Tips, tricks, ideas - weather gonna be great!

Lay up on 18

Fairways and greens.

this. Missed fairways are a killer out there.

Played it 3 days in a row last month.
1. 18: if you drive the ball well and can cover about 240, depending on what tee, aim for the bunkers on the right after the dog leg. It is sneaky open right there and it's basically a wedge to be on the green in two.
2. The fairway with trees in the middle, I finally figured out that probably best approach is fairway on the left, although from the tee it looks more difficult. From the fairway in the right, you're dealing with trees all of the way down.
3. First par 3, the green is elevate a bit from the tees. It's kind of visually deceptive. Add an extra half club, in my estimation.
4. The cart and restaurant staff are really great.
5. Range balls are just terrible.

Have a great time.

Actually, 240 is probably too much. Maybe as much as 220 carries the trouble.

TMan86 said:

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Actually, 240 is probably too much. Maybe as much as 220 carries the trouble.

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the water is 220 carry?

Was gonna say, 220 carry is about all I've got. It will be chilly with moderate wind. Bailing out left still leaves you a shot somewhat over water.

It'll depend on how the round is going... we're playing 4 rounds total.

I could be a little off on the carry. Either way, when you play take a drive over there and you can see how there's a landing area there that you can't see from the tee box. You can try to go left of the traps but that landing area is pretty narrow. My first day I hit it exactly where I was aiming and I was about a foot from the penalty area line. Or, you can go the full lay up and take all of it out of play. It is just fun to try and cut the corner. It was always a topic of debate amongst our group.

I've only played once there, I was somewhat disappointed, didn't live up to the hype in my opinion. However, it is a good track and I would definitely like to play it again.

El Sucio said:

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I've only played once there, I was somewhat disappointed, didn't live up to the hype in my opinion. However, it is a good track and I would definitely like to play it again.

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I usually play it once or twice a year (have family in the area) and I agree. It's constantly getting pumped up in rankings and hype from people, and while it is a good course I don't think it is worth the hype. I could even argue it's overpriced. Ten years ago you could play it on a weekend morning for $70 and the value was excellent for the price.

The thing IMO that gets the course a lot of love from people is how it is remote in terms of location, feels like pinehurst somewhat, and it is difficulty.

Definitely over priced. But it usually is a group of guys for a not so difficult to get to destination golf. Our group had 9 guys in it. We got a VRBO about 15 minutes away. Great time.

aggiebonzo said:

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There's a par 5 with split fairways on the front. Just aim down the center at the trees from the tee box and you're guaranteed to hit the left or right fairway. Works for me at least!

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Left side plays much shorter tho

aggiebonzo said:

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There's a par 5 with split fairways on the front. Just aim down the center at the trees from the tee box and you're guaranteed to hit the left or right fairway. Works for me at least!

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guaranteed dreaded straight ball incoming

khaos288 said:

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aggiebonzo said:

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There's a par 5 with split fairways on the front. Just aim down the center at the trees from the tee box and you're guaranteed to hit the left or right fairway. Works for me at least!

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guaranteed dreaded straight ball incoming

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Yeah, I'm going to aim a little left of center. If I fade it, it won't end up that far down the fairway and hopefully stays up. If I tug it a little, hopefully the open space on the left is enough to keep me out of the sheet.

Goes straight, should still be ok.

TMan86 said:

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Definitely over priced. But it usually is a group of guys for a not so difficult to get to destination golf. Our group had 9 guys in it. We got a VRBO about 15 minutes away. Great time.

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We're staying on property. Not in the newer cabins (those are pricey) but in the 1980's small town apartment "condos".

8 of us. We're playing 4 rounds, 2 nights (everyone with their own bed), and have breakfast both days, lunch on Saturday, and opted for the steak dinner on Saturday night.

All in I think it's $650 for the weekend - pretty damn good deal IMO.

I've also heard the rules of bringing booze on is pretty lenient.

We're driving into Tyler for dinner Friday night - The Grove was suggested by TexAgs.

$650 for room, golf, breakfast, lunch and steak dinner?

If I remember correctly the weekend rate was around $150.

The apartment condos are pretty spare. We stayed there a couple of times. After the last time our crew booted that idea. But it's convenient to be right there. Plus, in the courtyard you can grill and hang out and watch people come in on 18.

The two times we stayed there the food at the clubhouse was horrendous. But that was a few years back. Last month we ate our last day lunch there. Place was packed but food still came out great.

TMan86 said:

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If I remember correctly the weekend rate was around $150.

