Tom Fazio: designing with the land

Who he is

Thomas Fazio was born on 10 February 1945 and graduated from Lansdale Catholic High School in 1962. Golf design was the family trade: his uncle George Fazio was already an architect, and George often credited his nephew with jump-starting his own career.

Tom’s own firm describes a career of more than six decades and over 200 courses. He is American, and still, by the firm’s account, actively involved in projects from Montana to Tuscany. The firm is a team effort: it says many of his design associates have worked alongside him for 30 to 40 years or more.

How he came to design

Fazio began his career in 1962 under his uncle’s mentorship. By the mid-1970s he had established his own firm and soon won national recognition with Wild Dunes in South Carolina and Pinehurst No. 6 in North Carolina.

In 1995 he became the second course architect to receive the Old Tom Morris Award, the highest recognition given by the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America. Wynn’s own pages add that he has consulted for Augusta National and Pine Valley.

His design ideas

Fazio talks about golf holes the way an author talks about chapters: “I start every project as a new thought, like writing a new book.” His image for a course is a puzzle with eighteen pieces, each of a different size.

The firm’s stated aim is courses that blend with their natural surroundings, preserving the integrity of the land and making smooth transitions from the existing topography, while staying challenging yet enjoyable for players of every level.

The same thinking runs through the firm’s account of its method: study the property, respect its natural character and uncover the routing that feels most authentic to the site. “Great design should look effortless,” it says, “as if the holes have always belonged there.” The firm also renovates, and says it has worked on hundreds of courses, many it designed and many it did not.

On ULTIMATE Golf

Four of our listings carry his name. Shadow Creek, in North Las Vegas, is owned by MGM Resorts International and has hosted The Match in 2018, the CJ Cup in October 2020 and, since 2021, the LPGA match-play event. Wynn Golf Club occupies the former Desert Inn course, which opened in 1952 and closed in 2002. Wynn’s own history says Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin dreamed up the beverage cart while playing it.

Fazio was directly involved in the 2005 renovation that created Wynn Golf Club, and in 2019, joined by his son Logan, he redesigned it. Today it has streams, ponds with koi, waterfalls, and a dramatic waterfall on the 18th hole.

In Barbados, Sandy Lane has two Fazio courses. The Green Monkey is a par 72 of 7,343 yards, kept for resort guests, while The Country Club is a par 72 of 7,060 yards that hosted the 2006 World Golf Championships Barbados World Cup.

At Baker’s Bay, on Great Guana Cay in the Bahamas, the 18-hole course is a Fazio design. The club is a private community developed by Discovery Land Company, spread over 600 acres, and access is limited to members and their escorted guests.

Our advice: if you can only play one, let the setting decide. Wynn puts you beside the Las Vegas Strip, Sandy Lane puts the Caribbean behind you, and Shadow Creek, which opened to a limited number of MGM hotel guests, is the one to arrange ahead.