From the outset, Dancing Rabbit Golf Club was destined for greatness. Recruiting two of modern golf’s most celebrated course designers, Tom Fazio and Jerry Pate, to collaborate on this project was indeed a stroke of genius. Together they have carved from this sacred tract of land a pair of courses that must be experienced…a golfing mecca full of natural wonders, subtle refinement and timeless design.
The Designers
Tom Fazio
Tom Fazio has been in the business of golf course design since 1962 when he began working with his uncle, George Fazio, a well-known touring professional.
In 1979, Tom started Fazio Golf Course Designers, Inc. in Jupiter, Florida. He and his talented team have been designing award-winning courses across the United States ever since.
Fazio’s designs have been called bold and powerful, yet his primary design objective is to create a look that is in keeping with the natural surroundings. However beautiful the course, appearance never takes precedence over “playability”. Another Fazio design principle is to provide options, so that golfers of varying degrees of skill can enjoy a satisfying game.
Fazio was voted by his peers “Best Modern Day Golf Course Architect” in a poll begun in 1991 by Golf Digest. Golf Digest repeated this poll in 1993 and 1995 and Fazio was again voted “Best Modern Day Golf Course Architect”.
In 1979, Fazio designed Wild Dunes in Charleston, South Carolina, along with The Vintage Club in Indian Wells, California and PGA National in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. Since then, Fazio has designed private, public and resort courses for professionals, amateurs and recreational golfers, including the oasis-in-the-desert Shadow Creek in Las Vegas, Nevada; the old mining quarry that became Black Diamond in Lecanto, Florida; Wade Hampton in the wooded mountains of Cashiers, North Carolina; and many equally prestigious courses. Fazio also completed a redesign of Pinehurst Resort & Country Club’s heralded No. 4 course in Pinehurst, North Carolina, as well as designed their much anticipated Centennial Course, Pinehurst No. 8.
In 1995, Fazio was honored with the “Old Tom Morris Award” for his contributions to the world of golf. He is one of only two architects to have received this recognition from the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America.
Jerry Pate
Jerry Pate’s involvement in golf is multi-faceted. As a player, he has competed in more than 400 professional golf tournaments and has been a PGA Tour Member since 1975. Since joining the tour, he has garnered eight victories and seven foreign wins, including the Tournament Player’s Championship and, the ultimate crown, the U.S. Open in 1976.
He also won the 1974 U.S. Amateur at Ridgewood Country Club, Ridgewood, New Jersey, and has competed on the Walker Cup and Ryder Cup teams.
A firm believer in constant on-site supervision and quality planning, Pate has been involved in the design of golf courses for the past 19 years. He asserts that you simply don’t learn to create great courses by studying landscape design. You have to learn strategy on a golf course, both playing and working with the best.
Pate has worked with Tom Fazio, Pete Dye, Bob Cupp and Ron Garl on many high-profile, top-quality courses. His approach to the work characterizes the way in which he approaches every undertaking–with dedication and attention to detail.