravines. Welling’s job, which he fully embraces, is creating a golf course that all of the club’s members and guests will enjoy, regardless of skill level.
“One of my big deals is human connection and how golf promotes community, and we’re trying to build a community where families and friends can have great times together,” Welling said. “Who wants to organize your friendships by handicap level? We’re not only trying to create this great place where people of different skill levels can play, we want them to play at the same time and have fun together. That all aligns with ownership’s vision here.”
To that end, he has incorporated plenty of width, some kick-on sloping around the greens and minimized forced carries for higher-handicappers, while creating risk-reward options and approach angles that challenge low-handicappers.
There’s perhaps no better example of that than Travis Club’s closing hole, which Welling recently converted to a true cape hole from a new back tee, allowing better players to bite off as much as they can chew on the long par 4, while other tee boxes take the forced carry out of play.
Similarly, at the lakeside par-3 fifth, which seems destined to become one of the most photographed new holes in American golf, the back tee tips out at 240 yards, playing slightly downhill across an inlet to a 10,000-square-foot green. That requires a serious golf shot. But other tee boxes lessen or remove the forced carry, without dissipating the thrill of playing to the peninsular green.
Excitement among the early members already is palpable. Welling said he sensed that after a recent visit with one of the members on the 17th tee.
“He said, ‘Oh my God, this is badass,’” Welling recalled. “That made me smile.”
This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Austin’s Travis Club to soft open Beau Welling course by late 2025
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