The apartment condos are pretty spare. We stayed there a couple of times. After the last time our crew booted that idea. But it's convenient to be right there. Plus, in the courtyard you can grill and hang out and watch people come in on 18.

The two times we stayed there the food at the clubhouse was horrendous. But that was a few years back. Last month we ate our last day lunch there. Place was packed but food still came out great.

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good info on the dinner, we'll take our chances on Saturday night.

it's breakfast burritos in the morning and boxed lunches at the turn.

I expect the accommodations to be pretty spare, per the price and pictures. But a bed and a shower is all we need. Friday 1pm tee time, shower and rush into Tyler for nice dinner.

36 on Saturday with CFB means we'll be done around 6, eat dinner, likely hammered, and then watch the games and pass out.

Play early Sunday and roll out.

AustinCountyAg said:

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$650 for room, golf, breakfast, lunch and steak dinner?

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correct. We did a stay and play thing or whatever.

I think after 2 rounds the rest of the golf is free. The lodging split is cheap for 2 nights. The nice new cabins would've been sweet but those are double rooms (like a hotel) and it's $400/night for those things.

The little clubhouse cabin is pretty sweet but we won't be spending much time in the lodging.

wow. thats a great deal, even with motel like accommodations

khaos288 said:

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Lay up on 18

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Go for it! Bomb it high and right! Chippin for Eagle!

We had a group of 12 go yesterday for the day. The course lived up to my expectations and my dad has been talking about this place for years. Glad I finally got to play. Ended up shooting an 88 with a NINE on #11. Couldn't make a putt either. Took me 16 holes to figure out the speed. They were rolling faster than anything I've played in quite a while but they rolled true.

Already talking to book a stay and play next year this time. One thought I had with regards to the food situation is to bring our Blackstone down and cook ourselves. Would be so easy to do smash burgers, fried rice, or even sous vide some steak and sear them off. Anyone ever tried this? I could somewhat see them having an issue bringing your own propane grill but it's all in the woods so I can also seeing them not gaf.

If memory serves me, they have a couple of those park charcoal grills you see cemented into the patio area. But that was several years ago. They didn't look overly clean but I am sure you could make it work.

That being said, I'm confident you could show up with your own grill and they would never notice or care.

tamu2009 said:

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We had a group of 12 go yesterday for the day. The course lived up to my expectations and my dad has been talking about this place for years. Glad I finally got to play. Ended up shooting an 88 with a NINE on #11. Couldn't make a putt either. Took me 16 holes to figure out the speed. They were rolling faster than anything I've played in quite a while but they rolled true.

Already talking to book a stay and play next year this time. One thought I had with regards to the food situation is to bring our Blackstone down and cook ourselves. Would be so easy to do smash burgers, fried rice, or even sous vide some steak and sear them off. Anyone ever tried this? I could somewhat see them having an issue bringing your own propane grill but it's all in the woods so I can also seeing them not gaf.

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Awesome!

We played 36 yesterday, 18 Friday and 18 today. Stayed in those section 8 "condos" on 18.

What I gathered, is there's only about 5-6 people that even work there during the day. They don't give an eff as long as you're being respectful and keeping up pace of play.

We did the steak dinner at the restaurant Saturday night. Nothing to write home about at all, but having a hot cooked meal waiting 50 yards from your bed after playing 36 was oh so nice.

Other guys in those apartments were grilling out last night.

Loved the course but holy hell is it hard. Plays a lot longer than the yardage shows.

I shot an 88 yesterday and felt like I was playing out of my mind. Hitting greens is tough.

We'll definitely be going again.

One of my favorite places in Texas to play golf. Hope you had a great time. We're headed there in November and again in December. Hope you enjoyed the round and scored well.

I couldn't read a green or get the speed right all day and I felt like I was FLUSHING it. I had so much fun and I can't wait to go back. It felt like Palmetto in Aiken SC except doesn't have the history of that place.

I grew up in Longview and playing in the pine trees is religious experience for me. I'm hooked on this place

Brought a Blackstone before. No issues.

If you plan on bringing some grilling stuff, make sure you have a head lamp or lighting. Basically 0 lighting outside those rooms.

Same. I was frequently wrong about break left or right. They were rolling fast as hell. Hard to get anything to stay up. Pin position on hole #1 was brutal yesterday with that section near the back left. There were many 3-putts out there.

Someone told me the range balls suck… I dont know if that was outdated info, but the range balls seemed to actually be decently new.

The range is awesome, nice and big with a bunch of places to hit. I can't wait to do exactly this and hit it up in the morning with a good cup of coffee. I can imagine nice dew on the ground in early November. I'm already getting excited and I have 365+ days to go