Falconhead West–area business is aimed at family-oriented entertainment

By next summer, Bee Cave residents might only be a short drive away from miniature golfing.

A Bee Cave resident has lined up plans for Hill Country Golf and Guitar, a family entertainment complex at 15606 W. Hwy. 71. The 3.5-acre facility near Falconhead West has plans for two miniature golf courses with 36 total holes, an amphitheater and a restaurant.

"If we do this right, I think it will become an icon for the community, and I think it will be very attractive for families and a place for them to call their own," project developer Rich Phillips said.

Bee Cave City Council approved the facility's site plan Aug. 14. City leaders were enthusiastic about the project and predicted that it would be successful.

"I think the community desperately welcomes this type of amenity," Councilwoman Zelda Auslander said.

A place for families

Hill Country Golf and Guitar is aimed at bringing in middle-schoolers and teenagers, Phillips said.

A bar and a grill will serve hamburgers, pizza and salads, and a teen lounge will be equipped with couches and televisions. The amphitheater could be used by middle-school and high-school students to play music in the early evening hours, Phillips said.

"It's a place you go for a first date," he said. "It's a place you go to have dinner and enjoy your evening. I don't want it to be a bar where 20-somethings hang out late into the evening."

'Serene' layout

Phillips said a significant amount of planning has gone into designing the facility.

The courses are being designed by Harris Miniature Golf Courses, Inc., which has built about 450 miniature courses throughout the nation, Phillips said.

"It's not dinosaurs and windmills; it's waterfalls and streams," he said. "It is going to be very beautiful and serene. It will be fun and challenging."

Falconhead West resident Patrick Flores, who will live closest to the facility, said he was comfortable with the project.

"[Phillips] has said all the right things, and he seems to be a good steward of the community," he said.

Phillips, who runs a public relations and business development firm and is also a partner in a telecommunications wholesale company, said he was opening Hill Country Golf and Guitar for his three children. The facility could open by summer 2013, he said.