Millwood Landing Golf Club

How nice is it to walk outside and have the staff at your campground/golf course pick you up to take you over to the the golf cart barn to grab a golf cart? At which point you drive the golf cart back to your trailer to load up your golf bags and drive onto the course to play 18 holes? Let me tell you it's wonderful! Add to that a ridiculously low price to play golf (a special favor from the pro shop employee) and it was a fun day.

To be perfectly honest, the golf course here is a little rough. The staff is watering the fairways and greens but they haven't kept up with the grass cutting (as a matter of fact they were cutting the fairways as we were playing today) and the fairways need some reseeding as do the greens. This golf course is set up beautifully for play, however, and with the influx of a little money could be a wonderful little golf course. There are some houses along the back nine but for the most part it's just you and the golf course. There are plenty of mature trees lining the fairways and Denny found a lot of them, but straight shots will get you par easily. Even I made a couple today. There were only five other golfers on the course today which is a shame because the course can be a challenge and it reminded us of one of our favorite courses in the hilly area of northwestern South Carolina.

For the golf course statistics; Denny played the blue tees for a total yardage of 6413 yards. The rating/slope is 70.4/118. I played the ladies red tee at 4731 yards with a rating/slope of 68.4/122. There are sand traps on the course but they didn't come into play much for us (okay, one time for me) and the only troublesome water is the 16th hole which is a par 3 (shown in the picture below.)
This is a pretty, well-laid out course that has tremendous potential if there was a little money invested in its maintenance and upkeep. And it's always nice to play at a leisurely pace (especially when your husband is hitting WAY errant shots into the woods.) We liked it.

Tawakoni Golf Club

Tawakoni (ta WAH ko nee) Golf Club in West Tawakoni, Texas has the potential of being a really nice little golf course with some terrific views of Lake Tawakoni as you play. At the moment however, the course is a tad on the rough side and I'm not sure if that's because it is winter here or if that is its normal condition. There is no apparent watering system for the tee boxes or fairways and it shows. The greens seem to be watered and kept cut so there is that to be thankful for. But a drive down the middle of the fairway can hit a clump of grass on that hardpan surface and kick straight right or left on you for no reason. And here we thought we'd play well because the Texas winds were quiet for once!From the men's blue (championship) tees the golf course is 6697 yards long with a rating/slope of 72.6/124. The white tees make the course 6320 yards long with a rating/slope of 70.7/121. There are also senior and women's tees. The women's yardage is 5050 yards with a rating/slope of 69.7/116. I was able to get more distance on low flying shots due to the hard surface of the course since the ball would run quite far if it didn't hit a rough spot. Large oak trees lining the fairways can be a problem although the fairways are reasonably wide. Ten of the holes have water that can come into play (and did). There are a couple of sand traps on hole eleven which I remember because I shot out of one into the other, but I can't recall sand traps on many of the other holes. Or else Denny and I just managed to avoid the sand traps on all the other holes.

Green fees with a riding cart were $24 each, credit cards accepted. There didn't seem to be a snack bar or restaurant on the grounds so it is bring your own here. A sign in the parking lot says no alcoholic beverages are allowed on the grounds but the empty beer cans in the garbage cans at the tee boxes seemed to put the lie to that.

I have to say that despite the golf course's condition we had fun playing here. There were only about 20 other people on the golf course with us and we never had anyone on our heels during play. That always makes for a more relaxing round of golf and usually better scores for the two of us. A sunny day, no wind, low humidity and out playing golf with my best friend. It just doesn't get any better than that.

Columbus Golf Course in Texas

There aren't a lot of inexpensive golf courses in Colorado County, Texas, nor are there a lot of eighteen hole golf courses. Most of the courses are several miles away and with the price of diesel fuel currently at $3.79 or more here, Denny and I chose to play the local nine hole golf course here in Columbus, Texas.

Columbus Golf Course is a little pricey at $30 per person to play 18 holes with a riding cart but the cost of driving a lot farther out cancels out the benefit of a cheaper round. Denny and I weren't real impressed when we walked into the clubhouse, which is supposedly undergoing remodeling. For the time being the pro shop is in the bar which is also the snack bar. There are no balls for sale, no golf clubs, no shoes, no alcoholic beverages of any sort, no hot food. You have the choice of a variety of bags of chips and soda pop should you become hungry during your round. I suggest you bring your own snacks and drinks.

Once we walked over to the first tee we were pleasantly surprised by the condition of the fairways and greens. The course plays 5635 yards for the men who start off playing the blue tees on the front nine and the red tees on the back nine. The slope/rating is 120/66.5. For the women the yardage is 4804, playing the white and the red tees.

Mature oak trees caused us the most problems with their low hanging branches. Denny and I both hit into and through the trees several times although the fairways aren't really all that narrow. It's simply an errant shot can cost you an extra shot or two. There are several ponds fronting or beside some of the holes which also makes the round a little more interesting.

Speaking of interesting, how many golf courses have a cemetery as a hazard? Click on the picture below to enlarge it and look on the right side of the photo to see what I mean. This is the 7th/16th hole which has an extreme dogleg to the right passing behind the cemetery after you hit the ball off the tee. I actually took this photograph well to the left of the tee box to show the cemetery better. Believe me, the slightest slice and your ball will be resting in the cemetery.
The eighth hole is also made a bit more interesting by the fact that there are two greens for the hole, both protected by water. You play the green on the right on the front nine and the green on the left on the back nine. And I hit my two of my best drives each time on this hole, meaning I hit the ball hard enough for it to roll into the water. And here the ponds are either too murky or the banks drop off too steeply to be able to retrieve any balls. Just consider them lost if you hit into the water at this course.
Prices go up $10 on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. This is a walkable course and this time of year Denny and I were among only a handful of players on the course in the late morning hours. Despite the price, we'll probably go back next week, simply to attempt to play the course better than we did the first time.

And if you are hungry afterward, we suggest Schobel's Restaurant in town. If you get there before 2:30PM they have an excellent lunch buffet or a great lunch menu.