Vaaler Creek Golf Club

Vaaler Creek Golf Club sits inside the 1,000-acre Rockin' J Ranch community a few miles south of Blanco, in the Texas Hill Country roughly 50 miles north of San Antonio. Ranch developer Col. Lee Roper named the course for his friend and fellow soldier Jack Vaaler, a lifelong golf man who began caddying at La Crosse Country Club in the 1940s, later served as president of Woodlake Country Club and volunteered at PGA Tour events. Vaaler died while the course was under construction, and it stands as a memorial to him. Michael Lowry and JR Newman routed the layout across live oaks, limestone outcrops, creeks and rolling ground. The back nine opened in July 2007 and the front nine followed on July 4, 2009, completing a par-72 course of about 6,860 yards. Golfweek soon placed it on its Best New Courses list, and it remains one of the most respected semi-private tracks in the Hill Country.