"WHEN THOSE GOLFERS MOVE TO AUSTIN"

By Torleif Sorenson on 4/30/15

On Thursday morning, the PGA Tour announced that the next four editions of the (inhale) World Golf Championships-Match Play will be held at Austin Country Club, deep in the Hill Country of Texas.

Not surprisingly, Dell Computer becomes the title sponsor of the event; the company is headquartered 16 miles northeast of the club in the suburb of Round Rock. This is the company's first-ever entry into sponsoring a major golf event, but Austin is no stranger to hosting golf tournaments; the Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf was played at Austin's Onion Creek Country Club from 1878 to 1989, then moved to Barton Creek for five years.

Only this year's event is being staged at Harding Park in San Francisco, with a single-year title sponsorship by the Cadillac division of General Motors.

Austin Country Club was founded in 1899 with a nine-hole layout, but they moved to their second locations on Riverside Drive on Austin's east side in 1949. It was there that the legendary Harvey Penick did most of his teaching, followed by his son, Tinsley. In 1984, the club moved to their current site, on the south bank of the Colorado River near Loop 360.

The WGC-Match Play in Austin ought to be great... ...as long as it isn't held during the month of August.


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Image via Twitter, Brennan Webb