FEATURE STORY

Austin to Dallas, there are some big plays at Texas' top golf courses

By S. Adam Cardais,
Staff Writer

From private, long-time PGA Tour site Colonial Country Club to Tom Fazio's whopping Dallas National, Texas golf is as big as you'd expect. If you're heading to the Lone Star State for a golf vacation, here are some can't-miss Texas golf courses.

Texas is known for many things - oil millionaires, great football - that imbue its citizens with a certain arrogance, er, confidence. But Texas is not always known for golf.

Still, while the Lone Star State may have nothing on Florida or Arizona as a golf destination, it's home to plenty of first-rate tracks, including some PGA Tour favorites. Here's a quick guide to the cream of crop in Texas golf courses.

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Dallas National Golf Club, Dallas: They say everything's big in Texas, and Dallas National fits the bill to a tee. Tom Fazio's layout stretches 7,326 yards from the tips with a whopping 155 slope rating.

But you don't have to be a Bubba to tackle the course rated No. 1 in Golf Digest's 2007-'08 list of Texas' best. The fairways are wide, and there are few carries and little water. Dallas National's challenge is in its dramatic elevation changes and rolling terrain.

No. 10 is the classic here, offering a spectacular view from the tee of the 575-yard par 5 below.

Cowboys Golf Club, Grapevine: Yes, it's owned by the football team the rest of America (or at least Washington, Philadelphia and New York) most loves to hate. It's also one of the finest plays in Texas.

Designed by Jeff Brauer, Cowboys boasts well-conditioned fairways, lightning-fast putting surfaces and some serious elevation changes. The highest tee, on the par-4 fourth, offers tremendous views of the surrounding landscape and the Texas-sized Dallas Cowboys star painted in the middle of the fairway.

"Cheesy? Sure," Chris Baldwin wrote in a WorldGolf.com feature. "But it's also a heck of a fun target to aim at."

Cowboys Golf Club 1600 Fairway Drive Grapevine, Texas Phone:: (817) 481-7277 Dallas National Golf Club 1515 Knoxville Road Dallas, Texas 75211 Phone: (214) 331-4195 Falconhead Golf Club 15201 Falconhead Blvd. Austin, Texas Phone: (512) 402-1558 Colonial Country Club 3735 Country Club Circle Forth Worth, Texas Phone: (817) 927-4221 Click here for information on Texas golf packages.

Falconhead Golf Club, Austin: The first course to carry the PGA Tour Signature Course tag, the 7,302-yard Falconhead opened in 2003 to great expectations. It didn't disappoint.

The PGA Tour Design Center team put together a beautiful course, criss-crossed by streams and creeks, that'll put every club in your bag to use.

"The Tour's seal of approval means you will find the kind of excitement you would expect to find at a tournament-level course," Steve Habel enthused in a recent GolfTexas.com review.

Colonial Country Club, Fort Worth: Opened more than 70 years ago and ranked second-best in the state by Golf Digest, Colonial is one of the most storied courses in Texas, if not all of Dixie.

The first southern golf club to host the U.S. Open (in 1941), Colonial is currently home to one of the longest-running Tour events, now called the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial.

The 7,054-yard, par-70 track "is the best, most traditional course without an ocean we play every year," Davis Love III has said. It's also known as one of the toughest plays in Texas. Watch out for No. 5, hemmed in by a left-side ditch and a river to the right, which demands precision off the tee.

July 23, 2007

Any opinions expressed above are those of the writer and do not necessarily represent the views of the management. The information in this story was accurate at the time of publication. All contact information, directions and prices should be confirmed directly with the golf course or resort before making reservations and/or travel plans.