bear creek golf club - east and west course

[golfernut78]

dallas, texas (at DFW airport)

bear creek golf club is a 36 hole golf club located on the southwest corner of DFW airport. the course has an east course (par 72, 6,670 yards from the tips 73.4/138) and the west course (par 72, 6,690 yards from the tips 73.3/137). the prominent feature of the course is bear creek which runs through the course, coming into play on 2 holes of the east course (4 and 8) and 6 holes on the west course (2, 6, 7, 9, 10, and 11). the two courses run through a wooded area with a number of elevation changes. while the yardages seem short, the course does not play short. the course makes up for its lack of yardage by giving you a number of holes in which ball placement is very key off the tee box and dog legs that punish the use of the driver. the topography also helps add yardage to the course that you don't see.

most of the fairways on both courses are surrounded with trees that love nothing more than catch wayward shots and force you to punch out. the few holes that don't have trees both sides will typically have a creek or O.B. on one side, still punishing way ward shots. the course use strategic placement of fairway bunkers and slopes towards hazards to punish people who get greedy and take too much club. there are a number of holes that have very intimadating tee shots because of the chutes created by the trees.

the greens are fair size - neither large nor small. most of the greens typically have one major slope direction to them and then a second minor slope. a number of the greens do have a tier making approach shots key not leave yourself with an awkard putt. some of the greens are elevated, some are well protected by bunkers, some protected by creeks/swales and some with nice run ups to them - you truely get a wide variety of looks.

the two courses are great equalizers for the short stright hitter and the bomb and gouge player. to really take advantage of of length, one will have to be able to work shots, but if one can put the ego away, the course can be had. this is not a course that driver can be used on every par 4 and par 5. i personally will use everything from my 4 iron to my driver on the tee box on the par 4's and par 5's on both courses.

one defense the course has is the wind, which can swirl in the trees and sometimes confuse you. one tip to help figure the wind direction is watch the planes landing or taking off. the planes take off and land into the prevailing winds - so if the planes are landing over the course than the wind is out of the north and if they are taking off over the course the wind is out of the south.

the course is typically in pretty good shape. they do over seed in the fall/winter so while it is green in the winter and can be spotty in the spring. the greens can fickle sometimes with bare spots any time of the year - but they still play and roll very true. the course has recently renovated some of the bunkers - but not all so in some bunkers the sand is very fine and some very hard. the driving range area is decent. it can get a bit crowded out there between people warming up for the 2 courses and the groups that come out to just hit balls. there is a practice bunker to work from, but its noth to write home about and is not maintained. there are two greens at the clubhouse - a putting green and a putting/chipping green.

the staff is hit or miss. i haven't been overly impressed with the service in the pro shop since billy casper took over. the feel is less friendly and more business now. there are a few people who are real nice, but some who make you feel like you are bothering them by coming out. one of the biggest complaints of this club is the cart service. it is not uncommon for the carts' breaks not to work or for the cart to not even make it through the front 9 without dying. the carts are very beat up. also, the course can get backed up. because of the tight layout and hazards on the course, it is easy for stray balls to disappear, but unfortunately people spend way too much time looking for. this creates another problem in that there are a number of blind tee shots and you can mistakenly hit in to the group in front of you not realizing they are backed up. there use to be flags on these holes that you would raise so people on the tee would know your down there, but they were taken out by the new management. also, some of the holes are very close together and stray tee shots can find other fairways, which can be dangerous - the biggest problems being the east 1 and 9 and west 1, 2, 3, 4, 9, and 10.

the price is a little steep on the weekends, but if you check the website deals can be had - some really great deals.

overall, its a course i enjoy playing and recommend. i don't recommend taking someone just learning the game out there because of how tight it is, but people with some experience will do fine. i do recomend not letting the yardage fool you - it is a tought 6,600+ yards.

Bear Creek Golf Club

EDIT for correct web address

[mizuno]

Which course (east or west) do you prefer or recommend?

[golfernut78]

Which course (east or west) do you prefer or recommend?

 

i prefer the west course hands down. i play it so much better. most people i've talked say the west course is harder, and this past week the starter was telling me the west is 4 strokes harder than the east. there is a 6 stroke difference between my best score on each course, with the west the lower score.

 

did you/have you played there? which course do you prefer?

[jmc]

I played the West Course years ago... It can be tough with how there are never even lies and always some type of obstruction - whether it be railroad ties in the fairway - or a creek. I imagine after playing there a few times, you can get the layout down pretty well and know what and where to hit. It was a nice time...

 

I think this is the website:

 

http://www.bearcreek-golf.com/billycasperI...5&page=2509

[golfernut78]

I think this is the website:

 

http://www.bearcreek-golf.com/billycasperI...5&page=2509

 

thanks, i forgot the hyphen between bearcreek and golf. its corrected now.

[mizuno]

Which course (east or west) do you prefer or recommend?

 

i prefer the west course hands down. i play it so much better. most people i've talked say the west course is harder, and this past week the starter was telling me the west is 4 strokes harder than the east. there is a 6 stroke difference between my best score on each course, with the west the lower score.

 

did you/have you played there? which course do you prefer?

 

I am in Dallas 4-5 days every month and I usually try to sneak in a round when I am there. I have played the Tribute, Texas Star, Cedar Crest, and Grapevine Municipal, but I have never played Bear Creek. Every time I fly over it going in or out of DFW I tell myself I should play it at least once.

 

Maybe this summer I will finally get out there. Your review was great, I was just interested in your recommendation. Thanks!

[woody2999]

Bear Creek is a great golf course. East course give me more trobles than West. But recent rain give the courses a hard time for fairway to drain out, and under repair sand trap. I think the management try to do their best, but the rain just wash it out the next day. So just enjoy the round,

 

Cheer

 

Woody

[chop180]

I usually play bear creek at least twice a week. While the west course is known to be the harder course, I feel like the east course is tighter and more challenging. The east will penalize you heavily if you spray the ball in the slightest. Both course require and emphasize course management. Like the original poster, I agree that there carts and beverage service are CRAP. Had to call club house twice a few weeks ago and have them bring out different carts as ours was dead, I repeat TWICE all before the 6th hole.

 

My biggest complaint is there beverage carts and service, I can't count the times that I have waited for beverage carts and they never show up, usually see them once per side if your lucky some days once for the entire round. While I don't claim to be Warren Buffet, I'm smart enough to know that at the prices they charge, there are large profit margins to be had, I guess they don't need the money. But what's even more frustrating is you go in the club house and there are 4-5 employees sitting behind the counter chatting. That's a direct reflection on the management and how they handle their staff.

 

All this being said, I still make bear creek my home course, due to the difficulty of the courses, play well there and you can play well nearly anywhere else. However, the last couple of rounds I've played Texas Star, which in my opinion is in my top 3 public in the DFW area, also a tough layout but not nearly as tight as Bear Creek.

 

My 2 cents.

[mastapp]

Bear Creek courses are tough but fair. The only problem I have is very slow play out there. There isn't a true starter on the first tee, so it gets crowded quickly and the Marshall activity is pretty limited.

Definitely try the course though, most of the holes are real nice, with the exception of two or three blind shots where you have to raise and lower a flag.

my $.02

[parpar41]

I treated myself to a week of golf at Bearcreek when I graduated from law school -- 25 years ago !