Houston Area Golf Trip

AustinA · July 24, 2012

I just moved to Houston and have a few friends coming down next weekend for some golf. Where should I take them?? We are going to play 3 or 4 rounds so looking for a mix of can't miss places and a few good values. We are willing to drive 90 min or so.

Here's what I've been recommneded so far:

Wildcat

Tour 18 (great twilight rate)

Jeresy Meadows (great value)

Eagle Pointe

Cypress Lakes (good greens and good value)

Redstone (heard it is often not worth the $)

Houston National

Tha Falls

I know nothing about these courses, where would you guys reccommend going and where would you stay away from??

bogeygolfer17 · July 25, 2012

I'd recommend wildcat lakes, woodforest, blackhorse- both courses, high meadow ranch, quail valley- el dorado, and cypresswood traditions. Haven't been to gleanloch pines in some time but it was nice awhile back. Good luck!

guyswhoisawesome · July 25, 2012

If your get to play 5 courses

1. Memorial Park Golf Course ($)
-Great Classic Course with a great layout and history.

2. Wildcat Golf Club ($$)
-36 Hole Complex. Highlands and Lakes Course are both good.

3. Blackhorse Golf Club ($$)
-36 Hole Complex. North and South are both fun.

4. Tour 18 ($$)
-Great course for tourist, really fun layout.

5. Eagle Pointe ($)
-Love the course, worth every penny.

Other courses are great in the area but some aren't worth the money, some are too packed.

CowtownTexas · July 25, 2012

I'd play Memorial Park. Built by John Bredemous who also built Colonial. Lots of history at Memorial.

pdaero · July 28, 2012

Memorial is in great shape right now, and would definitely recommend. One of my favorite courses is River Ridge in Sealy (west) - it's gorgeous and consistently been 4.5 stars by GD. Blackhorse (South I think is 4.5 stars) is really nice!

The Falls used to be really nice, but the last time I played it (2 years ago) I was less than impressed. I hope it's better now, but it's certainly a good drive out there (north of Columbus).

W2_Golfer · July 28, 2012

[quote name='pdaero' timestamp='1343533990' post='5371748']
Memorial is in great shape right now, and would definitely recommend. One of my favorite courses is River Ridge in Sealy (west) - it's gorgeous and consistently been 4.5 stars by GD. Blackhorse (South I think is 4.5 stars) is really nice!

The Falls used to be really nice, but the last time I played it (2 years ago) I was less than impressed. I hope it's better now, but it's certainly a good drive out there (north of Columbus).
[/quote]
Just played a tourney there and it was in great shape. Memorial is great, so is wildcat (lakes is better), Clear creek is alright, if you have the dough you should check out redstone, tour 18 is fine also.
i live right by memorial and it is always a course i can bank on for a good round.

knarfgnourt · July 29, 2012

Just got back from visiting houston a week ago, this was right after some of the courses finally opened up after the long stretch of rains. I did not get to play many courses I wanted, but here are some recommendations.

Managed to play Wildcat Highlands, which is on the higher end of pricing for Houston golf. I enjoyed the layout, greens are in great condition, but this course requires a bit of course knowledge in my opinion. There are a lot of forced carries that are hard to judge the distance you need to carry (would expect GPS on the carts for the price but none). Don't be surprised if you three putt. I am really surprised you can see the Reliant Arena and Astrodome from many parts of the course.

Also played Longwood, but only Post Oak and Palmetto were open at the time. Pine had a ton of silt dumped on it from the flooding and weren't sure when that was going to be cleaned up. I was surprised that the conditions were good, but the greens needed a little bit more help.

I have played Eagle Pointe and Evergreen point in the Baytown area, both are good. I prefer the layout of Eagle Pointe, whereas Evergreen point is probably the tougher test. Don't know what the conditions of the greens are like, but like many have said about Eagle Pointe, it is great value and worth the drive.

Blackhorse South is a great course, fair and rewards you for hitting great shots. I wish I could have played this but they weren't open yet while I was there. Greens are always firm and roll true. One of my favorites. If you live near here, you need to check out the annual membership which I think is reasonably priced for the quality of the two courses.

