February 16, 2009

LAGUNA VISTA, TX — What could be better than hitting a ball out of a bunker filled with soft fluffy white sand? The answer might be stepping out of your hotel room between rounds onto the white fluffy sand of Laguna Madre beach.

At the southernmost tip of Texas, South Padre Island, is situated on the south end of Padre Island, the longest Barrier Island in the world and the largest stretch of undeveloped ocean beach in North America. It sits just 30 miles north of Mexico and is linked to the mainland by a two and a half mile long bridge, the Queen Isabella Memorial Causeway.

South Padre is famous for its warm clear-green gulf waters.

During a recent winter getaway to Houston, TX, Greg "Slick" Long and Jason "Randy" Watson stumbled across a golf package that seemed to good to be true. The Sheraton and South Padre Island Golf club had a full page ad citing very low priced golf packages. Obviously intrigued, the Captains Club members decided to see if the hoax included Monday afternoon golf in 105 degrees.

After many internet searches, telephone calls to Laguna Vista, airline number crunching, the pair decided there is no hoax and the price is most likely in budget for as early as 2010.

This southernmost course in Texas, South Padre Island Golf Club, is actually situated on the mainland in Laguna Vista. Architects Chris Cole and Stephen Caplinger carved an outstanding layout out of the wild native Gulf coast vegetation, with several holes bordering the Laguna Madre. The club has hosted the Texas Senior Open and the South Texas PGA Southern Championship since its opening in 1997.

The design features wide fairways bordered by native yucca, mesquite and cactus, and the windy conditions often make it challenging to keep the ball in the fairway. Errant shots will be lost for sure. Others that fail to find the fairway will bury in waste areas and deep rough.

For the most part, the longer holes seem to play more downwind, while the shorter ones play into the wind. The large greens are of championship quality. Three of them are multi-tiered.

The front side is more entertaining, especially since holes 3-7 roll along the Laguna Madre. No. 5 is the feature hole, a picturesque, 335-yard, par 4 with a tee shot that must carry the Laguna Madre into a sharp dogleg-right fairway. On the back, No. 11 stands out because of the giant mesquite tree that dominates the middle of the fairway. And No. 12 can be interesting: it's a short par 3 that is completely surrounded by water.

The 10th or 11th annual Carl Spackler Open Championship could be held in Laguna Vista for roughly $365, but in April to escape an oven. The event would move from a traditional Wednesday-Sunday to a Thursday-Monday to capitalize on an estimated $6,000 airline discount.

"I was in complete denial for the better part of 3 days," commented Slick. "I have been looking for the beach for 5 years and have not found anything that would not double our tournament fee. It still seems to be to good to be true."

The Sheraton on South Padre Island presently has rooms for $280 per night plus tax. South Padre Island Golf Club has weekday rounds starting at $70.00. The golf package includes a jaw dropping discount.

"The only known show stopper is availability and getting the rates down a little more," says Jason Watson. "April sounds like the perfect time for the trip and a larger sized group should help us achieve our financial goal."

The lodging, if the Sheraton, would be the best in Spackler history. The hotel is less than 250 yards from the gulf of mexico. For those keeping track, yes Trent Cooper can reach the beach with his driver, Jason Ridgeway can reach the beach with his 3-iron and Greg Garrett can hit the water with a soft 5-wood. The Sheraton also features the largest swimming pool in South Texas with a bar in the swimming pool.

When told of this, Pat Boland had but one question, "Is the water less than 3 feet deep? Otherwise I will need a life vest."

The Senior Texas Open was played at South Padre Island Golf Club for 10 years before moving to Houston in November 2008.

The weather in Laguna Vista is very similar to Tampa, FL. The average high temperature in early April is a comfortable 79 degrees. The low average is 67 degrees. On average, Laguna Vista receives just 1.79 inches of rain in April. To compare, Rock Hollow averages 4.23 inches and Raleigh averages 4.06 inches of rain in June.

A National Golf Foundation poll concluded that the Rio Grande Valley has more playable days of golf (less than 25 days lost to bad weather) per year than anywhere else in the United States except southern CA. Laguna Vista receives less rain than Las Vegas and Phoenix, AZ.

"The lack of rain in south Texas really adds a touch we just cannot find anywhere," says Jason Watson. "Almost everything seems to be going in the favor of southern Texas."

Although in preliminary stages, the Captains Club has considered the attendance factor for a venue so far from their participants. "This is a once in a 10-year event if in fact we do Brownsville and Laguna Vista, TX," says Greg Long. "The tournament fee will remain traditional and budgeting would be based on 50 or 60 participants. The initial idea has been received with much excitement. I have not talked with everyone, but 22 of the last 23 guys are in."

The single commerical airport for Laguna Vista is Brownsville, TX. The single airline carrier for Brownsville is Continental and the single connection to Brownsville is Houston, TX.

"The morning flight on Thursday from Houston to Brownsville would be declared the 'party plane'," says Greg Long. "The first party, missed by Watson, would start at the gate in Houston and last through the 60-minute connecting flight to Brownsville."

The cheapest flight for April 2009 is out of Columbus. The round trip rate with tax is $243. Philadelphia is $277. The highest is $375 out of Los Angeles. St. Louis is $367. New York is $355. Baltimore at $343. Norfolk, Detroit, Pittsburgh, and Charlotte at $335. Raleigh is $325. Syracuse and Buffalo at $283.

Ground transportation mini-vans are presently $44 per rider and includes taxes and fees.

"Continental does provide a group discount as much as 15 percent for groups of 25 flying to the same location," says Jason Watson. "This type of discount would seem probable since everyone would be flying Continental and 25 guys seems like a lock. The $44 ground transportation fee is the rack rate based on one mini-van."

The planning stages for either 2010 or 2011 will continue in April 2009. Randy Watson will be making the 6-hour drive to scout the golf course, hotel, and completing the Captains Club venue checklist.

"The first step to making Laguna Vista a reality is selecting a date," says Randy. "We are going to provide some dates in the option selector next month. A decision on date would be decided upon during or immediately after my trip to South Padre in mid-April." The least amount of conflicts with hotel availability, participant availability, and pricing would most likely be the date.

The Carl Spackler Open Championship will continue its planning for its traditional June trip with Buffalo, Binghamton, Erie, southern Ontario, and South Padre Island (April) as the strongest possibilities in 2010 and 2011. An announcement on South Padre for April 2010 would be announced on or before April 30, 2009.