Golfers in Austin, TX

[ramradhakri]

I was excited to go play Colovista after the reopening.. It was not worth the 50 mile drive, even thou it was only $15 on golfnow.com. I am guessing it will take some time before the fairways are back to 100%.

[Thug Hunter]

I played Avery Ranch a month ago and it was in great shape. I played Crystal Falls yesterday and the greens have more sand than a golf coast beach. I've gotten to a point of not wanting to play it anymore even though the layout fits my game perfectly.

[epmonies]

Gotta be honest with you, there is not another course I hate more than Crystal Falls in the Austin area... Unless they fixed extremely sloped fairways...

[xplyboy]

Got to play avery ranch and star ranch this weekend. I must say that we were extremely happy of these two courses we chose to play. Both were in great shape in all aspect. Star ranch did have a couple of tee box that they were completely redoing but that had no affect on us playing at all. Avery ranch is definitely the harder of the two courses. The general consensus in our 8 man group was that is you missed your shot a little at avery ranch, you were penalized more at Avery however at star, you could get away with a little miss. Maybe that's because Avery was more narrow a a lot more tree lined but also the rough seem thicker. So overall, would definitely recommend both clubs as everyone in our group had no complaints.

[Reidman]

[quote name='xplyboy' timestamp='1376321224' post='7660250']
Got to play avery ranch and star ranch this weekend. I must say that we were extremely happy of these two courses we chose to play. Both were in great shape in all aspect. Star ranch did have a couple of tee box that they were completely redoing but that had no affect on us playing at all. Avery ranch is definitely the harder of the two courses. The general consensus in our 8 man group was that is you missed your shot a little at avery ranch, you were penalized more at Avery however at star, you could get away with a little miss. Maybe that's because Avery was more narrow a a lot more tree lined but also the rough seem thicker. So overall, would definitely recommend both clubs as everyone in our group had no complaints.
[/quote]

Yes...that is a pretty good assessment. Normally, the equalizer at Star is the wind. I don't think you had much of that this past weekend.

You should also have noticed the back 9 at Avery plays about 3 or 4 shots easier than the front...on average.

How did the group do on 7 at Avery? Tee ball has to be perfect, approach shot to a 3-tiered green has to be perfect, and most putts have tons of break. That is my nemesis hole.

[xplyboy]

[quote name='Reidman' timestamp='1376322731' post='7660448']
[quote name='xplyboy' timestamp='1376321224' post='7660250']
Got to play avery ranch and star ranch this weekend. I must say that we were extremely happy of these two courses we chose to play. Both were in great shape in all aspect. Star ranch did have a couple of tee box that they were completely redoing but that had no affect on us playing at all. Avery ranch is definitely the harder of the two courses. The general consensus in our 8 man group was that is you missed your shot a little at avery ranch, you were penalized more at Avery however at star, you could get away with a little miss. Maybe that's because Avery was more narrow a a lot more tree lined but also the rough seem thicker. So overall, would definitely recommend both clubs as everyone in our group had no complaints.
[/quote]

Yes...that is a pretty good assessment. Normally, the equalizer at Star is the wind. I don't think you had much of that this past weekend.

You should also have noticed the back 9 at Avery plays about 3 or 4 shots easier than the front...on average.

How did the group do on 7 at Avery? Tee ball has to be perfect, approach shot to a 3-tiered green has to be perfect, and most putts have tons of break. That is my nemesis hole.
[/quote]

We played from the gold and afterwards realize that it was the wrong tee for the group. In houston, One up from the back is usually ok for them so we thought the same for avery until we looked at the scorecard afterwards and realize it reccomended you being a 5-9 capp to play from those tees. Not being braggard but Im the best of the group and I'm not even a 9. I did shoot a 82 aided by 3 birdies;). Ok I'm bragging a little. Lol.

You're completely correct on the back nine being easier than the front nine except the fact that 18 is a beast! I thought that was the hardest hole by combination of length and narrowness.

