Centerpiece of the comfortably luxurious, conveniently secluded Hyatt Regency Lost Pines Resort and Spa outside fabled Austin, Wolfdancer Golf Club is forging a reputation as one of the game’s most scenic and challenging resort layouts
By Brad King
The Wolfdancer Golf Club roared onto the Austin, Texas golf scene almost a decade ago. Buoyed by an incredible setting and a thought-provoking, challenging layout — all under the respected Hyatt brand flag — Wolfdancer was immediately bestowed prominent national awards including GOLF Magazine’s “Top 10 New Courses You Can Play” while at the same time storming to the top of regional and state rankings.
Entrance to the Hyatt Regency
The centerpiece of an easy-to-arrange, one-stop resort destination that includes a world-class spa, premier accommodations, horseback riding — all in the form of a luxurious base camp from which to experience Austin’s legendary culinary, arts and music scenes — the sprawling, 405-acre Hyatt Regency Lost Pines Resort and Spa is a 491-room destination resort comfortably adjacent to a larger, 1,100-acre natural park. Hyatt Lost Pines is truly a hidden wonderland.
For those in the know, this resort offers an elegant, backwoods experience minutes away from the hustle and bustle of civilization. Hyatt Lost Pines is located 20 miles east of the “Live Music Capital of the World” and just 13 miles from Austin-Bergstrom International Airport on Highway 71, yet feels completely secluded in its sleepy farmland surroundings buffered by the McKinney Roughs nature preserve.
Designed by Arthur Hills/Steve Forrest and Associates, the 7,205-yard, par-72 Wolfdancer Golf Club was named after the land it occupies formerly belonging to the Tonkawa American Indian tribe, who performed ceremonial dances covered in wolf skin and imitating the behavior of wolves by dancing on all fours. A golf course is only as good as the land it sits upon, and the property at Hyatt Lost Pines is superb. The Hills layout rambles over a dramatic, 150-acre stretch of terrain dotted with oak, cedar elm and pecan trees and cut by the Colorado River, which dramatically frames the right side of layout’s memorable finishing holes.
Wolfdancer Golf Club 12th hole
Recently recognized as an Audubon International sanctuary and U.S. Kids Golf Family Course, Wolfdancer Golf Club features an unexpectedly large amount of rolling, wooded and flowing topographical variance resulting in one resort and one golf course, yet three entirely different experiences: A true cross-section of Texas Hill Country geography playing through three eco-systems. Holes one through four are set on covered rolling prairie land, five through 12 on a heavily wooded ridgeline and 13 through 18 along a shaded valley bordering the Colorado River. A former owner of the land, Marjorie “Tiny” Leach, is a legendary cattle rancher who once owned an Austin leather shop, “Tiny’s Leather Shop,” and today the Wolfdancer starter’s hut stands in her honor.
While the Hill Country is chock full of layouts designed by names like Fazio, Crenshaw and Trent Jones Sr., Wolfdancer is the only design save Hyatt Hill Country Golf Club credited to the equally well-respected golf course architect Arthur Hills. With Wolfdancer, Hills delivers a classic layout capable of challenging the Texas single-digit handicapper while delivering an unforgettable resort experience for the visiting family or transient golfer.
18th at Wolfdancer
The Wolfdancer golf experience also includes a 13-acre driving range, a full-scale practice facility featuring 10 target greens and eight tee boxes, and a short-game area with two chipping greens and bunkers, and GPS units in each golf cart. Visitors not wishing to travel with their golf clubs to the resort are welcome to take advantage of the golf club rental program featuring TaylorMade.
A beautiful clubhouse features outstanding cuisine and beverage selection at Major Neighbors Grill, while the Wolfdancer Golf Shop offers the latest trends and fashion in men’s and women’s apparel, cutting-edge game improvement golf equipment and accessories, and men’s and women’s locker rooms.
Home to a variety of outdoor activities including horseback riding trails visible from points of the golf course, rafting on Texas’ Lower Colorado River, full-service Spa Django, eight dining options, live music and a water park featuring a 1,000-foot Crooked River with two-story water slide, Hyatt Lost Pines is a truly luxurious, family-friendly golf resort.
Learn more www.lostpines.hyatt.com and www.WolfdancerGolfClub.com.
