Horseshoe Bay Resort’s Director of Golf Instruction Bobby Steiner has spent the better part of three decades helping players of every skill level improve at the game they love. Over his past six years at the renowned destination in the heart of the Central Texas Hill Country, Steiner has become a part of the extended family to the members he’s helped reach their swing and scoring goals.
If Steiner can’t seem to contain his excitement lately, how could blame him? Later this year, the instructional experience at Horseshoe Bay Resort will take a giant leap with the 3,000 square foot Cap Rock Golf Academy – complete with two indoor bays with Trackman and Toptracer technology, club-fitting services, a club repair room, and a demonstration area with shafts, grips and clubheads from top manufacturers like Titleist, TaylorMade and Callaway – opens in the fall. Understandably, Steiner is excited to get into this space and to begin offering a more expanded menu of schools, clinics and private lessons for individuals and groups.
At this improvement-focused academy destination, players can go outside to one of eight covered bays that all feature the same Toptracer technology used in the indoor teaching sessions. Each player will have the ability to see real-time data for each swing and Steiner will have dedicated spaces to help players develop the skills they need to play their best. Recently, we sat down with him to find out what visitors to the Cap Rock Academy can expect starting this fall:
How will the new academy change your day-to-day activities?
It’s going to be a nice place to do private golf instruction away from the rest of the crowd. We’ll be able to have an opportunity take lessons from indoors or outdoors, or vice versa, which is awfully nice during the Texas heat. And having the Trackman technology and a private place to teach is going to really be a big change for us.
What new programs are you going to offer members and guests?
I worked for Golf Digest schools for about a dozen years and at the Westin Mission Hills in Palm Springs for 18 years, and we taught golf academies. That’s something we just haven’t done here, the one-, two- and three-day golf schools where people come and take lessons as an accompaniment to a vacation. Three hours of instruction on the range followed by lunch, followed by a nine-hole playing lesson followed by unlimited golf. We’re excited to offer this at the resort. Daily clinics will be an attractive offering, too. To give students the chance to focus on different parts of their games: short game clinics, chipping, pitching, putting, bunker play, will be a big benefit.
I’ve been here for six years and, in that time, there been many people who I put a golf club in their hands the very first time and who have become quite capable players now. Taking it to the next level is going to be a lot of fun.
How has the product and golf experience changed since the award-winning Cap Rock clubhouse was been completed in 2021?
It has made for a wonderful experience. The membership’s morale is riding high here at the club because we’ve done so much in the way of renovating all the golf courses, the new clubhouse at Cap Rock, as well as a new pro shop and constantly making improvements. Everyone is proud to be associated with such a first-rate property.
What do you enjoy most about teaching and what do you think your strengths are as an instructor?
I especially love teaching golf because it’s so exceedingly difficult. You’re really helping someone do something that’s going to bring them a whole lot of joy and a higher standing in the eyes of others, or at least that’s the way it feels. And, to be able to play golf with just anybody is a great gift that not everybody has, so to be part of that is awfully special to me.
I particularly like working with a spouse, so the couples can go play together. I know this is going to be something that can go do together. The game is so hard and there’s so much information, it’s nice to be able to straighten out a golf swing. Golf swing mechanics are not difficult to understand. But what is difficult is for a person to get online and self-diagnose and think that they found the answer from a teacher that they can’t really even see one-on-one. So, it’s nice to bridge that gap between the golfer and what they perceive to be just an overwhelmingly difficult sport.
What prompted you to write the books that you’ve written?
I started writing back in 2000 for the Desert Sun newspaper in Palm Springs – a weekly golf column where I told stories. They were about fictional characters that had their specialties. It was from my adventure walking around this golf course, from the mountains of western North Carolina. One paper picked it up and then another and another, and pretty soon I had about 16 papers throughout the country who all wanted to run my column, which at that time was called ‘Golf, Heart and Soul.’ A literary agent approached me and said he loved how and what I write and asked to put together a book. That’s where my first book came from. Now, I give motivational talks to hotel groups, and I’ve written another book that’s more of an inspirational self-help book. So writing is something I have always enjoyed doing and it’s brought me a lot of satisfaction.
You’ve spent time at several top resorts in your career. What sets Horseshoe Bay apart?
People don’t say much about this, but there aren’t many places in the country where you can play and teach golf all year round, but Horseshoe Bay is one of them. My job in Southern California was too hot in the summer, so I had to go to Ohio for my summers and my winters there in Palm Springs. Now, it’s nice to be at one place where we can have members who live there all year round, as well as hotel guests who’ve come stay and enjoy the resort all year round. It’s not as seasonal as other places.
Other than that, The Central Texas Hill Country is just the most special part of the world that I’ve been to. If someone blindfolded you, and then you suddenly wake up and they take the blindfold off again, and ask you to guess what state you’re in. You would never guess Texas. It’s green, rolling and beautiful. There are rivers and lakes. This looks more like something you’d see in the Carolinas. It’s just absolutely beautiful. They’ve got all the wineries around here and wonderful restaurants. It’s just a special place and only an hour from Austin and an hour and a half from San Antonio, so if you need to go somewhere, it’s not far away.
What are you most excited about for the summer season there?
The thing that’s got my attention is the academy due to open this fall. I’m most excited about this. It’s something I have been looking forward to and we’ve been talking about for the entire time I’ve been here. And we’re finally doing it now. And they’re doing it the right way, and that’s what I’m excited about. We’ve got two indoor hitting bays, as well as a short game area as well as eight outdoor hitting bays with Toptracer range. It’s widely considered top of the heap in all of the range technology. So that’s what I’m most excited about, the new Cap Rock Golf Academy, because it’s going to blow off the hinges and make Horseshoe Bay a place where people are really excited to come learn golf.
Learn more at HSBResort.com.
