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HSB: Historical Accounts & Thoughts on Its Future Growth. 8) HSB’s NEW MOMENTUM – Part 2: 9/7/06. 12) RELOOKING AT THE SEDONA-HSB COMPARISON: 10/5/06. 14) CRUDE OIL PRICE WATCH: 12/14/06. 16) BASED ON FORTUNE’S FINDINGS, HSB AIN’T SEEN NOTHING YET! 12/28/06. 17) LOOKING BACK TO 1/1/86: HSB Ranked with America’s Most Elite. 1/4/07. 18) WHY HSB’s SETTING IS ESPECIALLY SPECIAL: A Perfect Collection of Extraordinary 19) ESCONDIDO: A MAGNIFICENT ADDITION TO HSB! 1/18/07. 20) OIL PRICES DROP BELOW $50 PER BARREL. What’s Up? 1/25/07. 22) HSB FACTS EVERYONE SHOULD KNOW - (Part 1). 3/22/07. 23) HSB FACTS EVERYONE SHOULD KNOW - (Part 2). 3/29/07. 24) WON’T YOU HE’P ME? – 5/3/07. 25) HSB RESORT SIGNS #1 PICK: G. Michael Thomas. 5/10-07. 26) MARBLE FALLS’ MAIN STREET – from lemon to Lemonade! 5/17/07. 13) OUR AREA RANKS #3 AMONG U.S.’ TOP-18 EMERGING GOLF RETIREMENT REGIONS. The November 13, 2006 issue of BusinessWeek carried a study made in conjunction with Golf Digest entitled: “The Top 18 Emerging Golf Retirement Regions - 18 New Places to Retire.” It found that “golf-fixated baby boomers are looking for less traditional places to settle down.” A large number of today’s baby boomers in the market for second or retirement homes are not marching along with the crowd. In lieu of going with the flow, they are taking advantage of the internet, doing their own research and making independent decisions. Instead of accepting what the Jones' think best and crowding in with them, they are deciding for themselves where today's best in golf, leisure activities, and quality of life are being offered and finding this in less established destinations - whether it be for second or retirement homes. While many boomers are still looking to get their golf fix at established places such as Scottsdale, Palm Springs, Myrtle Beach and Naples, many others are looking for quality golf, quality leisure and quality of life where it is less tradition-bound and far less congested. With HSB growing to the south, toward Highway 71, and with that area being so well served traffic-wise by four-lane highways (71 and 281), HSB can handle a lot of future grow without fear of such congestion. Although Horseshoe Bay is not specifically mentioned, since HSB is centrally located within the area ranked #3 on its list (the Hill Country’s northeastern corner) and since our community is the area’s premier golfing, leisure and quality of life attraction, HSB is clearly the force driving the area to its high ranking. Such national recognition is one more badge of achievement for HSB on its march toward being a world class destination and on the Resort’s march toward realizing a five-star ranking – a status the Resort is determined to attain within the next six to eight years. Within our designated area (western Travis, Burnet, and eastern Llano counties), Golf Digest finds there are 15 existing Public and Resort courses that have at least a 4-Star ranking on a 5-Star scale. Nine of these are ranked as 4.5-Star courses and HSB Resort’s three Robert Trent Jones Sr. courses comprise three of the nine. When Escondido’s Tom Fazio course and the Resort’s Nicklaus course (both too new to be counted among the existing 15) are added to these three, the city of HSB, with these five courses, will contain as much fine golf as any city of its size in the country. In addition, our area has several other new courses that are either newly opened, under construction, or are scheduled to begin construction in the next few months. These courses, all of which will most likely rank as 4-Stars or better, include The Legends (by Tom Kite & Bechtol/Russell) among the newly completed, Waterford (by Bechtol/Russell) among those now under construction, plus Flatrock Springs (by Bechtol/Russell) and HSB’s Skywater (a Jack Nicklaus Signature), which are about to get underway. The Flatrock Springs and Skywater courses have been surveyed and staked. Construction on the Nicklaus course will get underway around year end and the Flatrock Springs course will get underway early next year. The ranking was compiled with the help of the Longitudes Group, a market research and consulting company in Omaha, specializing in sports, travel, and leisure. It pays considerable attention to the number of golf courses built since 2000, as well as new courses in the planning or construction stages. That data is then coupled with such quality-of-life statistics as safety, weather (playable golf days), culture, health care, and airport access. Adds Andrew Schiller, PhD, a geographer who created neighborhoodscout.com, a Web search engine for people looking to move: "Increasingly, people of retirement age are looking to live near places with character that are off the beaten path. They don't want plastic, retirement-only communities. They want places that are safe, clean, friendly, not crowded, and rich in services and amenities - golf included." The Top-18 Regions are: #1 Glenwood Springs/Breckenridge, Colorado; #2 Big Island, Hawaii (Kona-Kohala Coast); #3 northeastern Texas Hill Country (western Llano, Burnet and eastern Travis counties); #4 Plymouth County, Mass.; #5 Montgomery County, Texas (the Woodlands); #6 Douglas County, Colorado (Castle Rock); #7 Couer d’Alene, Idaho; #8 Fort Walton Beach/Panama City, Florida; #9 Greene, Morgan and Putnam counties (Reynolds Plantation); #9 St George, Utah/Mesquite, Nevada; #11 northwest Arkansas/Branson, Missouri; #12 northern Arizona (Flagstaff, Sedona, and Prescott); #13 southeast Coastal Georgia (Brunswick, St. Mary’s, St. Simons Island); #14 Richmond, Virginia; #15 Plumas County, California (Quincy); #16 Palm Coast, Florida; #17 Park City, Utah; and #18 Dane County, Wisconsin (Madison). Here is a snapshot of the two destinations ranked ahead of our local area, taken directly from the article: “#1) Glenwood Springs/Breckenridge, Colorado. The