Course Recommendations: New Mexico through NW Florida

Taking a driving-trip from Arizona to Pensacola and back (mid-July), anything East of Tallahassee is probably too out of the way. I am budgeting $600 for green fees.

Would love recommendations on where to play, and where to avoid.

Where are you leaving from in Arizona?

Marana.

cool, I have a buddy who lives in Mobile, so I should be able to provide good beta from east texas to the florida panhandle.

Do you know if you'll go along the coast or go through shreveport, la (Stay south on 10 in texas east of el paso, or go north on 20)?

Still in the planning phase. All things being equal going north on 20 would likely be the default. Totally open to influence.

If you're going south, there is not much worth playing in NM. Red Hawk would be all I could recommend.

Raven near Sandestin in FL is decent. Also Magnolia Grove near Mobile. There's some decent places near San Antonio as well but mostly that route is devoid of anything of real interest. I guess you could do TPC Louisiana or English Turn as well. Maybe something near Biloxi like Grand Bear. Again, lots of decent but nothing that I'd drive more than a few minutes out of the way for.

If you come through Texas on Interstate 20. East of Dallas and about half way to Shreveport, you are in my stomping grounds. YOU MUST PLAY... Pine Dunes Golf is about 20 miles off of Interstate in Frankston Texas ( about 1 1/2 beers South of Tyler). One of the top tracks in the state. You will not be disappointed. Fantastic layout and always in top notch condition. Lodging on site available (Its not resort style lodging. Just adequate at best and overpriced IMO). Tyler is 100K population, lots of lodging options there. I think Pine Dunes is ranked No 5 public in the state. If its not, it should be. Green Fees with cart (estimated) 65 weekday and 90ish weekend and worth it . Check out their website.

Two Texas rock throws and a frog jump (An hour or so drive) further East via Interstate 20 is Tempest Golf Club (Gladewater Texas address but actually much closer to Kilgore, 5 mi.). Its my home track. Its only about 2 miles of I-20. Its new, only been open a couple of years now and is listed one of the top 25 public in the state. (No 2 new course behind the Texas Rangers golf club) Outstanding golf course. Lots of elevation changes, Fantastic greens. Its a great golf course. Plays harder than the Slope rating. Way harder. Lodging in Kilgore (pop. 12,000 and home of the Worlds Richest Acre) are Holiday Inn, Hampton Inn, Best Western. There are 4 condos for rent at the end of Tempest driving range but Im not sure they belong to the golf club. They can give you info on them though. The condos are brand new and very very nice -$$.

Green Fee w/ cart weekday is 55, weekend is 70. Tempest has a website too. Check it out.

Both of these courses are deep in the East Texas Piney Woods, so dont go visualizing flat with few or no trees, it ain't like that here.

Is very do-able to play both courses the same day if you get an early tee time at Pine Dunes and you can handle the East Texas humidity. Or you could play one on the way to FL, and the other on the way back!

I loved Marty Sanchez when I lived in Santa Fe, NM. That was in the late 90's.

That seems out the way....but if you were going that way the better choice would be Cochiti. His budget doesn't allow for Paako.

paa-ko ridge

Budget bro - he's got $600 = Paako is $200

If you're taking a southern route, definitely check out Butterfield Trail in El Paso. I thought it was much better than Red Hawk in Las Cruces. Hot Springs CC in Arkansas is also top notch.

Closer to your destination is Grand Bear in Southern Mississippi.

“El Paso International Airport (EPIA) will close Butterfield Trail Golf Club (BTGC) by June 15th, 2020 in order to reduce expenses and focus on essential airport operations.

 EPIA, in response to the health and economic crisis, has made and continues to make major cuts to operating expenses. The Airport has subsidized the course since 2008 through revenues generated through non-aviation development; closing BTGC will save the airport about $1 million per year.” ~ course website

Very unfortunate. I’ve always wanted to play here and Blackjack’s Crossing in Lajitas but never had any situation where I’d be within a few hundred miles of this area of the country.

Here’s some popular & lesser known courses along your way at different price points. Most of the prices are rough estimates, shouldn’t be more/less than $20 difference at any time.

