Pros:
-amazing piece of land and fantastic design
-tons of variety and tons of fun
-dual concrete tees on most holes (6 shorter holes have 1 tee)
-great Houck signs, discatchers in good shape
-extremely challenging course
-legit par 4's & 5's with strategic landing zones
-wooded shots, open bombs, huge doglegs
-even some elevation, take what you can get in Texas!
-polished details: wood-lined tees, limestone seats, wood-chipped fairways, drainage channels, wood-lined paths and even some fairways
-2 practice baskets, tons of parking, huge multi-use park, water fountains and bathrooms at entrance
Cons:
-no water, no alternate pins
-some very rocky terrain that can be tough on your plastic
-not too bad but it kills me to see trash out here
-navigation can be a little tricky here and there but there are well-traveled paths and next tee markers on the signs
-the wood-chipped fairways aren't very good for skip shots. maybe it was too rocky underneath and this was the better option?
Other Thoughts:
This is quite simply one of the best courses I have played in Texas. It is truly an experience unto itself. The amount of variety and character packed into one well-designed and well-polished course is a testament to Olse, Houck, and the Austin DG scene.
The course is mostly carved out of the woods with well-defined fairways and many tree obstacles. There are also more open and grassy areas but the majority of holes have narrow to mid-sized fairways and thick rough. Several holes also have small gaps to hit, lots of early trouble. Doglegs right and left and make you work a variety of lines and distances range from 200' to 888' with six par 4's and two par 5's!
As if challenging golf and great variety were not enough, this is one of the most polished courses I have seen, and aesthetically pleasing too if you like the Texas hill country. The wood-chipped fairways, Houck signs, dual tees with wood lining, limestone seats on many holes, drainage channels, wood linings on paths and some fairways, a huge practice putting area with 2 baskets, and other park amenities give you very little to complain about here.
This is a challenging course but is still pretty fair to beginners as the short tees pretty accommodating. I'm sure anyone can come out here and appreciate this course. The short list of complaints include the lack of any water hazards and alternate pin locations, the latter of which is surprising for such a well-planned and well-executed course. Also, the wood-chipped fairways won't help you on your skip-hyzer shots but it does look nice and there is probably a lot of rocky soil underneath anyway.
There are endless good things to say about this course; it has just about everything you could ask for in a course. Absolutely a destination course and definitely the place to play if you can only choose one Austin-area course. A must-play!
**Like this review? Hate it? Message me and let me know why! I want to make them better!**