Glenwood Springs-Breckenridge area of Colorado, which includes famous resort towns Vail and Aspen, is #1 on Golf Digest/BusinessWeek's ranking. It is just one of many regions across the country where new golf-course construction has been matched recently by home purchases from baby boomers. These are places you might not immediately associate with golf and might not think of as being free of congestion. Red Sky Ranch has received a lot of attention since it opened in 2002, but it's not the only golf development to make this area a viable retirement destination. Within the ski region are seven of Colorado's top-20 golf courses, as ranked by Golf Digest: Roaring Fork (Basalt, No. 11), The Summit Course at The Club at Cordillera (Edwards, No. 14), Breckenridge Golf Club (No. 16), Maroon Creek Club (Aspen, No. 17), Aspen Glen (Carbondale, No. 18), Ironbridge (Glenwood Springs, No. 19), and Raven Golf Club at Three Peaks (Silverthorne, No. 20). Ironbridge and another newcomer of note, Snowmass Village Club, are among nine other courses that are being built or have been built in the ski country since the start of 2000. Most are in housing developments. Red Sky Ranch offers two golf courses designed by Tom Fazio and Greg Norman, ranked sixth and ninth, respectively, in Colorado by Golf Digest. It also has a David Leadbetter Golf Academy and is a 20-minute drive to the charming shops, restaurants, and ski resorts of Vail. Red Sky is close to Eagle County Airport, which is serviced with nonstop jet flights from 14 U.S. cities. At Red Sky, prices typically start in the millions for homes and about $725,000 for one-acre homesites. Roaring Fork, a Jack Nicklaus course and private club, has timeshare opportunities in on-site cabins, or they can be purchased for year-round living for $2 million and up. Despite the high prices, baby boomers are attracted by the mild summers and by courses that are less crowded than in such areas as Palm Springs, Scottsdale, and Austin, Tex. The biggest downside to the region is obviously the short season (May to October), and traffic in the winter on Interstate 70, U.S. Highway 24, and the area's other main arteries makes travel difficult. But in the summer it's much more peaceful, and the recent profusion of new courses makes it an attractive golf-retirement destination. #2) Kona-Kohala Coast, Big Island, Hawaii. The Big Island of Hawaii features nearly every type of climate and topography, including snow-capped mountains; tropical rainforests; breezy beaches; arid, wind-swept plains; and erupting volcanoes. But it's the irruption of golf-course development on the windward side of the island that has made retiring golfers take note. Tourists have long known the area as a golf destination. Famous courses such as Mauna Kea (No. 3 in Hawaii), Hualalai Nicklaus (No. 10), and Mauna Lani North (No. 15) have been host to many professional tournaments as well as millions of vacationing golfers over the years. Many of those tourists who are of retirement age, particularly from California, have decided that if Hawaii is good enough for a two-week vacation, then it's good enough for a permanent home. Golf is a key attraction. Since the start of 2000 the west side of the island has grown by 144 holes, including a second course at the Four Seasons Hualalai Resort in Kailua-Kona. Jack Nicklaus designed the first course there in the late 1990s, and Tom Weiskopf completed a second one two years ago. Also new to the area is the Kuki'o Golf and Beach Club, a private, Tom Fazio course. Most courses in the area are open to the public, however, and the views of the Pacific Ocean are stunning as the island gently rises from the beach up toward the peaks of Mauna Kea, Hualalai, and Kohala, three of the island's five major volcanic mountains. The red glow of molten lava sometimes can be viewed at night crashing into the sea. Such lava flows pouring down the countryside have created some of the most interesting hazards you'll ever encounter in golf. On most of the area courses, hardened lava rock, which has turned black, borders fairways and sometimes cuts across them. Real estate isn't as high as you might think. It's possible to get a three-bedroom house with a water view for under $700,000. When you couple those prices with the warm weather year-round, the only drawback to Kona might be the five-hour flight from the continental U.S. For some, that's a bonus.” While this recognition is wonderful for HSB, remember, the one-of-a-kind HSB-Lake LBJ combination is only beginning to register on the national stage. With crude oil futures now selling between $60 and $70/bbl through 2112 (the future’s market only goes out six years), with HSB’s penchant for marching to the drumbeat of the oil business, and with the Resort determined to remake itself as a 5-Star Resort within the next six to eight years, everything points to HSB being a major player on the national stage by 2113 - plus or minus a year of so. It will be exciting to watch our area grow and prosper. Considering HSB has always marched to the drumbeat of the oil business, we may get more good news today relative to HSB’s future well-being. Members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) meet in Nigeria today, the 14th. They appear ready to set a higher floor for crude oil prices amid worries of weakening demand from a slowing U.S. economy. At first glance, that may not make sense, but OPEC’s thinking becomes understandable when one examines what’s been happening to the U.S. dollar, see later. OPEC members, excluding Iraq, agreed at a meeting in October to reduce production 4%, amounting to 1,200,000 barrels a day, starting November 1st. Last week, OPEC President Edmund Daukoru said the group may decide to cut production by an additional 2%, another 500,000 barrels, when it meets Dec. 14th. Global demand is growing so "the real reason for the OPEC-cut talk is to keep prices as high