Potential Move to DFW - Stonebriar

[NickGATL]

My family and I are awaiting news that might take us to Dallas from ATL. We are members of a great in town club here and are looking for the same in DFW.  Based on research, Frisco looks to be where we will try to settle. 

Does anyone here have experience with Stonebriar? Looking for any and all feedback. We use the club just as much for social engagement/pool/extended daycare on the weekends as much as golf. 

[stevopagolf]

I had a since retired co-worker who has/had lived there.  He loved the whole experience there

[dfwgolfer92]

Know some people there and they enjoy it, it is spendy now though so be prepared

[oneunderbogey]

Stonebriar is a great fit for what you just described, if its close to where you end up living and in your price point youd enjoy it.  The big negatives to me are ClubCorp and weekend morning tee times can be tough 

[dfwgolf123]

Former Stonebriar member, do not recommend anything ClubCorp nka Invited. Management's sole focus is how can we squeeze another nickel out of every member. Staff is constantly turning over. Courses and facility are in decent shape but nothing special. Food was subpar. They are really good at creating a negative member experience.  We made it almost 6 years before leaving for a pure golf club as there are not many country club options. Might look at Lakes at Castle Hills that's the only other non Invited CC in the area. 

[stevopagolf]

13 minutes ago, dfwgolf123 said:

Former Stonebriar member, do not recommend anything ClubCorp nka Invited. Management's sole focus is how can we squeeze another nickel out of every member. Staff is constantly turning over. Courses and facility are in decent shape but nothing special. Food was subpar. They are really good at creating a negative member experience.  We made it almost 6 years before leaving for a pure golf club as there are not many country club options. Might look at Lakes at Castle Hills that's the only other non Invited CC in the area. 

Didn't know they went the club corp route.  That's too bad.   I am at a non equity country club and it seems most if not all are doing the  squeeze to wring every dollar out of their members.  Same here with staff....

[NickGATL]

1 hour ago, dfwgolf123 said:

Former Stonebriar member, do not recommend anything ClubCorp nka Invited. Management's sole focus is how can we squeeze another nickel out of every member. Staff is constantly turning over. Courses and facility are in decent shape but nothing special. Food was subpar. They are really good at creating a negative member experience.  We made it almost 6 years before leaving for a pure golf club as there are not many country club options. Might look at Lakes at Castle Hills that's the only other non Invited CC in the area. 

Thanks for the feedback. I appreciate it. 

[NickGATL]

1 hour ago, dfwgolf123 said:

Former Stonebriar member, do not recommend anything ClubCorp nka Invited. Management's sole focus is how can we squeeze another nickel out of every member. Staff is constantly turning over. Courses and facility are in decent shape but nothing special. Food was subpar. They are really good at creating a negative member experience.  We made it almost 6 years before leaving for a pure golf club as there are not many country club options. Might look at Lakes at Castle Hills that's the only other non Invited CC in the area. 

Thanks for the feedback. I appreciate it. 

[RoyalMustang]

1 hour ago, dfwgolf123 said:

Former Stonebriar member, do not recommend anything ClubCorp nka Invited. Management's sole focus is how can we squeeze another nickel out of every member. Staff is constantly turning over. Courses and facility are in decent shape but nothing special. Food was subpar. They are really good at creating a negative member experience.  We made it almost 6 years before leaving for a pure golf club as there are not many country club options. Might look at Lakes at Castle Hills that's the only other non Invited CC in the area. 

 

Don't even get a local started on what ClubCorp has done to Twin Creeks! I know a guy who bought a house on that course just to play there: now he exclusively goes elsewhere. 

 

It's unfortunate but the courses that are owned by investors and management companies are really trying to squeeze the customers, figuring that demand for golf is so high, then why not? Piss off some members and there are always more in line behind. Most of the public courses I have played recently in TX have been falling apart unless they were owned by a Muni. The Muni courses are usually 1/2 price and in better shape than the CC managed ones. 

 

For non-equity clubs, the only ones that seem to be well run and invested in around here are the ones owned by a local group or HOA but managed by an outside group. 

[NickGATL]

Does anyone on here have experience with Old American at the Tribute? Doesn't seem to have a CC vibe but the golf looks pretty good. 

[dfwgolfer92]

2 hours ago, NickGATL said:

Does anyone on here have experience with Old American at the Tribute? Doesn't seem to have a CC vibe but the golf looks pretty good. 

Currently a member at OA, happy to answer anything

[NorthTexasGlfr]

5 hours ago, RoyalMustang said:

 

Don't even get a local started on what ClubCorp has done to Twin Creeks! I know a guy who bought a house on that course just to play there: now he exclusively goes elsewhere. 

 

It's unfortunate but the courses that are owned by investors and management companies are really trying to squeeze the customers, figuring that demand for golf is so high, then why not? Piss off some members and there are always more in line behind. Most of the public courses I have played recently in TX have been falling apart unless they were owned by a Muni. The Muni courses are usually 1/2 price and in better shape than the CC managed ones. 

