Rockwall, TX

Harry Myers DGC - Old Layout

4.335(based on 68 reviews)
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Harry Myers DGC - Old Layout reviews

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15 2
Innovadude
Diamond level trusted reviewer
Experience: 25.9 years 235 played 185 reviews
4.00 star(s)

stunning 2+ years

Reviewed: Played on:Sep 18, 2008 Played the course:once

Pros:

Long, professional level design stressing power and accuracy, along with placement shots. Many par 4's and a par 5. Water hazard. Different types of terrain including gentle hills, a bowl shaped valley, a jungle, lines of cedar trees on a grassy hill, etc. Beautiful land. Dual cement tees on half the holes. Dual tee signs as well, bathroom and ample parking.

Cons:

I'm surprised no one pointed out the major con of poison ivy. There is so much here, I landed in it 9 times in one round, playing very well. If you are allergic, you should skip 1/3 of the holes, be very cautious on the rest.
It can be tough to find a few tee pads, there are no indicators.
Hole #3 was mega-confusing. It didn't seem to match the tee-sign, and you had to play 800' up before you can see it or where it may be.

Other Thoughts:

The poison ivy is at an outrageous level, even growing directly below a basket on hole #6.
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19 0
t i m
Gold level trusted reviewer
Experience: 26.9 years 285 played 43 reviews
3.50 star(s)

Challenging course, above average for DFW, but still some fundamental problems. 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Updated: Played on:Aug 5, 2008 Played the course:5+ times

Pros:

This course has a couple of the best holes in the state. As have been mentioned before, holes 2 and 3 -- especially from the longs -- are awesome, memorable, challenging beautiful holes.

The teesigns are great, two concrete teepads on most holes is a plus. The longs play harder than probably any other course in the DFW area, which is good, because DFW needed some courses that are closer to blue/gold level to challenge players to expand their game.

The mix of wooded and open holes is good. It has above average elevation changes for a Texas course. Mix of short and long holes, with everything from deuce-or-die shots to a true par 5 (hole 3 long) that requires accuracy, distance and placement.

Cons:

Other people have mentioned the drainage problems, so I won't go into those -- they are a problem, but the four times I've been to the course (in winter, fall and early-spring) drainage hasn't been a big problem -- certainly no worse than other courses in the area (better in many cases). So that's partially a tolerance thing. Do I wish the course was dry and friendly -- yes -- but can I live with some swampy areas on the course -- yes. Just don't bring your best shoes and keep an extra towel on you and you'll be fine. However, the basket for hole 1 is in desperate need of moving a little away from the water because the slope is so unforgiving that it eats a lot of discs on what were great throws. Bad luck should not consistently cost players a disc -- even when they throw safe shots -- yet this hole does.

The bigger problems I have with the course -- that keep it from getting a higher rating -- are that a lot of the back of the course just gets a little laborious and doesn't force enough different throws. The back nine is more of a traditional "Texas"-stereotype course -- big hyzer backhands will get you everywhere it doesn't force players to really improve their games or their shot selection.

My pet peeve on the course is the horribly-marked OB on hole 17. The signage shows a row of planted trees that are the OB-line. Yet the hole has 20-30 trees in several lines (you can connect the trees in at least a dozen different lines), and it is impossible to tell from the signage what was intended by the course designer. This makes a huge difference in strategy for playing the hole. I think the artificially marked OB is a great idea in making the hole more of a risk/reward shot, but if you are going to do that, you MUST mark the OB trees clearly or you just cause innumerable headaches for every group who tries to play the hole.

Other Thoughts:

I feel like I'm echoing a lot of existing sentiments, but I figure the repetition is worth hearing for people interested in playing the course -- and hopefully for the parks people and folks who maintain the course as well.

For people interested in playing the course, it is worth the drive out to Rockwall, and the course does have some very memorable shots. I am usually a fan of playing the longest, hardest layouts possible on a course, but in the case of Harry Myers, I would change my recommendation: play the shorts and you'll be much happier (except maybe holes 1,2,3 -- play those long). The shorts flow better and are less mentally taxing than the longs and really make for a much more fun day of golf.

For most players, the longs will just be frustrating because with the exception of a couple of holes, the longs are just far enough and open enough that shot selection becomes nonexistant: you just take your biggest driver and bomb it RHBH and then go for the lay-up par-3. That's just a silly way to play golf and lessens the joy and beauty of the game.

Play the shorts where your shot selection still has to be careful, but where control and placement off the teebox at least comes a little more into play. The longs have some great potential to spread out the pro scores at tourneys, but for most players, they won't be worth the frustration on a day-to-day basis.

So in short: definitely worth playing if you live in DFW, just to work on different elements of your game. If you're visiting the area, its worth playing just to play holes 2 and 3 (play them a couple times each and enjoy), but don't expect to be "wowed" by the rest of the course.
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13 1
geoloseth
Experience: 45 played 9 reviews
3.50 star(s)

Good effort 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Aug 5, 2008 Played the course:never

Pros:

Finally DFW has a course that isn't just all par 3s. The city of Rockwall allowed Houck to design a course on a beautifully kept piece of land and ss of the holes should be standards for other courses to measure themselves. Holes 2 and 3 are very well done and require well placed drives to have any chance of a birdie or par.

