Jimmie Austin Golf Course - University of Oklahoma

[golfernut78]

Norman, Oklahoma

Jimmie Austin Golf Course is the on campus golf course for the University of Oklahoma in Norman, Oklahoma. as a OU grad, i could be a little bias on the course, but i will do my best not to be.

- clubhouse:
i would use the term clubhouse loosely. its honestly not much to look at. however what it lacks in style and size it makes up for with the friendly service. i've played this course many times over the last few years (didn't play golf when i was in college) and have always had great service.

one nice little treat at the course is the carts. while they don't have gps, that have the most comfortable seats and the seat backs have lumbar suppurt too. was pretty cool, and OU fans will enjoy is that the carts are numbered and named after OU athletes and coaches. i've watched people race for billy simms or one of the selmon brothers carts. pretty cool stuff.

- facilities:
super super huge driving range. easy to find a spot that is not torn up. they don't have club stands, which i am not sure how i feel about. i don't take my bag down to the hitting area so i had to leave my clubs on the ground, but at the same time, its not so cluttered. the range is also lit for those late afternoons or nights. there is a small short game area with a bunker. its decent, but stands away from everything. its on the otherside of the parking lot from the range, practice green and the 1st tee. the practice green is monster. super huge and covered in pins. plenty of pins to give you a number of different putts and not worry about other players in your way.

- course:
i can't say enough good things about the course. its not an overly open course, but not an overly tight course either. there are a mixture of holes that are target golf and grip it and rip it. there is a variety of greens with some that are extremely small (#3 - par 3 - i've been told the green is less than 1,000 sf) and some that are huge (#5 - par 4). many of the greens have a ridge running through them so your approach shot is important. if you put the ball on the same side as the pin you will have a realistic one putt from inside 12'. whats nice about the greens (and this is more the grounds crew) is that the pins are not in goofy spots on green. i never had a put from inside 8' that was more than one ball outside the cup. besides the greens you size and shape, you also have bent grass greens that are like velvet carpet. they are so soft and spongey. the ball came to rest with 4 inches of the ball mark on every iron shot and had two 53* wedge shots spin of the greens (green did slope to the front which contributed to this). if you hit the green, your fixing a ball mark. the greens run so true. uphill putts are slow, and down hill putts are quick. the short game was tricky because it was difficult to get the ball to release so i found myself hitting more lob wedges at the pin around the green. also, a number of the greens have run off areas, which while i was playing seemed to be more of a problem of spinning the ball off at these spots.

there is more to this course then just the great greens. the course has a variety of holes, with a nuber of straight holes, dog leg right and dog leg left. also, a variety of distances. the par 3's range from 167 yards to 248 yards (boomer tees - tips). the par 4's range from 290 yards to 445 yards (boomer tees - tips). the par 5's range from 575 yards to 615 yards (boomer tees - tips). i like this vareity. i like that there are two par 4's that challenge you to drive the green, however one is a slight dogleg around a big oak tree that loves golf balls and the other is at a green with a huge bunker in the front of the green and nasty ridge down the middle. wrong side of the ridge and par isn't easy. i like the par 5's in that none of them are easy to go for in two. only two of the par 5's are straight and of them is 615 yards in which you have to hit your second shot of a fairway that slants right to left and you have to hit a well bunkered green. the other is 610 yards, slightly down hill, but you need a long tee shot and then a draw in to a small green with bunkers all around.

there are hazards through out the course with O.B. on a number of holes, a number of carefully placed bunkers and water (creeks) in play on 8 holes. there aren't a lot of bunkers on the course, but they will catch any ball that is ever so slightly off line. trees line the course just perfectly so that they can grab this mishits and put you in your place. many of the holes do have a litte extra landing area in the roughs at the tee shot distance so that a slight hook or or sligh slice isn't a lost ball, but doesn't have an easy shot at the green. there are some elevation changes throughout the course. nothing major, at most a 1/2 club change.

walkers will love this course because while the holes are not right no top of each other, it is not overly spread out. with the exception 4 to 5, 8 to 9, 10 to 11 and 17 to 18 the green is only 20 yards from the next tee box. the holes listed above are longer only because you have to go through a tunner under a road. the course is not in a development so there are only a few buildings on the course. 2, 5, 14 and 17 are the only holes that border buildings, all of which are wll off the course, on 2, 14 and 17 are blocked out by trees. the course is very close to the railroad tracks so you will hear the train come through a few times during the round.

- general:
as for cost, very inexpensive. thursday morning @ 9:30, green fee, cart and range balls cost me less than $45, and saturday @ 10:50, green fee, cart, and range balls cost me less than $60. also, the turn and beverage are not way over priced ($2.00 for a powerade). a real great deal. the course was in great shape. some of the tee boxes were getting some new turf so the tees were in different spots. fairways are in great shape. lush and easy to hit off, but firm enough to get roll on your drives. they had just areated the fringes of the greens. greens were in good shape. a little trouble with ball marks, but not nearly as bad as any of the courses in the dallas-ft. worth area with bent grass greens. bunkers were well taken care of with only a couple bunkers being a bit firm at the base of them. there is rough out there, some in which can be a bit tricky to get out of, especailly if your not use to "healthy" rough.

its a great course for all abilities:
Boomer tees - 7,197 yards - 74.9/134
Sooner tees - 6,663 yards - 72.2/124
Regular tees - 6,013 yards - 69.1/119
Women's tees - 5,310 yards - 71.6/119

- overall:
overall, i give this course 4.5 stars out of 5 stars. highly recomend this course to anyone that is visiting the oklahoma city area, or if your school is playing OU in football, make the weekend of it and play the OU golf course and watch the game.