 

For non-equity clubs, the only ones that seem to be well run and invested in around here are the ones owned by a local group or HOA but managed by an outside group. 

 

Arcis Golf owns Twin Creeks, not Club Corp. But your message is still spot on regarding Twin Creeks. 

[JetSpeed79]

5 minutes ago, North Texas said:

 

Arcis Golf owns Twin Creeks, not Club Corp. But your message is still spot on regarding Twin Creeks. 

This 👆

 

But yes, that course really went downhill. Recently canceled my Arcis membership and joined Westridge. Much better course and membership experience. 

What is the initiation at Stonebriar these days? I think Prestonwood only wanted $1500/2000 depending on membership type. 

[NorthTexasGlfr]

2 minutes ago, JetSpeed79 said:

This 👆

 

But yes, that course really went downhill. Recently canceled my Arcis membership and joined Westridge. Much better course and membership experience. 

What is the initiation at Stonebriar these days? I think Prestonwood only wanted $1500/2000 depending on membership type. 

 

Not sure how accurate it is, but according to Avid Golfer (March 2023 issue), Stonebriar's initiation is $50,000 with an $1,175 monthly. 

 

I know someone who is looking at joining The Hills course at Prestonwood. Pretty sure he me told the initiation was only about $2,000 but not sure on the monthly. I want to say around $500 but don't quote me on that. 

[cjblake09]

22 minutes ago, North Texas said:

 

Not sure how accurate it is, but according to Avid Golfer (March 2023 issue), Stonebriar's initiation is $50,000 with an $1,175 monthly. 

 

I know someone who is looking at joining The Hills course at Prestonwood. Pretty sure he me told the initiation was only about $2,000 but not sure on the monthly. I want to say around $500 but don't quote me on that. 

I thought Prestonwood was around $15,000-$20,000?  I am crazy or did yall forget some 0's?

[JetSpeed79]

19 minutes ago, North Texas said:

 

Not sure how accurate it is, but according to Avid Golfer (March 2023 issue), Stonebriar's initiation is $50,000 with an $1,175 monthly. 

 

I know someone who is looking at joining The Hills course at Prestonwood. Pretty sure he me told the initiation was only about $2,000 but not sure on the monthly. I want to say around $500 but don't quote me on that. 

Here’’s the info as of a year ago:

 

 

[JetSpeed79]

1 minute ago, cjblake09 said:

I thought Prestonwood was around $15,000-$20,000?  I am crazy or did yall forget some 0's?

It was prior to Club Corp. 

[NorthTexasGlfr]

22 minutes ago, cjblake09 said:

I thought Prestonwood was around $15,000-$20,000?  I am crazy or did yall forget some 0's?

 

I think that's the rate to join both courses. The guy I talked to is looking seriously at joining because of the rates at the Hills course only. 

[dfwgolfer92]

5 hours ago, JetSpeed79 said:

This 👆

 

But yes, that course really went downhill. Recently canceled my Arcis membership and joined Westridge. Much better course and membership experience. 

What is the initiation at Stonebriar these days? I think Prestonwood only wanted $1500/2000 depending on membership type. 

I was quoted 50k+ initiation for Stonebriar last spring when I was looking around at clubs, absolutely bonkers

Edited June 2, 2023 by dfwgolfer92

[dfwgolf123]

18 hours ago, NickGATL said:

Does anyone on here have experience with Old American at the Tribute? Doesn't seem to have a CC vibe but the golf looks pretty good. 

Member. It's a pure golf club, completely opposite of Stonebriar. The golf is excellent. Best value in DFW.  Around $15k and $650/month carts included and you get both courses. 

[RoyalMustang]

If you want something cheap/temporary while you find your footing, you can try Eldorado. I was a member there for a year but dropped it due to not liking the course (super narrow and contrived, not well designed) and the course really falling into disrepair. Still, at $3,500 when I joined and $500 a month or so, you can't beat the price compared to your other options. It's in McKinney just north of 75/121. 

 

There are some good holes at Eldo (12 is one of the better holes in DFW) but some holes are just stupid; just lots of poor design and far too many trees. I lost track of how many times I was in the fairway and still trying to navigate branches within 25 yards of my ball. Not much grass either, due to lack of drainage and way too many trees. Several holes have ridiculous slopes (side hills) and getting a ball to land and actually stick in a fairway is nearly impossible, no matter how you hit it. At least it is cheap though. 

 

If they put some money into that course, it would be solid. Remove 1/3 of the trees, remove overhanging branches so that your landing zone on a par 4 isn't 23 yards wide, rebuild some of the greens with crazy slope that make the place feel like a putt-putt course, and flatten the fairways enough so that the ball doesn't run 75 yards left to right after landing. That won't be cheap though. It's only 6600 yards from the tips, so if they incorporated a redesign and made it a par 70-71, redesigning 4 or 5 of the bad holes, adding fairway bunkers, they could be onto something. McKinney doesn't have a ton of other options and they could probably charge a lot more for an upgraded experience. 

