Avanzada
From left, Bubba Vann, Jim Lipe, and J.J. Henry.
The essential tenets of both development and starting a second career jibed perfectly for J.J. Henry, the former TCU golfer who has spent the past 25 years knocking the ball around and making a living on the PGA Tour.
Location, location, location and perfect timing have coalesced, the stars aligning with Jupiter.
The result is Avanzada Golf & Ranch Club, Henry’s long-held vision of an exclusive gated community in southeast Parker County with — and this stands to reason — a championship golf course.
Henry’s partner is Bubba Vann, who deployed a TCU diploma as a springboard to entrepreneurism, and developer of the South Padre Island Golf Club.
The two have become close friends, it’s clear to see.
“I always wanted to bring something to our area that was very unique and special, a place to play golf, to live, a sense of community to kind of have your whole world, if you will, within your reach, and felt there was kind of a need for that in our area,” said Henry.
The profession made Henry a world traveler. During all that time, he collected knowledge and experience through playing the best golf courses in the world and living their high-end settings.
Fort Worth, originally founded as the “Trinity Outpost,” served as the inspiration for the name Avanzada, which is the Spanish word for outpost.
Avanzada will be comprised of 1,100 acres and described as “the crown jewel” of Kelly Ranch, a 2,400-acre master planned development located at the corner of Kelly Road and U.S. 377 in Parker County.
In addition to Avanzada, the 2,400-acre master planned Kelly Ranch development encompasses a total of three new communities, including Rio Vista at Kelly Ranch and La Dorada at Kelly Ranch.
Kelly Ranch will also take advantage of nearly 1.5 miles of U.S. 377 frontage with luxury retail shopping, restaurants, and entertainment with its 65 acre “Shops at Avanzada” development.
Along with the resort feel brought by retail shopping and a championship golf course, Kelly Ranch will feature all of the necessary development needed for a day-to-day life. A new grocery store, medical office buildings, Aledo ISD school sites, and Class-A business offices will be located along the eastern most border of the development at the cross roads of U.S. 377 and Kelly Road.
Avanzada has just under 700 homes planned, Vann said, sitting on one-third and one-half-acre sites. Construction is expected to start in late spring or early summer, Vann said last week. Sales of lots in the first phase is “moving very well,” Vann said.
Construction of the golf course is expected to follow the same timeline.
“If everything goes as planned, we’ll be playing golf in the fall of 2024,” said Vann, who could play a little golf, too. Before going to TCU, Vann played at the Division III level at Mary Hardin-Baylor. Vann’s wife, Mariana, played at the University of Texas.
So, golf is meaningful to them, too.
The face of this thing, of course, is Henry, a three-time winner on the PGA Tour who is closer to 48 than 47 and no longer has full status on the tour. He played in eight events in 2021-22 through exemptions and said he expects the number could be the same this season.
Since turning pro in 1998, Henry, a one-time Ryder Cup member, has won close to $17 million in 574 starts.
“The boy can still play golf,” Vann said of Henry.
And after talking to him at the office, it sounds as if Henry plans to join the PGA Senior Tour when he’s eligible at age 50. He loves to compete, that is clear.
However, he’s not currently thinking about slippery 4-footers.
Henry clearly is dedicated entirely to Avanzada to the point that he eats, sleeps, and breathes it. Except for his family, this is the reason he wakes up every day.
“Every detail is so important to him,” Vann said, “even down to our logo.”
Vann joked that on one Sunday Henry called him to see if he wanted to go out to the property, just to go out there and look, something he apparently asks quite a bit.
“No, I don’t,” Vann said recalling his reply, laughing. “I want to watch the [Dallas] Cowboys.”
Henry said he will continue to essentially live on the property “until we put a tee in the ground.”
Henry recruited esteemed course designer Jim Lipe, an award winner and the right-hand man of Jack Nicklaus for three decades.
This piece of property will allow for one of the best championship-caliber courses in Texas, according to the developers. Avanzada is dotted with mature hardwoods, 200 feet of elevation changes, rolling hills, long views, and half a mile of water frontage from Bear Creek.
God creates the best golf course, Henry reminded.
“We’re not here to transform something,” Henry said. “The reason we love where it is is because it suits itself so well for a really great golf course. It’s a piece of property that suits itself so well for what we want to accomplish.”
Lipe has worked in the field of golf course design for more than 35 years, taking him to five continents and 18 countries around the world.
Between Henry and Lipe that’s a lot of experience and seeing things.
“I get to work hand in hand with one of the best architects in the last 30 years. I have spent a lot of time with him,” Henry said. “To share my passion for golf and to build a really nice place to live and sense of community with a lot of things we’ll be able to provide is something I’m really proud of.”