as possible without jeopardizing throwing the global economy into a recession and tripping the inflation figures," said John Person, president of National Futures Advisory Service. CBS MarketWatch reports OPEC has noticed “that demand has not been destroyed at the current $60/barrel price level, so it thinks the world can afford a higher floor. While OPEC seems intent on pursuing a higher floor, the trick will be to balance oil at a price that doesn't destroy demand. What's surprising to many experts is OPEC’s plan to cut output at a time when overall demand for oil is growing.” DUH! Why would that be a surprise? The action merely points to the Muslim world’s growing strength and growing leverage. America may be at the beginning of a relatively short learning curve on how to say UNCLE on cue in Arabic. DECLINING DOLLAR. Many economic factors having a negative bearing on the U.S. dollar have been coming together over the past few years. Last week, its value fell to a multi-month low against the yen, a 20-month low against the euro, Australian dollar, and Swiss franc, and a 14-year low against the British pound. Since crude oil is traded on the world market in U.S. dollars, OPEC is penalized by the dollar’s drop in the value, which lowers their net take from the dollar- denominated product. “The value of the dollar has seen a particularly sharp drop since the end of August,” says Rakesh Shankar, an economist at Moody's Economy.com. "This is eroding the purchasing power of OPEC-member countries. The decline in purchasing power is "just one more reason why OPEC members will support a higher dollar price for oil." The higher prices we are experiencing in the U.S. are not being felt much if at all by countries whose currencies are not tied to the U.S. dollar. Almost all other currencies have strengthened substantially against the dollar, and for that reason, the U.S. can expect little if any world sympathy for our dollar’s demise. Although we certainly have a concern about the dollar’s demise and the negative overall effect it has on our national economy, our interest here is focused on measuring how the decline impacts the Texas economy in general and HSB in particular. And since it’s clear that as the dollar declines, the price of oil goes up, then the decline is definitely good news for Texas and HSB - because we have learned that as the oil business goes, so goes HSB! 15) HOW HSB’s GOLF RANKS – STATEWIDE & NATIONALLY. Three weeks ago, the Beacon reported details of a new Golf Digest study that identified “America’s Top-18 Emerging Golf Retirement Regions” - published in the November 13th issue of Business Week. Our region, which ranked third among the 18 areas, was defined as a two-county area comprised of Burnet, western Travis and eastern Llano counties - i.e., the Texas Hill Country’s northeastern corner. GOLF DIGEST’s 4½-STAR PUBLIC-ACCESS GOLF COURSES in TEXAS 16) BASED ON FORTUNE’S FINDINGS, HSB AIN’T SEEN NOTHING YET! ON APRIL 1, 2006, TEXAS’ REAL ESTATE WAS CONSIDERED BY USA TODAY AS THE COUNTRY’S MOST UNDERVALUED. FORTUNE MAGAZINE IS NOW PREDICTING THAT TEXAS’ REAL ESTATE WILL APPRECIATE MORE DURING 2007 AND 2008 THAN ANYWHERE ELSE IN AMERICA. Hold on to your hat! Although we’ve been reporting figures showing that HSB’s real estate market began turning around at the end of 2003 and has been on an ever-increasing roll since, one of the country’s leading business magazines predicted this week that we ain’t seen nothing yet! HSB’s values have been appreciating the past three years while the balance of Texas’ real estate was in a depression. Our real estate has been rising against a falling tide. The guru are now saying the tide has been turning this year and will be rising across Texas for the next few, lifting values statewide more than anywhere else in the entire country. Based on findings from two national studies that together cover the period from 3-31-2001 through 12-31-2008 - the first published by USA TODAY on 6-13-2006 and the second by FORTUNE Magazine on !2-25-2006 - the good times are just getting ready to roll in Texas. The USA TODAY study looked back over a five-year period dating from 3-31-2006. The FORTUNE study covered a three-year period forward from 1-1-2006. Both studies see 2006 as a transitional year for Texas’ real estate, transforming swiftly from the country’s worst as of 3-31-2006 to where it will be the country’s best during 2007 and 2008. In its 6-13-2006 issue, the USA TODAY reported that Texas’ real estate remained in a relatively flat, depressed state through the first quarter of 2006. Worst yet, the study, which compared prices over the prior five-year period in 317 metropolitan areas across the country, found that the eight most undervalued areas in the country were all in Texas, including Bryan (-23.7%), Dallas (-18.9%), Fort Worth (-18.5%), Houston (-15.8%), Killeen (-15.1%), Midland (-13.6%), El Paso (-13.1%) and McAllen (-12.9%). The Austin market, though not among the bottom eight, was not far off the bottom. Although Texas’ real estate remained weak as late as early this year, HSB’s haven’t. By several measures, HSB’s market bottomed much earlier. For example, the average selling price for HSB’s full-sized undeveloped lakefront lots was $292,400 in 2002, $266,300 in 2003, $283,100 in 2004, $428,000 in 2005 and as of December 20th, $691,000 for 2006. As you can see, HSB’s lakefront bottomed in 2003, almost three years earlier than the rest of Texas’ market, and began strengthening in 2004. That HSB’s market could turn positive during a period when performance in the remainder of Texas amounted to the country’s worst is an extremely significant finding. It speaks volumes about HSB’s unique lifestyle offering, indicating people are increasingly singling out HSB as a special spot with extraordinary appeal. However, the 12-25-2006 issue of FORTUNE Magazine carried an article entitled: “INVESTORS’ GUIDE 2007: Getting Real About Real Estate, the Top-100 Markets in the U.S. for 2007 and 2008.” It predicts the southeastern U.S. will experience more market appreciation than the country’s three other sectors, with 12 of the country’s 20 fastest growing metropolitan areas during 2007 and six of the 11 fastest during 2008. The California-Las Vegas market is forecast to suffer the nation’s greatest depreciation during 2007 and 2008, with Vegas leading the decline - down about 15%. Florida is predicted to be the nation’s second worst market, with Miami/Miami Beach having the state’s worst - down about 12% during the two years. FORTUNE likes the Texas market best of all for the two-year period. It believes Texas will not merely lead the 16 states in its sector during 2007 and 2008, it will lead the entire country, with McAllen/Mission being the country’s hot spot – up 18% over the two-year period. We should tip our hats to National Recreational Properties, the California company that came in here last year, bought up over 1,500 undeveloped off-water lots, marked them up substantially, and has been hugely successful selling them off in volumes averaging $1 million per week since it kicked off an exceptionally professional sales program last April. It had the vision to see all this coming. During 2007, the Magazine predicts seven of the southeast’s nine leading markets will be in Texas. In addition to McAllen/Mission, the state’s six other leading markets will be El Paso, San Antonio, Fort Worth, Austin, Houston, Dallas. These six, Texas’ six largest cities and representing six of the 21 largest cities in America, ring HSB. Their predicted price gains might be reasonably expected to augment the gains HSB has been realizing on its own over the past three years. On a national basis, these same seven Texas cities are predicted to rank among the dozen best of the country’s top-100 markets during 2007. During 2008, five of the country’s 1 fastest growing cities are located in Texas. Folks, it don’t get no better than this. We’re clearly in line for a substantial period of prosperity. Make the most of the good-fortuned blessing. Here’s wishing you and yours a HAPPY AND PROSPEROUS NEW YEAR! 17) LOOKING BACK TO 1/1/86: Proof-positive HSB Ranked with America’s Most Elite. Most of us know HSB had its beginning when Norman and Wayne Hurd acquired the “Coke” Ranch in May of 1970. Three years later, the Arab Oil Embargo was imposed, just as HSB’s Slickrock Golf Course, Yacht Club, Marina, Air Strip, Equestrian Center and Hideaway Inn were coming on stream and with the Slickrock’s permanent Pro Shop about to open. The Embargo forced the price of oil up five-fold. It triggered an economic boom across Texas and the adjacent oil-patch states of Louisiana and Oklahoma not seen since 1930, when dead-broke “Dad” Joiner got lucky beyond all imagination and found the 43-mile long East Texas Field – then America’s greatest oil discovery, now second to Alaska’s Prudhoe Bay. HSB would ride an oil-driven, abnormally high tide for the next 12 years. Fortunately, HSB and the business-savvy Hurds made the most of it. On the other hand, the high oil prices penalized the economy of the rest of America so severely that it restrained the Dow Industrial Average for a decade. The average reached an all-time high of 1,020 just weeks before the Embargo, but it didn’t make a higher high until the end of 1983, when the Embargo began to weaken. With that background, prepare yourself for a trip back in time that will hopefully give you a greater insight and appreciation of HSB. What we learned might also blow your mind! Among those in HSB today, no one could possibly know more about this story than Wayne Hurd, but if you’ve been here very long, you know Wayne is too modest to tell it, especially when he’s one of the two major players. It will become clear that the story is largely rooted in bits and pieces freely available for interpretation from the archives of Golf Digest. The pieces connected in such convincing fashion that I choose not to interview Wayne for confirmation. It is “A Story That Needs to Be Told,” and I feared he would discourage me from proceeding. Remember, the objective was to evaluate where HSB Resort stood among its peers as day broke on 1986. Trying to present enough raw data for you to make your own independent judgment forced the article to greater lengths than intended. So, here goes. New Year’s Day 1986 was a day the Hurds had worked 15 years to reach. They could look back over the prior year and revisit the completion of the Resort’s final piece of infrastructure. The Applerock golf course had been completed six months earlier. It opened as America’s Best New Resort Course, a magnificent compliment to HSB’s two slightly older courses, which had also been exceptionally well received. Save for Norman adding later frills like the Waterfall at Slickrock, the Water Fountain Park with parking at what was then the Boardwalk (today’s La Bahia), and the Whitewater Putting Course, the Resort was complete. The Hurds had plowed everything back into their dream of building the Resort to world-class status. Catching the unexpected 12-year high tide had proved a huge plus, helping the Hurds achieve a much earlier completion than originally thought possible. The Resort was built in the midst of a geological window that looks 1,400,000,000 years deep into the earth’s past. It is known among earth scholars around the world as a geological paradise of the highest order, with rocks of all three major classifications: sedimentary, metamorphic and igneous. HSB also opened as the sole locale offering 4½-Star public/resort golf that was situated in all four of the most attractive/interesting/appealing sectors of Texas – namely The Texas Hill Country, The Highland Lakes, The Llano Uplift and The Central Mineral Region. It continues to hold that exclusive distinction today. Seldom do