Tom Fazio at the top of his game as one of history’s greatest golf course architects
Fazio Design transforms recreational culture on a global level
By: Alison Elsner
Tom Fazio’s name has become synonymous with luxury golf course culture at high end venues around the globe. As the visionary force behind hundreds of superlative fairways sought after by novice golfers to pros, Fazio is indeed a local legend in the Coachella Valley as the creator of renowned courses at The Vintage Club, The Quarry at La Quinta, The Madison Club, The Canyons at Bighorn Golf Club, and the redesign of Eldorado Country Club.
In an interview with Fazio, he is warm, gracious and forthcoming with a deep sense of gratitude for the life he continues to lead. He insists on being addressed as Tom – not Mr. Fazio – for the same reason that he doesn’t keep a precise count of the number of golf courses he’s built: he doesn’t like to feel old.
No living golf course designer has more credits on Golf Digest’s list of America’s 100 Greatest Golf Courses and Golfweek’s Collection of America’s Best. Around four dozen of Fazio’s courses have been ranked by “Golf Digest” in their greatest 200 courses in the United States. His individual honors include “Best Modern Day Golf Course Architect”, which he received from “Golf Digest” three times. In 1995, Fazio became the second course architect to receive the Old Tom Morris Award, the highest recognition awarded by the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America.
Fazio says that his biggest mentor was his uncle, George Fazio, who was a golf pro at Hillcrest Country Club in Los Angeles after World War II where he provided golf instruction to Bob Hope. The association with Hope, also an avid property investor, created a pathway to interest in the land at The Vintage Club in Palm Desert for which the Fazios were called to survey in 1978. George and Tom Fazio built the first course, The Desert, at The Vintage Club in 1980, followed by the second course, The Mountain. In many ways this signified a new standard of excellence in country club living and “made The Vintage Club a sought-after place to belong,” according to Tom Fazio.
He says, “My uncle George was close friends with Del Webb, and knowing people like that opened up opportunities for us. I worked on courses from the 1950s through the early 2000s until the real estate crash in 2008.” Fazio established his own golf course design and consulting firm in 1982, marking the birth of Fazio Golf Design and Consulting, with The Vintage Club marking the final collaboration between George and Tom.
He continues, “For many years, the idea of golf courses in La Quinta or Indian Wells didn’t mean much because everyone associated projects in the desert with Palm Springs. But the emergence of properties like Thunderbird and Eldorado and influential members there like President Eisenhower brought prominence farther east in the valley to the ‘Playground of the Presidents.’ Then PGA West really brought Indio into the picture.”
Fazio is often associated with elite clubs and courses that accommodate celebrities and millionaires with five-star luxury and over-the-top amenities. Examples include the aforementioned The Madison Club in La Quinta, California; Gozzer Ranch Golf and Lake Club in Coeur D’Alene, Idaho; Kuki’o Golf and Beach Club on the big island of Hawaii; Chileno Bay Golf & Beach Club in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico; and dozens of others.
These course layouts offer amenities galore ranging from “comfort stations” in between holes, wellness programs and gourmet refreshment stations with craft cocktails and gourmet chef’s fare. As Fazio says, “We’re talking filet mignon, not hot dogs.”
The common thread here is that many of these Fazio-designed courses have been developed by Discovery Land Company, based in Los Angeles and now with a reach that spans the entire world. Founded in 1994 by Mike Meldman, Discovery Land Company is a U.S. based real estate developer and operator of private residential communities and resorts with a world-renowned portfolio of domestic and international properties.
Fazio points out, “This isn’t a trend, it’s a signature style that has been created in many instances by Discovery Land Company. They are all about fun and leisure experiences for the entire family, and with each project the bar is raised – it gets bigger and bigger. But it’s not new. Discovery has been doing this for 25 or 30 years and it’s been a success.”
Discovery pioneered the high-end golf course model with the opening of Estancia Club in Scottsdale, Arizona in 1994 and, as Fazio reminds us, with Iron Horse Golf Club in Whitefish, Montana, in 2000 (renovated in 2009).
As for Fazio’s projects in faraway lands, he and his company are currently building Discovery Dunes Golf Course in Dubai, U.A.E., Discovery Land Company’s 35th project. Fazio explains that another exciting golf course endeavor is keeping his team busy creatively in Florence, Italy.
Fazio notes, “I travel regularly, but with today’s technology, I don’t need to be on site the entire time. We have so many talented members of our company who cover the project, but also we can have a person with a camera walking the course and I can easily evaluate the grass lines, the rolls, and the shape and elevation of the bunkers, especially with a six-foot person taking me through it. I view all of this on a 60-inch screen.”
When asked if he has a favorite golf course project, Fazio says, “How can you compare clubs like The Vintage, The Madison Club, The Quarry, and Bighorn? Each is different, and each represents a certain pride of ownership and a special part of my life with memories and unique experiences. It’s just not logical to pick one.”
Working out of two offices, Fazio splits his time between Hendersonville, North Carolina in the summer and Jupiter, Florida in winter (where, incidentally, Bob Hope became an early investor in one of Fazio’s first golf courses there decades ago).
Fazio says, “People sometimes ask me when I’m going to retire. Why would I retire? What I do is so exciting, I get to work with such great people, and I lead a blessed life. I’m able to support numerous charities, my wife and I are going to celebrate our 50th wedding anniversary, and I have five children and 16 grandchildren.”
As far as any ground – or grass – he hasn’t covered? He says, “There’s really no where that I feel I’ve missed as far as being able to work on a project. If I’d wanted to create something in a certain location, I could have, but there’s only so much time to do it all. I haven’t been to New Zealand yet, and I know I can if I want to.”
He sums up his zest for life and work by saying, “I still feel like I’m 42 years old. Every year is as good as it’s ever been. I’m going to do this forever.”
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