Fort Worth Welcomes a New Era of Luxury Golf at Maverick Golf & Ranch Club — The Tom Fazio-Designed Championship Course Debuts This Fall

As our small convoy of golf carts recently departed for one of the first tours of Maverick Golf & Ranch Club’s new 18-hole Championship Course, Griffin Cooper, the club’s VP of business management, excitedly caught me up on the latest progress. We passed a newly completed driving range as we headed from the Fort Worth development’s pavilion toward the newest creation of legendary golf course designer Tom Fazio.

As we stopped near the future site of the central clubhouse, the first hole directed our gaze to the northeast, where the familiar downtown skyline provided a striking backdrop for the highly anticipated course. Below, a valley dotted with sand traps and native landscaping offered a varied golfing experience designed for novices and professionals alike.

We passed features like a cattle trough retained from the original Veale Ranch. Comfort stations, including one featuring Texas barbecue, were being finished ahead of the early November opening, when the luxury private residential club’s roughly 140 members will get their first chance to play Discovery Land’s newest 18-hole course.

After taking in the pristine grounds and obliging ourselves to a shot of mezcal at a drink station, we headed for a conversation with the team behind the 8,000-plus-yard course. First announced in early 2025, Maverick Golf & Ranch Club is transforming 1,100 acres of the historic Veale Ranch into an exclusive residential community with approximately 500 homes.

The ambitious project will feature three Tom Fazio-designed golf courses and a host of luxury amenities, including a clubhouse, spa, fitness center, family water park, and an organic farm. Flight delays prevented Fazio from attending the event in person, but he joined us virtually from his North Carolina home.

How Tom Fazio Transformed a Texas Ranch Into a Golfing Destination

Gavin Fazio, Tom’s son, was on hand to kick off the gathering by describing their family-run golf course architecture firm, Fazio Golf Design.

“You’d think we’re like this global, huge business,” he told the small gathering, “but we’re a relatively small business. We have about 12 employees, including six guys who have been with us for many years. Dad started with three of them back when he was in his 20s.”

Despite being several hundred miles away, Tom’s warmth and affability made it feel as though he were right there in the room with us. He lamented the six hours of flight delays that ultimately kept him from enjoying the abundant Southern feast before us.

“See, I haven’t even gotten to eat lunch yet, and you guys have all that good Texas food set out while I’m stuck here,” he said with a laugh. “For those of you who saw the new course, I’m sure you were impressed because I’ve seen it many times and am getting impressed more and more.”

Following his opening remarks, Tom Fazio answered our questions about the design process.

What was your first impression when you saw the land for the first time?

Well, I’m so glad that Discovery Land is our client on this project because this is a great location. My immediate reaction was, ‘Wow, this is a big undertaking.’ A great golf course would not make a very good ranch. If you were really into ranching, you need bigger, wider, flatter spaces. With golf, we want narrow, small, hilly, rolling places. Only a company like Discovery Land, in my opinion, has the resources and the vision to make those things happen on such a grand scale. The amount of excavation, effort, financial commitment, and talented minds involved in thinking, planning, and refining every detail is what brought us to this finished product.

The first hole we saw today on the Championship Course had this beautiful backdrop of the skyline of Fort Worth. How did you decide what was going to be the opening shot?

We walk the landscape, look at the long-range views, and figure out how to incorporate them into the design. We don’t even know what hole it may be. In this particular case, it fit near the clubhouse site. We saw that view, and we knew we had to incorporate it into the golf course. It’s not an accident. It really sets the tone.

Tom Fazio closed by noting that while golf itself is highly governed by rules, golf course design offers nearly limitless creative freedom. Starting with a blank slate, designers can create distinctive, one-of-a-kind experiences that challenge seasoned professionals while remaining enjoyable for newcomers to the game.

After touring the course, it’s clear that Fort Worth has added a remarkable new destination to the national golf landscape.