Vaquero Club

Vaquero Club is the Westlake private that pairs Tom Fazio's 2001 routing with a 2023 Andrew Green renovation, set inside one of the most exclusive Discovery Land Company communities in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. The Fazio name and the Discovery Land affiliation together signal the level of investment in design, conditioning, and member experience you would expect at the top of the private club market.

The original Fazio layout featured narrow fairways lined with coastal Bermuda rough and bentgrass greens, a combination that demanded accuracy off the tee and precision on approach. Andrew Green completed his full remodel in 2023, modernising the course while preserving Fazio's routing. Green's work at Inverness, Oak Hill, and Seminole follows a consistent philosophy: restore strategic options, improve turf, and create green complexes that reward a wider variety of approach shots. At Vaquero, that translated into bunker style, green surrounds, and overall playability without altering the holes Fazio designed.

From 7,390 yards with a course rating of 77.3 and a slope of 152, the post-renovation Vaquero is a serious test. Par is 71, with three par 3s on the front and two on the back, an asymmetry that gives each nine its own rhythm. The fairways remain narrow by modern standards, and the coastal Bermuda rough penalises offline drives with difficult lies and limited recovery. Accuracy beats length here, every time.

Green widened some surrounds to allow more recovery options, rebuilt bunkers with more natural edges and better drainage, and adjusted green contours so modern green speeds did not render certain pins unusable. The result feels more strategic and more playable than the pre-renovation version while keeping the shot values that defined Fazio's original.

The Westlake setting is mature and heavily treed, a clear contrast to the open prairie character of courses in the northern suburbs. The routing winds through the residential community with enough buffer between homes and fairways to maintain seclusion. Conditioning, as you would expect at a Discovery Land property, is impeccable. Walking is allowed and the routing is walkable, though most members take carts.