Tour 18 is fun for the layout and to see the holes, but the conditions are usually hit or miss. Also, if you get stuck on a busy day, it could be a really long round (I am talking 5+ hours) because this course can eat up hackers. I hated how they let houses in on the back nine; it completely ruins the look of hole #12 (colonial #3). Gotta play this at least once for Amen corner.

I like Cypresswood Tradition. Layout is good and the conditions are usually fair. Play from the right set of tees or it could be a long day.

One to look at could be Meadowbrook Farms. Only had a chance to play it once, but it is the only Norman design in the Houston area. Good mix of holes, but probably not good value.

Cypress lakes once had great greens, but I am not so sure anymore. I'd ask someone who has played it more recently. Layout is demanding at the start and the end, and the middle is where you need to score. If you find the right deal via email or golfnow, it could be worth it.

Houston national is a skip for me. Played a few times and never liked the layout or conditions. Way too many houses close to the course on one of the nines. This place can flood bad, so I dont know what the conditions are like now. Also, avoid Bear Creek unless you want to see the Masters underwater.

Don't forget the sunscreen and the bug spray. Stay dry and have fun!

joshn08 · July 29, 2012

Look at High Meadow Ranch. It's a phenomenal course.

Judge Smales · July 30, 2012

Just played Cypress Lakes today. Someone recommended to check it out because they "are the best greens in town." Well, greens must have been recently aerified. Or at least I hope so. (Wished they would have told me that before I paid.) The course is very brown. Good layout, but just OK. Pretty busy for a Monday, including the sixsome I had to play through...

+1 on High Meadow Ranch. Really cool houses on the drive in. Really fun course, too.

Meadowbrook Farms was in terrible condition when I played it a few months ago. Maybe the rain helped. Good layout, though.

rockinar · July 31, 2012

Y'all have a taste for dumpy courses. Woodforest at Fish Creek is the best public course in Houston area and none of y'all even mentioned it. The guy who reccomended Memorial must be on crack. That place is a dump and it's infested with high school kids wearing jeans, and drunk, rude idiots and a-holes looking for cheap play. I live next to it and refuse to go there at all.

jrsharp21 · August 2, 2012

I like The Village in Conroe area. The greens were in awesome shape. But it is crowded during twilight times.

W2_Golfer · August 2, 2012

Just finished a tournament at wildcat, despite a little oversanded greens the course is in great shape. Cypresswood is a solid course too.

Green Valley · August 8, 2012

[quote name='AustinA' timestamp='1343166505' post='5345192']
I just moved to Houston and have a few friends coming down next weekend for some golf. Where should I take them?? We are going to play 3 or 4 rounds so looking for a mix of can't miss places and a few good values. We are willing to drive 90 min or so.

Here's what I've been recommneded so far:

Wildcat
Tour 18 (great twilight rate)
Jeresy Meadows (great value)
Eagle Pointe
Cypress Lakes (good greens and good value)
Redstone (heard it is often not worth the $)
Houston National
Tha Falls

I know nothing about these courses, where would you guys reccommend going and where would you stay away from??
[/quote]

I just moved to Houston as well. We should play a round. I live right by memorial park.

rockinar · August 11, 2012

[quote name='Green Valley' timestamp='1344401787' post='5428294']

I just moved to Houston as well. We should play a round. I live right by memorial park.
[/quote]

I live next to Memorial Park too. It's a total dump. Skip it. The course itself is OK for a muni, but the people that run it are total idiots, the starter is a grumpy 80 year old a-hole, and the people that play there trash looking for a cheap place to play and get drunk. In the evenings it's mostly high school kids, and there's about 4 high schools who's golf team uses it. The odds are pretty high the practice green will have about 50 kids on, half of which will be standing on it just to chat. Last time I was there, there was 6 or 7 ladies standing in the middle of the chipping green practicing putting chatting. They seemed confused why I was hitting balls at them.
To play there you can't make a tee time. You have to enter a Lotto. It's a joke. There's nothing fun or relaxing about playing at Memorial Park.

You want to play a real course, I can take you Houston's most exclusive and private club and show you how golf is supposed to be experienced.