We played two rounds at Avery on Saturday and as for 7, yes it was a tough hole because of placement but I thought it was negated a little cause it was short. I didn't really noticed the 3 tiered green cause the hole location was at the back right over the bunker. And since there was a little room to the right and I felt frisky, I challenged the hole placement each time I played the hole. I did however did bogey the hole both times as well but for different reasons. First time, I hooked my tee shot left and had to drop,at about 150. Hit a good approach over flag to about 10ft and 2 putted. second time, tee shot to right side of fairway but had about 170 out. Again, went flag hunting but went a little right on fringe over bunker and bounced right over cart path into that marsh/semi wooded area. Had to slash out for there and then hit a chip that luckily it the flag and stopped to a foot. So because of pin placement, we didn't went get to appreciate the complete green of 7.

We only got to 15 on the second round cause there was rogue thunderstorm coming through and since it was late already, we called it a day. We apologized to everyone there for playing the wrong tee box but it was truly a honest mistake and the starter really didn't say anything when we teed off from the gold. And truly, I think he should of cause some people in the group was around a 25-30 handi.

[ramradhakri]

I've been playing Terravista a lot and think it is a better value than Avery. I didn't like it because it has houses on most fairways, but it does not bother me anymore. They also have GPS and the rates are very reasonable.. I believe they have a lot more rounds being played there than Avery. The course conditions has always been pretty good.

[Thug Hunter]

I played a scramble at Teravista this past Saturday and everything from tee box to greens are in great shape. Teravista just went to my top preferred course after such great hospitality and conditions as well.

I'll be playing Star Ranch on Sunday.

[Thug Hunter]

Star Ranch was in great shape. I started off really bad opening the first two holes at +7 (ouch). It was a bad ball striking day except for the par 5's which I played -2. If I could just make all my approach shots with with my X-Hot 4 wood, I'd be in great shape.

[larryw]

Played Morris Williams today (first time in a couple of months) and it is in very good shape. The greens are putting very nicely and they are continuing to keep the grass between fairways mowed - keeping the nice manicured look. Not crowded and hey, today was a fantastic day for golf in Austin. We don't get a lot of these in August and it was really nice.

On a side note: Shadowglen punched the front 9 today and will punch the back 9 tomorrow. I'm thinking by next week they will be rolling nice.

[viridis]

Hi All,
I thought I would jump on this thread. My name is Chris and I'm following my wife (recently married in March) to Austin in mid september. She is from Austin but we have been living and working in Washington DC for the last 7 years. She is now going to UT for a Masters in Nursing. I will not have a job once I get there, so I'm interesting in playing as much golf as I can while I'm looking for work. If anyone is interested in playing, let me know?

To give you some background on my game, I'm currently around a 12 right now. I don't get too serious and don't mind playing with a little swing lube on board. Unlike most people on the WRX boards I don't hit the ball 300+ yrds with punch 3w. I have played a few courses in Austin before (falconhead, kizer, lions). I would definitely be interested in playing some of the other courses in the area.

Cheers
chris

[larryw]

Played ShadowGlen today. The Greens have almost completely healed from the aerification and if any of the spotty rain happens to hit the course this week the greens should really take off. The course is in great shape and playing very nicely at this time.

Played Delaware Springs last week and they also have greens that are recovering from the fall treatment and should be rolling nicely by now.

The hot temps are going to break in the next couple of days and the great fall golf in Austin is just around the corner. Of course that means that the courses will also be a little more crowded - for us old retired guys that is not a huge issue most of the time.

[jsanatx]

too bad Shadowglen is in Manor, we got some pretty good rain in SW Austin tonight, should make for some good gold this weekend. Thinking of playing Falconhead or Onion Creek this weekend.

Hey Chris, give me a shoutout when you get here, I may join you for a round of 2. that is if you dont mind playing with an old hack.

[viridis]

Sure thing jsanatx.

[Thug Hunter]

Those of you who don't already know, there's a demo day at Golfsmith (I-35 location) from 10a-3p.

[Thug Hunter]

I'm gonna take y'all up on your posts and hit up ShadowGlen on Wednesday morning. I've got my fingers crossed for some rain that's threatening as I type. I've only played this course once and it's been several years. I could use some hints or reminders for this course. I can't recall a single hole when looking at the score card.

[Thug Hunter]

On another note, has anyone attempted to walk on any of the local courses as first tee time before anyone "officially" tees off. If so, what course have you had luck on? I won't throw any courses under the bus, but I recently asked to tee off (as a single) before the first official tee time and was turned down.