real estate development projects ever blend better planning and prettier land in a milder climate with a more extraordinarily attractive lake that is located in a more desirable laid back and friendly setting. Even more seldom is seeing such projects timed more precisely, coordinated more professionally, marketed more successfully or financed more perfectly. The newly completed Resort stood as a phenomenal accomplishment and every visitor showered it with accolades. The acclaim was beginning to spread widely. The Resort featured America’s largest private airport. It was basic to the Hurds’ plans and they put it to great use. The Hurds business plan focused on the corporate outing market and the Resort’s 6,000-foot airstrip helped make HSB uniquely attractive, especially for this market. Today, HSB’s Airport remains the golfing world’s finest and largest private paved and lighted airport. Its runway, soon to be lengthened to 6,500 feet, also remains the longest private airstrip associated with a world-class golfing facility. Besides having America’s best private airport, HSB had 54 holes of America’s best golf to entertain the executives, two fabulous swimming pools, a nice beach and a world-class lake for fishing and water sports, a superb Yacht Club to feed them fine cuisine and provide a first-class meeting space, and a fine selection of overnight lakeside facilities to accommodate them (the Inn, Beach House and Hideaway, plus a large rental pool of nearby townhouses/condos – all relatively new). Today, few remain that were here at the end of 1985 and could see first hand how the Hurds’ business plan - so advanced and right for the time – had taken the Resort to the very top of its field, and in record time. Besides being instrumental in creating this new concept for resort operations that others would follow, the Hurds had the exceptional smarts to insure the Resort would be perpetually blessed by positioning the Resort as they did - within 3½-hours driving time of five of America’s 19 largest cities and on Lake LBJ instead of on lakes whose levels vary widely like Travis or Buchanan, a master stroke of the highest order considering that Lake LBJ is the world’s largest constant-level lake. Though also not widely appreciated back then, Lake LBJ is recognized today as America’s lake of choice for those who know of its unique and special qualities. And not to be overlooked, the Hurds were also ahead of their time by featuring more 4½-Star or better American public-accessible golf than ALL of HSB’s potential competitors of the day. For unambiguous proof of the Resort’s leadership in this regard, one only needs to scan Golf Digest’s “Best Places to Play” publication and take note of what existed in the country at the end of 1985 and the explosion of public/resort golf courses completed in America after 1985. It becomes immediately clear that something set it off. I submit it was spawned by HSB’s unique modus operandi. The dots readily connect to indicate that HSB’s business model became widely copied, refocusing an entire industry. For example, at the end of 1985, there were only four 5-Star public/resort courses and 111 4½-Star public/resort courses in the entire country. The golf course architect associated with more of these than any other was golf’s grand master of design, Robert Trent Jones, Sr. He alone designed one of the four 5-Stars and 17 of the 111 4-1/2-Stars – 16% (18/115) of America’s best public-accessible courses. Only four of the 111 4-1/2-Stars were in Texas, and HSB had three of the four. The fourth was at The Woodlands, on Houston’s outer northside. Barton Creek was just coming out of the ground at the time and had no golf to offer. None of Texas’ other resorts of the day offered any top-quality golf. Further attesting to the quality of HSB’s golf was the fact that its three courses constituted 17% the 18 courses designed by Jones among these 115 best. Jones was quoted as saying that "I know of no area . . . that has a more interesting variety of golf that Horseshoe Bay. I rank this among THE BEST IN THE WORLD.” Although Jones was knowledgeable about golf on a worldwide scale, our research for this report doesn’t take us there and we can’t comment on how HSB’s golf rates on the world scene today. However, our research does show that HSB’s three courses continue today to represent the finest single example of Robert Trent Jones, Sr. golf offered anywhere in America. Today, his second best American offering is the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail at Grand National - located at Opelika, Alabama, 55 miles outside Montgomery. This 54-hole facility opened in 1992, 21 years after Jones began his 15-year love affair with HSB’s golf. Like HSB’s, all three of Opelika’s courses are 4½-Stars, but unlike HSB’s, one is a “short” course - half as long as normal, playable solely with irons. Jones, who preferred being called Trent, died in 2000 at the age of 93. A Golf Digest article written that year to chronicle his death stated that “Trent had a hand in 420 golf designs spread over 42 American states and 28 other nations. His work has hosted 79 national championships, including 20 U.S. Opens and 12 PGA Championships. Add to that recent Ryder and Presidents Cups at Valderama and Robert Trent Jones Golf Club.” “In the 35-year history of Golf Digest's rankings of America's 100 Greatest Golf Courses, 44 different Trent Jones layouts have been listed, the most of any architect. The 1999 list contains 14 of his most recognizable names, like Spyglass Hill, Congressional, Mauna Kea, Bellerive and Point O'Woods.” “Trent Jones had a point of view generations ahead of his time. Just after World War II, he predicted livelier balls and clubs, improved maintenance practices and more athletic players, and designed accordingly. Trent was unafraid to take on golf's establishment. ‘Their idea is that galleries are attracted by low