Tom Fazio Golf Courses and Signature Design Traits

You know you’re good at your craft when awards are discontinued because you’ve won them too many times. For anyone who questions Tom Fazio’s impact on golf architecture, the fact that Golf Digest gave up on its 'Best Modern Day Golf Course Architect' award after Fazio won it three years in a row should be evidence enough that Fazio was truly the king of his craft.

Tom Fazio has designed and built over 200 golf courses and has his name on 13 of Golf Digest's U.S. Top 100 courses, more than any other active golf course architect. While Fazio has taken his talents abroad to Canada, Mexico, Brazil, and Ireland, the bulk of his career, and his most notable designs, reside in the U.S. Many of the top architects in golf today credit Fazio for influencing the way they approach certain aspects of their craft.

About Tom Fazio

Tom Fazio was born on February 10, 1945 and has a golf design career that spans over six decades. Even as he approaches his 80s, Tom isn’t looking to retire anytime soon, as he is still heavily involved in the day-to-day of his company, Fazio Design.

It would be more than fair to say that he was destined to be a golf architect. His uncle, George Fazio, had a design firm in Philadelphia and welcomed Tom to his staff in the 1960s. It was in 1972, however, when Tom opened his own firm in Jupiter, Florida and never looked back. Oddly enough, George has said that it was Tom’s contributions to the company that allowed him to reach great heights within his own firm.

Today, Fazio is assisted in large part by his son, T. Logan Fazio, who is a world-class architect in his own right. Despite his success and instant name recognition, Fazio is known to prefer team notoriety over individual accolades. Many Fazio-designed courses accompany other courses at a larger resort, demonstrating his strength in creating courses that mesh well with the others on the property, while also offering their own flavor.

Tom Fazio Signature Traits

Tom Fazio courses are perhaps some of the easiest to attribute to their architect. Fazio frequently worked under a budget-less umbrella, which is why his resume includes some of the most prestigious private courses in the world. On a Fazio course, you’ll never feel like the design and build cut corners. A few other design traits of Tom Fazio include:

• Fazio wants to give the player an immediate wow factor, which is why his courses photograph well
• Hazards that run parallel to the hole rather than creating forced carries
• Elevated tee boxes with dramatic sightlines
• Holes designed to be individually framed from tee to green without running into the next
• It's rare to find a Fazio design with an uphill par-3
• Many Fazio courses are built on sites considered unsuitable for golf courses - he likes a challenge
• Large green complexes with severely sloping areas designed to be avoided
• Untouched, natural beauty
• Varied difficulty levels to accommodate all skill levels

Tom Fazio Courses

Here are some of the most notable Tom Fazio courses. As you scroll through, you'll notice some of the most prestigious courses in golf, such as Quail Hollow, Shadow Creek, and Caves Valley. He and his wife, Sue, split residences between Florida and North Carolina, both states which have benefitted from Fazio's designs. His work also has a heavy presence in Texas and well as South Carolina.