[epmonies]

Haha my wife forbids me to play that early in the morning so I couldn't tell ya.

[Harry Longshanks]

[quote name='Thug Hunter' timestamp='1378765071' post='7821939']
On another note, has anyone attempted to walk on any of the local courses as first tee time before anyone "officially" tees off. If so, what course have you had luck on? I won't throw any courses under the bus, but I recently asked to tee off (as a single) before the first official tee time and was turned down.
[/quote]

I would be absolutely shocked if any worthwhile course would allow someone to walk on ahead of the first official tee time. First, the maintainence crews are generally working ahead of the first scheduled tee time and they count on that space to get their job done. Second, the employees generally have duties to perform ahead of the first tee time and don't usually have the time to be working on squeezing another player in ahead of the allowed tee time (the work day starts early in the golf business and most employees have no desire to get up any earlier). And third, the players who got on the phone or to,the pro shop when the tee times first opened in order to get that first tee time ought to be allowed to play without anyone in front of them. And my experience is that those players who want that first tee time want it because they play very fast, so being a single isnt really a valid reason for jumping ahead of them. And even if the pro shop didn't care, those players would and the pro shop almost certainly wouldn't want to deal with the complaining. Last, it's a slippery slope - if they let one player do it, then everyone wants in, and the "first" tee time becomes meaningless.

Basically, it would be analogous to cutting in line.

[ramradhakri]

[quote name='Thug Hunter' timestamp='1378765071' post='7821939']
On another note, has anyone attempted to walk on any of the local courses as first tee time before anyone "officially" tees off. If so, what course have you had luck on? I won't throw any courses under the bus, but I recently asked to tee off (as a single) before the first official tee time and was turned down.
[/quote]

I've done this on Jimmy Clay. Did this on Lions every weekend for 2 years, and now they don't allow it.

[Thug Hunter]

[quote name='Harry Longshanks' timestamp='1378787180' post='7824125']
[quote name='Thug Hunter' timestamp='1378765071' post='7821939']
On another note, has anyone attempted to walk on any of the local courses as first tee time before anyone "officially" tees off. If so, what course have you had luck on? I won't throw any courses under the bus, but I recently asked to tee off (as a single) before the first official tee time and was turned down.
[/quote]

I would be absolutely shocked if any worthwhile course would allow someone to walk on ahead of the first official tee time. First, the maintainence crews are generally working ahead of the first scheduled tee time and they count on that space to get their job done. Second, the employees generally have duties to perform ahead of the first tee time and don't usually have the time to be working on squeezing another player in ahead of the allowed tee time (the work day starts early in the golf business and most employees have no desire to get up any earlier). And third, the players who got on the phone or to,the pro shop when the tee times first opened in order to get that first tee time ought to be allowed to play without anyone in front of them. And my experience is that those players who want that first tee time want it because they play very fast, so being a single isnt really a valid reason for jumping ahead of them. And even if the pro shop didn't care, those players would and the pro shop almost certainly wouldn't want to deal with the complaining. Last, it's a slippery slope - if they let one player do it, then everyone wants in, and the "first" tee time becomes meaningless.

Basically, it would be analogous to cutting in line.
[/quote]

You sound a tad bit offended.

[viridis]

Arrived yesterday from DC via atlanta and I played shadowglen today. Really like the layout. The greens are definitely different then east coast greens as well as the rough. The only down side was the drive to Manor which took a little less then 40min from my in laws house. Gonna play again tomorrow late morning. I was thinking either grey rock, falconhead or william morris? Any reports on these courses? If anyone wants to play I'm definitely game as well.

[Harry Longshanks]

[quote name='Thug Hunter' timestamp='1378825681' post='7825785']

You sound a tad bit offended.
[/quote]

Not at all. Was just trying to explain why you might have some difficulty find a course to accommodate you. Apologies if it came off sounding as anything but an attempt to be helpful.