scores’ he once said. ‘What people really want to see are great golf shots under tough conditions. The fans like low scores, but they also want great drama.’” “In the early 1990s, one last great hurrah of his company was Alabama's Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail, a 24-course salute to his architecture that reminded us golf courses can be dazzling tourist attractions.” Nine of the 24 are ranked today as 4½-Star courses. Many will find it is almost impossible to believe that as of 1/1/86, HSB had AS MANY public-accessible 4½-Star courses as did the entire resort and retirement- oriented state of Arizona, which only had three, and as did South Carolina’s exceptionally popular golfing mecca of Myrtle Beach/Pawleys Island, also with only Better yet, at that same point in time, HSB had one MORE 4½-Star course than popular destinations such as but not limited to: Albuquerque, Amelia Island, Aspen, Atlantic City, Austin, Baton Rouge, Biloxi, Beaumont, Branson, Clearwater, Dallas, Daytona Beach, Disney World, Destin, El Paso, Flagstaff, Fort Meyers, Fort Worth, Galveston, Hot Springs, Houston, Indian Wells, Jackson Hole, Las Cruces, Las Vegas, Little Rock, Memphis, Mobile, Naples, Nashville, New Orleans, PGA West, Sarasota, Tampa, Bradenton, Palm Desert, Palm Springs, Pensacola, Reynolds Plantation, San Antonio, Santa Fe, Savannah, Sea Island, Scottsdale, Taos, and Vail AND popular southeastern and southwestern states like Alabama, Arkansas (1), Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico, Nevada (1), and Tennessee, COMBINED!!! Remarkably, at the close of 1985, only 11 of America’s 50 states had more 4½-Star public/resort courses than HSB did. The 11 states, along with their number of 4½-Star courses, were: California (24), New York (9), Florida (8), Utah (7), Colorado (6), North Carolina (6) Wisconsin (5), Illinois (5), Hawaii (5), South Carolina (4), and Texas (4). And again, there were then only four 5-Star public-accessible courses in all of America – Pebble Beach (1919) and Spyglass Hill (1966) on California’s Monterrey Peninsula, North Carolina’s Pinehurst #2 (1907) and New York’s Bethpage Black course (1936). At that point in time, with rare exception, the important public/resort golfing destinations did not have a 4½-Star or better course. Those few that did, with even rarer exception, had no more than one. Here’s what America’s resort-oriented states and better known resorts offered in the way of 4½-Star public-accessible golf (5-Stars not included) back then, compared with what they offer today: ALABAMA Overall (0-15); ARIZONA Overall (3-21), Sedona (0-1), Scottsdale (0-9); ARKANSAS Overall (1-3); CALIFORNIA Overall (24–57), Indian Wells (0-1), Pebble Beach (0–2), PGA West (0-2), Torrey Pines (1-1), Palm Springs (0–1), Palm Desert (0-2) and La Costa at Carlsbad (1–1); COLORADO Overall (6–11), Breckenridge/Steamboat Springs/Vail/Aspen (2-2), The Broadmoor (2-2); FLORIDA Overall (8–42), Amelia Island (0-1), Ponte Vedra Beach/Sawgrass (1-1), Disney World (0-2), Orlando (2-12), metro Miami/Fort Lauderdale (3-3), Innisbrook (2–2), Tampa/Clearwater (0-2), Fort Myers (0-0), Naples (0–4), Sarasota/Bradenton (0–4)), Destin (0–3), West Palm Beach (1-5); GEORGIA Overall (0–16), Reynolds Plantation (0–4), Sea Island (0–2); IDAHO Overall (2-3); LOUISIANA (0-5); MISSISSIPPI (0-5); MISSOURI’s Branson (0-1); NEVADA Overall (1–13), metro Las Vegas (0-10); NEW JERSEY Overall (1–12), Atlantic City (0-2); NEW MEXICO Overall (0–3), Santa Fe/Taos (0-0); NEW YORK Overall (9-14); SOUTH CAROLINA Overall (4–31), Kiawah Island (1–4), Hilton Head (1-3); Pawleys Island/Myrtle Beach (3-20); TENNESSEE Overall (0-1); TEXAS Overall (5-22), metro Austin (0-4); metro Dallas (0-3), El Paso (0-1), Fort Worth (0-1), metro Galveston/Houston (1-3), metro San Antonio (0-3); UTAH (7- 10); and WYOMING’s Jackson Hole (0-0). Comparing golf growth over the past 21 years with that of the pre-1986 period, the southeastern U.S. has clearly been public-accessible championship golf’s leading growth region, led by Georgia (0-16), Alabama (0-15), South Carolina (4-31), Florida (8-42) and Texas (5-22). The southwest region had the second best growth, led by Nevada (1-13), Arizona (3-21), California (24-57) and Colorado (6-11). The northeast sector followed, led by New Jersey (1-12). Las Vegas (0-10) has led among the nation’s destination cities, followed by Scottsdale (0-9), Reynolds Plantation (0-4), Naples (0-4) Sarasota/Bradenton (0-4), Pawleys/Island/Myrtle Beach (3-20), and Orlando (2-12). Of rather puzzling interest is how it could be that Business Week/Golf Digest ranked Colorado’s ski area #1 in its recently released study entitled: “America’s Top-18 Emerging Golf Retirement Regions.” This region has not built a new 4½-Star or better course since 1985 and it only had two 4½-Stars back then. With this background, you should not be surprised that at the end of 1985, HSB Resort’s three 4½-Stars courses (built in 1973, 1981 and 1985), Pebble Beach’s two 5 Stars (built in 1919 and 1966), Colorado Spring’s Broadmoor (two 4½-Stars – both built in 1918), Myrtle Beach Nationals two 4½-Star (built in 1973) and Florida’sInnisbrook (two 4½-Stars (one built in 1070, one in 1972). were the elite among America’s public-accessible golfing destinations. These were America’s only golfing destinations that offered at least two 4½-Star or better public/resort golf courses at that time. And HSB Resort was America’s only destination that had more than two. The Hurds had come out of nowhere and taken HSB to the top rank of America’s public-accessible golf destinations. But in early 1986, the unpredictable tides turned once again – as abruptly as before, but downward this time. The collapse was so sharp, so deep and so complete that the supply of visitors to continue showering HSB with accolades dried up. The acclaim that had begun to spread widely diminished to a whisper