I20 Route

Rawls Course at Texas Tech (Lubbock, TX) ~ haven’t played it but Mr Doak rarely disappointsCliffs Resort GC on Possum Kingdom Lake (Graford, TX) ~ haven’t played it & never really hear anyone talk about it but I always thought it looked interesting Squaw Valley - Comanche Lakes (Glen Rose, TX) ~ $50Links at Land’s End (Yantis, TX) ~ $70Pine Dunes (Frankston, TX) ~ $80ish.... nice course but slightly over hypedTempest GC (Gladewater, TX) ~ $60I haven’t played it in a few years but the only course I know in Northern Louisiana is Black Bear near Monroe ($40). I really enjoyed it & It’s been ranked in the top public LA courses for the past decade. However I read an article about a year ago saying how bad the course had gotten & some of the pictures looked pretty bad. Not sure of its current condition.Mossy Oak/Old Waverly (West Point, MS) ~ $85-$145.. I’d play Mossy Oak over Old WaverlyDancing Rabbit - Azaleas (Philadelphia, MS) ~ $60 twilight during the week, top 100 public golf course under $75 is hard to beatI10 Route

The Quarry (San Antonio, TX) ~ $50-$70La Cantera - Palmer Course (San Antonio, TX) ~ $75-$115Wolfdancer (Lost Pines, TX) ~ $75-$105Wilderness GC (Lake Jackson, TX) ~ $45Moody Gardens (Galveston, TX) ~ $50Kosati Pines (Kinder, LA) ~ $75Beaver Creek (Zachary, LA) ~ $40Atchafalaya at Idlewild (Patterson, LA) ~ $35 hidden gem Don’t waste your money golfing around the New Orleans areaThere’s a few good casino courses around the Gulfport/Biloxi area. I like Windance CC in Gulfport ($55) the most. The Oaks (Pass Christian) & The Bridges (Bay St. Louis) are very hit or miss with course conditions and will be about $50-$75ish. Grand Bear (Saucier, MS) ~ $75.... fantastic course Stay the night at the Beau Rivage and splurge on a round at Fallen Oak (I paid somewhere btw $225-$275 in 2018, not sure of the current rates). One of the most gorgeous courses you will ever play.Rock Creek (Fairhope, AL) ~ $60RTJ Magnolia Grove - Short Course (Mobile, AL) ~ $45 Kelly Plantation (Destin, FL) ~ $90 after 1pmI just wasted 2 hours of my life putting this together so I hope this helps.

Wow, that's a pity. Wonderful course.

Cochiti is closed until further notice. The Cochiti tribe has been hit very hard by covid. Marty is my home course, let me know if you decide to play and I'll set you up with a game.

Wow...I was just home last week; didn't know they were hit so hard and shut things down.

whoa, paa-ko really jacked rates since i last played! great course but 2 bills is a lot

Yup...new ownership...they let the past accolades go to their head. If you look, it is $200 any time of day. I have yet to see any discounts and they have removed the discounted times at Costco. I think the rate is still $160 in the 'off-season'.

for the money, you will not find a better value than the wilderness at lake jackson ... good call on that one ...

I looked at this a year or two back and had a route like this which is almost east/west exactly :

Painted Dunes, El Paso

Rawls Course, Lubbock

Texas Star, Dallas

Black Bear, LA

Dancing Rabbit, MS

Grand National, AL

then into Florida

Would respectfully wholeheartedly disagree. If you can make your way to Black Mesa or Paako Ridge you should do it. Paako is better know / played, but Black Mesa is a special place for a lot of reasons.

Did you even read the post or my comment! "if going south...". "$600 budget" Paako is $200; Black Mesa is way north - I live right down the road from it.

I lived in El Paso for a couple years in 2010/2011 and would frequent Sanoma Ranch and the NMSU course near Las Cruces. Both were always in good condition and pretty affordable. Both fun tracks to play, not sure what they are like now since that was quite a few years ago. Coming from Michigan, I was a little shocked at the minimal amount of courses in that area. Played painted dunes in El Paso a lot too but preferred the two courses in NM over that. It’s a shame to hear about Butterfield, one of the few top notch courses in that area.