[ramradhakri]

[quote name='viridis' timestamp='1378852270' post='7828507']
Arrived yesterday from DC via atlanta and I played shadowglen today. Really like the layout. The greens are definitely different then east coast greens as well as the rough. The only down side was the drive to Manor which took a little less then 40min from my in laws house. Gonna play again tomorrow late morning. I was thinking either grey rock, falconhead or william morris? Any reports on these courses? If anyone wants to play I'm definitely game as well.
[/quote]

I've done that road trip myself.. almost 20 years ago when I was a student and had all the time in the world

I would go with Falconhead. It is a much better layout than Grey Rock, which is meh. Morris Williams will be 1/3 the price as either and is a good layout as well (lot of elevation changes, similar to Falconhead) but it is a muni and may be more crowded.

Here is a tip that most folks don't know, if you pay the green fee's for the muni's in Austin, it is valid for the whole day. So you can play as many holes as you want once you pay for the round. I like to walk 18 in the morning and them come back late in the evening and get a cart and play another 18 holes.

[ramradhakri]

[quote name='ATXgolfer ' timestamp='1378861759' post='7829437']
[quote name='viridis' timestamp='1378852270' post='7828507']
Arrived yesterday from DC via atlanta and I played shadowglen today. Really like the layout. The greens are definitely different then east coast greens as well as the rough. The only down side was the drive to Manor which took a little less then 40min from my in laws house. Gonna play again tomorrow late morning. I was thinking either grey rock, falconhead or william morris? Any reports on these courses? If anyone wants to play I'm definitely game as well.
[/quote]

I've done that road trip myself.. almost 20 years ago when I was a student and had all the time in the world

I would go with Falconhead. It is a much better layout than Grey Rock, which is meh. Morris Williams will be 1/3 the price as either and is a good layout as well (lot of elevation changes, similar to Falconhead) but it is a muni and may be more crowded.

Here is a tip that most folks don't know, if you pay the green fee's for the muni's in Austin, it is valid for the whole day. So you can play as many holes as you want once you pay for the round. I like to walk 18 in the morning and them come back late in the evening and get a cart and play another 18 holes.
[/quote]

Go to golfnow.com and click on 'tee time hot deals'. I see Wolfdancer tee time in the late morning for $40 (60% off) and also Teravista for $20. There is a 12:40 tee time at Grey Rock for $20 (70% off).

There is a 1:40pm tee time for Crystal falls for $12. I think I am going to pull the trigger on that one. Too nice a day to spend the afternoon in the office

[Thug Hunter]

Teravista just aerated their greens so beware. I played Shadowglen this morning and finished in just over 2 hours. Their greens were covered in dew and not cut, so they were very slow. It's only the second time I've played this course (last time was several years ago), so I didn't recall much of its layout. I'd rather play Avery Ranch, Star Ranch or Teravista (when it's not aerated).

[Reidman]

I just booked a 2:51 tee time at Avery for $36...there are still 3 more times available if you guys want to join me.

Don't forget to use coupon code ioNDWA2 for another $10 off.

[Reidman]

Wanted to give everyone an update on Falconhead....its almost back to perfect. Played it yesterday 9/22.

I wanted to sleep on it overnight to make sure the amazing weather & rain didn't influence my update. There are still a couple of spots on 7 and 8 greens, but if you are familiar with the conditions of those areas during the past year...they are much improved.

Be sure to get out there in October, before the bermuda goes dormant.

[Thug Hunter]

I played ShadowGlen two more times last week and forgot to update in this thread. The greens were sanded on Wednesday afternoon when I played, but I still managed to shoot my lowest round ever and eagled the par 4 9th. I followed up with the first tee off for the day on Thursday and the greens were pretty wet and sandy. I'm sure the area courses are loving the Friday rain and I wanted to play so badly on Sunday, but had to work. I'll be playing White Wing in Sun City on Wednesday and will update its condition as long as I remember this thread. Then off to the Dallas area to play a round or 2 or 3.

[larryw]

Played Avery Ranch today on a GolfNow hot deal. The course is in very good shape. The fairways are in extremely good shape and the greens were rolling smooth and a little quicker than they normally keep the greens. (from my memory of the past). I started off as a single but was joined by a member on #7. He was a super guy to play with and we had a great time. At least I did - guess I shouldn't speak for him. They still have the great cold mugs and $1 first beer after the round. Always one of the best parts of playing at Avery.

Did hear that they are overseeding the greens next Tuesday (Oct 1st) - I guess it is getting to be that time of year?