Onion Creek Club (Original)

Overview: Onion Creek Original is the historic Demaret routing at Onion Creek Club in South Austin. The named course is part of a 27-hole private property, but the Original profile refers to the holes that retain the strongest connection to Jimmy Demaret’s 1974 design. Current course records list par 70 and 6,351 yards from the back tee. The layout uses mature trees, narrow landing corridors, Onion Creek and small, guarded greens to create a round based on placement and approach precision rather than simple length. It is a classic Texas course identity, with the land doing much of the visual work.

History: Onion Creek began in 1974 through the partnership of developer Jimmie Connolly and Masters champion Jimmy Demaret. Demaret’s philosophy was to work with the natural land, a principle captured in the club’s long-standing description that nature put the course in place and he merely manicured it. In 1996, Ben Crenshaw and Bill Coore added nine holes to complete the 27-hole property, but the Original routing remains the clearest historical link to the club’s first course. It also sits at the centre of Onion Creek’s tournament legacy, including the early Legends of Golf events.

Did You Know? The Original scorecard includes a 601-yard par-five seventh, with Onion Creek running along the right side of the hole. It is a good example of how the course uses natural features to make a long hole strategic rather than merely distant.