in the absence of sufficient messengers. HSB did not fully recover from the downturn, once again oil-driven, prolonged a couple of years at its end by 9/11/2001, until 2004. While the oil-states languished in relative depression throughout this period, their economies penalized by low oil prices, the remainder of America had prospered. HSB became America’s best-kept secret! Today, HSB and the remainder of Texas have a lot of catching up to do today. Fortunately, everything of critical to that goal is pointing once again to another long-running period of prosperity for the oil patch. It’s no wonder that FORTUNE Magazine reported in a 12/25/06 article that Texas will be the country’s fastest growing state for at least the next two years. Don’t be surprised if it lasts much longer. Although the Texas economy is not nearly as dependent on crude oil and natural gas as it was in the last boom, the oil business nevertheless remains dominant enough to substantially drive the market. With oil prices back at the levels that helped lift HSB earlier, with the tech market on its way back, and with the Jaffes about ready to announce their major plan to restore HSB to not just its former 1/1/86 glory, but possibly substantially more, HSB’s stars are aligning once again. At hand are the makings of a rodeo one wouldn’t want to miss. And we’ve got ring-side seats! How can anyone who lives in HSB not feel immensely blessed? 18) SUMMARY: A Perfect Collection of Extraordinary Features – Some Natural, Some Man Made – Make HSB Especially Special! In concluding this series on HSB, which dates back some six months, we’ve looked at HSB from every conceivable direction. What is the appeal? What thing or things drew us here? What has made HSB so especially special? None of us got here by falling off the turnip wagon on one of its passes through town, though that’s more or less how “Dad” Joiner found the East Texas Field. When the wagon hauling his cable-tool drilling rig broke down in 1930, he cranked up the rig and began drilling while his hands tried to fix the wagon. The series explored the question by examining various features that could represent a possibly significant draw. We started by going back to HSB’s beginning in 1971, inching forward from there while keeping HSB’s possible “reasons-for-being” before us. We looked at its growth, its history, what made it tick, what caused it to not tick, what others thought of it, what its future might hold, and the like. We wanted to be made as knowledgeable as possible. We hoped to better understand and more fully appreciate why laid back and friendly HSB constitutes such a huge blessing for practically every single one of us. The examination began by putting forth the question: could HSB + H20 = Sedona in 2020? We started by “Comparing HSB and Sedona,” and from there we examined “HSB’s Unimaginable Rise” and “Its Even More Unimaginable Fall.” We studied “HSB’s Rebound,” “Why Lake LBJ Is One-of-a-Kind,” “HSB’s New Momentum,” “The $2+ Billion of Commitments Made Since March 2000 and then “Revisited the HSB-Sedona Comparison.” After studying “HSB’s Unimaginable Rise,” and while writing about other aspects of interest that went in to the series, we were searching for evidence of just how great HSB became before its “Even More Unimaginable Fall.” We began winding down the series after finding proof-positive evidence that “HSB Resort Ranked Among America’s Very Elite” once the Hurds completed its fundamental infrastructure build-out in late 1985. The depth and seriousness of the 1986 crash, from which a full recovery didn’t occur for about 17 years, can not be over emphasized. HSB was among the few businesses among the oil-patch states of Texas, Oklahoma or Louisiana that survived the unexpected crash without taking Chapter 11 protection, an its unimaginable fall could have been far worse if not for the financial acumen of Norman and Wayne Hurd. We also looked closely at how HSB basically self-generated its new momentum, led by Doug Jaffe’s financial strength and financial know-how, beginning in 1996. We documented how HSB, Texas and the other oil-patch states worked their way back and how the oil-business that has basically driven HSB upward or downward since its inception looks as healthy today as far out as one can see. We have also been made aware of the Resort’s intent to announce a major, six to ten-year renovation project that is designed to send HSB back to its prior ranking among America’s very elite, which will be wonderful news. We learned to appreciate our wonderful Geological Paradise; the beautiful Hill Country; our one-of-a kind Lake LBJ; our area’s laid back and friendly Heritage; the romance of the Central Mineral Region; that Marble Falls’ Canyon of the Colorado is 50 times older than the Grand Canyon; that the HSB-Marble Falls Fault is the largest (most vertical movement) seen in all of Texas; how central Texas is dominated and shaped by the Llano Uplift; the mystic associated with HSB-Marble Falls reincarnation – arising as it did from a half-mile deep burial that lasted for 100 million years; and how it is that Llano and western Burnet counties resemble today what the countryside looked like 120 million years ago when dinosaurs roamed the region as shallow Cretaceous seas transgressed its surface, statewide. Although room exists for plenty of sharply focused reports in the future on how this or that is doing, about new projects, and the like, we sense a need as we move toward closing out our examination of the basics to get two more pieces of basic information before you. So today we are presenting two maps which we hope will help everyone visualize and more clearly appreciate HSB’s setting – which is the most basic feature of all. The topmost of the two maps identifies the eight principal geologic-geomorphologic sectors of central Texas. For example, it should help explain specifics such as where