Cons:

When this course was designed one of the major "don'ts" was committed for Texas course design - Don't design a course in the middle of summer, let alone at the tail end of a three year drought. Because of this hold 1 is near unplayable if you've had a recent heavy rain. And even if not, the water is too close to the pin location for a steeply sloping non-grass green like that. Hole 3 gets a rather large collection pool in one of the prime landing areas. The holes that play down in the heavily wooded area are then at risk of being entirely underwater not to mention completely covered with poison ivy. Other holes are natural drainage lines for other areas of the park and are constantly wet and muddy even though there is no standing water. As people have mentioned before at least one of the fairways have to be crossed to get to another hole. And some holes fall into the "make it long because that will make it hard" mindset, ie 17. I know it might be one of the signature holes but really there is nothing to it except a couple long wide open drives. If you want to make a long hole then it has to have some kind of purpouse (hole 3 -a long dogleg right).

Other Thoughts:

All in all a good course but it is one that seems to try too hard. I think it should be replanned and some major upkeep done to limit the poison ivy and drainage issues.

Also, no matter what it's like in the rest of DFW, it is always windy in the park. Due to the basin/bowl landscape it can get very windy when outside of the park it's quite calm.
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11 2
sidewinding
Gold level trusted reviewer
Experience: 16.2 years 81 played 68 reviews
4.50 star(s)

Fun, Fun, Fun! 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Jul 31, 2008 Played the course:never

Pros:

Great use of elevation change gives this course more "epic" holes than any I've ever played.

Excellent facilities: parking, restrooms, baskets, tee pads and signs.

Alternate tee locations to seperate the big boys (not me) from the recreational players (me).

The fairways are well groomed and the course has good flow and is easy to follow.

Cons:

The rough is a little too rough on a few holes. You can lose discs in the knee high weeds.
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24 2
Donovan
Diamond level trusted reviewer
Premium Member
Experience: 37.1 years 302 played 187 reviews
5.00 star(s)

Over The Hills and Through the Woods... 2+ years

Reviewed: Updated: Played on:Jul 17, 2008 Played the course:once

Pros:

This course will be on your favorite list. You'll know it the minute you pull into the park. It looks like a ball golf course. There were bathrooms and the trashcans were everywhere. So, needless to say it was very clean. The holes have their par settings at a realistic level. The first part of the course is mostly in the woods and the second half opens up to some beautiful fairways. You will be teeing off with some tight tunnel shots, a few left to right, a few right to left, and you might even choose to tomahawk off the tee on one or two holes. This is hands down, one of the most amazing layouts. The trek through the woods had a nice pathway and played tight. There are some elevation changes (not too dramatic), but it sure made some of the holes play long and some shorter than expected. There is a great variation of long and short length holes. So you can air some out and finesse others. All the baskets and signage were in tiptop shape. The even have some signs directing you to the next tee after walking away from the baskets.

Cons:

A negative would be the OB on #17. There is an OB area to the right that is marked on the sign, but its physical landmarks are from some baby trees. It is there to protect the amphitheater off to the right on that hole (it is way off to the right). But they really need more trees to make the sign's view of the OB a little easier to follow. I suppose I should also mention that on hole #9 you do have to cross through hole #3's fairway to get to the next tee. However, it did not seem like too big a deal. As always, keep an eye out for for poison ivy.

Other Thoughts:

You don't really see regular park-goers except at the very beginning and right near the end. I personally found this to be well worth the 60-mile drive we took to get there. I don't think there is much you can do to improve this place/ I am most certainly going back to play this course again!
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7 10
slacker
Experience: 31.1 years 37 played 6 reviews
5.00 star(s)

2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Updated: Played on:Jun 29, 2008 Played the course:never

Pros:

Very well maintained park. Good mix long and short holes, easy to navagate btween holes.

Cons:

Hole #3 marked as 883 ft. a little dificult to locate pin as sign shows long bend to the right that is actualy hard right turn.

Other Thoughts:

signs are all in place and give you a good representation of hole layout.
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16 2
jessepittman
Experience: 14.9 years 17 played 6 reviews
4.50 star(s)

Awesome course 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Jan 1, 2008 Played the course:never

Pros:

Great course. Most tees and holes are easy to find. Holes 5-7 are particularly fun. Each hole is mapped out well at the tee.

Large pond can be a factor on 17, barbed wire fence runs along left side of 12. Small water hazard directly in front of the tee for 6.

Cons:

Hole 17's sign has been uprooted and dropped off just before the tee for hole 18. Pro tee for 17 was difficult to locate the first time through.

Stays a little swampy in parts after bad weather, but manageable.

Other Thoughts:

Rockwall is a little out of the way for most people in the DFW area, but this course is worth the trip.
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17 3
gregbrowning
Experience: 49 played 4 reviews
5.00 star(s)

2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Nov 9, 2007 Played the course:never

Pros:

Beautifully sculpted course. Lots of variety and balance between styles (wooded/open/flat/terrain) and length (range from 199' to 834') of holes. There is a great deal of risk/reward coupled with multiple options from the tee, which in my opinion makes a course great.Two legit par 5 holes along with several par 4 holes. This type of course is the future of our sport. Another great piece of work from John Houck.

Cons:

The only negative I found was having to cross #3's fairway to get to #9's tee, but since #3 is a par 5, this shouldn't be too much of an issue in tournament or casual play.
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