Edited June 2, 2023 by RoyalMustang

[snagy2000]

48 minutes ago, RoyalMustang said:

If you want something cheap/temporary while you find your footing, you can try Eldorado. I was a member there for a year but dropped it due to not liking the course (super narrow and contrived, not well designed) and the course really falling into disrepair. Still, at $3,500 when I joined and $500 a month or so, you can't beat the price compared to your other options. It's in McKinney just north of 75/121. 

 

There are some good holes at Eldo (12 is one of the better holes in DFW) but some holes are just stupid; just lots of poor design and far too many trees. I lost track of how many times I was in the fairway and still trying to navigate branches within 25 yards of my ball. Not much grass either, due to lack of drainage and way too many trees. Several holes have ridiculous slopes (side hills) and getting a ball to land and actually stick in a fairway is nearly impossible, no matter how you hit it. At least it is cheap though. 

 

If they put some money into that course, it would be solid. Remove 1/3 of the trees, remove overhanging branches so that your landing zone on a par 4 isn't 23 yards wide, rebuild some of the greens with crazy slope that make the place feel like a putt-putt course, and flatten the fairways enough so that the ball doesn't run 75 yards left to right after landing. That won't be cheap though. It's only 6600 yards from the tips, so if they incorporated a redesign and made it a par 70-71, redesigning 4 or 5 of the bad holes, adding fairway bunkers, they could be onto something. McKinney doesn't have a ton of other options and they could probably charge a lot more for an upgraded experience. 

Eldorado is owned by CBIGG, they won't be putting any money into the course anytime soon. They're currently trying to sell all their Texas properties and struggling to do it from what I understand. Prior to the sale attempt, their properties were known for cutting costs, doing as little as possible for improvements and mediocre member experience. 

[NorthTexasGlfr]

6 hours ago, RoyalMustang said:

If you want something cheap/temporary while you find your footing, you can try Eldorado. I was a member there for a year but dropped it due to not liking the course (super narrow and contrived, not well designed) and the course really falling into disrepair. Still, at $3,500 when I joined and $500 a month or so, you can't beat the price compared to your other options. It's in McKinney just north of 75/121. 

 

There are some good holes at Eldo (12 is one of the better holes in DFW) but some holes are just stupid; just lots of poor design and far too many trees. I lost track of how many times I was in the fairway and still trying to navigate branches within 25 yards of my ball. Not much grass either, due to lack of drainage and way too many trees. Several holes have ridiculous slopes (side hills) and getting a ball to land and actually stick in a fairway is nearly impossible, no matter how you hit it. At least it is cheap though. 

 

If they put some money into that course, it would be solid. Remove 1/3 of the trees, remove overhanging branches so that your landing zone on a par 4 isn't 23 yards wide, rebuild some of the greens with crazy slope that make the place feel like a putt-putt course, and flatten the fairways enough so that the ball doesn't run 75 yards left to right after landing. That won't be cheap though. It's only 6600 yards from the tips, so if they incorporated a redesign and made it a par 70-71, redesigning 4 or 5 of the bad holes, adding fairway bunkers, they could be onto something. McKinney doesn't have a ton of other options and they could probably charge a lot more for an upgraded experience. 

 

I'm not sure why anyone would want to try El Dorado after your "sterling", but accurate, review, lol. 

 

There's some saying around town about El Dorado, something along the lines of "we're the only bar and restaurant that has a golf course". Or something like. Also known to be a bit of party club. 

[RoyalMustang]

On 6/2/2023 at 5:16 PM, North Texas said:

 

I'm not sure why anyone would want to try El Dorado after your "sterling", but accurate, review, lol. 

 

There's some saying around town about El Dorado, something along the lines of "we're the only bar and restaurant that has a golf course". Or something like. Also known to be a bit of party club. 

 

yeah-that sums it up! Not a sterling review, but hey, if you need a cheap private club, there is your answer. 

 

There are quite a few good people over there: I don't mind the crowd. The course sucked and also was falling apart. I heard some members had to pitch in recently to buy sand for the bunkers. 

[Chanceman]

On 6/2/2023 at 10:35 PM, dfwgolf123 said:

Member. It's a pure golf club, completely opposite of Stonebriar. The golf is excellent. Best value in DFW.  Around $15k and $650/month carts included and you get both courses. 

Played Old American and loved the layout and the ambience. Justin Leonard design. Quite linksy.

[Other Barry]

Well, I'm in McKinney (play off a 6.2) and if any of you boys need a 4th, or someone to "validate" your reviews of ANY of these country clubs this government employee could never afford, let me know, I've got tons of PTO built up. Would love to meet up.  

 

OP - check out Westridge. Great layout, it's a 6/6/6 layout. Course is in great shape, even of they did move the rates up recently. I'm there every Thursday night

Edited July 11, 2023 by Other Barry