Tour the host golf course of the WGC-Dell Match Play Austin Country Club

AUSTIN, Texas -- There isn't a more coveted round of golf in Austin and perhaps all of central Texas as Austin Country Club, located on Lake Austin just west of downtown.

This is actually the third location for Austin Country Club which was established in 1899. The original site is now a short, 9-hole municipal named Hancock Golf Course (the other nine was lost to development in the 1960s). They moved to the east side to a course that is now known as Riverside Golf Course, an affordable daily-fee facility. In the early 1980s, they commissioned Pete Dye to build the course, which opened in 1984.

A.C.C. is most famous for Harvey Penick, the longtime head professional who was also the golf coach at the University of Texas and taught many of the state's finest players during his tenure, including Ben Crenshaw and Tom Kite. The world was introduced to Harvey in a big way with the publishing of the Little Red Book, which became one of the best-selling sports books of all time. And when Crenshaw won the 1995 Masters just days after his mentor's passing, it became one of the most emotional moments in the tournament's history.

When Dell Technologies decided to sponsor the WGC Match Play beginning with the 2016 event, the course received a thorough renovation that kept it closed for most of 2015. The nines were reversed for the Match Play, so that the players finish along the stunning shores of Lake Austin and with the Pennybacker Bridge as a background.

How coveted is Austin Country Club? The Dallas Morning News rates it the 19th best course in Texas. Golf Digest rates it No. 12 in the state in 2015-16.

You can read my review of the course, played weeks before the event, here.