the Central Mineral Region is located. As seen on the map, it is located in the central portion of the Llano Uplift, where the Uplift’s oldest rocks are located – the Uplift’s igneous (granites) and metamorphic rocks that are all part of the North American continent’s ancestral core, over 1.1 billion years old. The lower map gives a detailed outline of that small portion of Texas which falls within the boundaries of all four of the state’s most attractive provinces – The Texas Hill Country, The Llano Uplift, The Central Mineral Region, and The Highland Lakes. HSB stands alone among all others cities in Texas as the single city that dominates this renown Texas “SweetSpot.” This map speaks volumes as to why HSB is so special. Although Marble Falls lies just outside the SweetSpot, we all know it is home to the Bluebonnet Café. Next time you’re there on a half-way decent weekend, look for the motorcycle gangs - those no doubt well-to-do professionals dressed out in motorcycle garb, shades of the Hell’s Angles – breakfasting. You’ll connect the dots and realize they’re there loading on “fuel” before spending the day taking their Hogs for an outing to the Llano Uplift, and through The Central Mineral Region, soaking up the Texas Hill Country and The Highland Lakes in the process. The SweetSpot, where they can taste all four regions in one afternoon, is one of their favored drives. The next time you see them you’ll be reminded that they represent a proof-positive - attesting to the area’s extraordinary appeal. And to think that we partake of these extraordinarily beautiful, laid back and friendly environs every day of our lives, saturated as they are with the extraordinary amenities, the championship golf, America’s lake of choice, wonderful people, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. And, by the way. On the question of: HSB + H20 = Sedona in 2020? We picked Sedona as somewhat representative of the likes of Santa Fe, Jackson Hole, Kiawah Island, Scottsdale, Reynolds Island, et cetera that have come on as major R & R destinations with a cultural-fine arts sense since 1985, prospering in the economic boom the rest of America was experiencing as it feasted on low oil prices that were the oil-patch states’ demise. Although these areas all gained a lot of ground on HSB after 1985, we are nevertheless not that far behind most of them, not that we want to be another Myrtle Beach. It may take a while to catch the likes of Scottsdale, but why would we want to be another Scottsdale. You’ve got it. And we’re not trying to be another Sedona, by most measures we’re already far better. And to wait until 2020? Bull–manure! What a joke! But we put in the 2020 because we sensed we could prove to ourselves that “by most measures we were already far better.” We needed facts, proof, before we could come out with series theme saying HSB + Lake LBJ was already this or that without losing credibility. So, we took the opposite approach and researched the issue together, week by week, developing the understanding, brick by brick. And the facts are clear. The Hurds led HSB to the mountain top. They took HSB there in record time – An Unimaginable Rise! The Resort was the equal - if not more so - to best resorts of that day, the end of 1985, they being Monterrey Peninsula’s Pebble Beach, Colorado Springs’ The Broadmoor, Florida’s Innisbrook, and Myrtle Beach’s Grand National. These four were the leading resorts of the day that also featured 4½-Star or better golf. However, whereas we had three of the 4½-Star or better courses, none of them had more than two; whereas we had America’s largest private airport, they had none; whereas we had Lake LBJ, America’s lake of choice, they had nothing comparable; whereas we had the Texas Hill Country, The Llano Uplift, The Central Mineral Region, The Highland Lakes, our Geological Paradise, a Canyon 50 times older than the Grand Canyon, et cetera. et cetera, et cetera, they had . . . well, nothing worth writing home about, comparatively speaking!!! The facts are also clear that the HSB-Marble Falls area is on its way to being an important fine arts/live music/theatrical cultural center. The Jimmy Owens’ River Bend Art Gallery is leading the way regarding Fine Art and Russell Baxter and Linda Callaway are leading the way with their Uptown Theater regarding Nashville/Grammy-quality Live Music entertainment. And the Hill Country Theater continues to grow, becoming increasingly professional to the point of leading the whole Hill Country on that score. John Kemper, who is building “The Deck” behind The River City Grill on Lake Marble Falls as we speak, will be have Live Music and Dancing as well. The Deck, which will seat 200 people, have a separate kitchen, rest rooms, bar and boat slips, will open this spring. While on that same subject, Grant Dean will have his nightclub – “Lorraine’s” – open by the arrival of spring at 3rd and Avenue “J” in downtown Marble Falls - one block off Main Street, across from the R-Bar. It will seat up to 300 and be open Wednesday through Saturday evenings featuring Live Music, Dancing, and Mixed Drinks, all complimented by a return of “Darcy’s Deli,” which will front on 3rd and share space in the building. Where is all this Live Music coming from? Well, we all know Austin pictures itself as “The Live Music Capital of the World.” Have you ever wondered where a huge number of these really talented guys live? You guessed it – the Hill Country, with Marble Falls and Spicewood leading the way. So here we are today, well along toward to regaining our feet, moving forward on the same path the Hurds set for us, capitalizing on the spirit and magic of our extraordinary region – all laid back and friendly, Texas casual style. Damn, how blessed we are to be so fortunate? How could anyone ever have a bad day in HSB? RETURN TO HSB BEACON ARTICLES INDEX
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