Barton Creek, Crenshaw Cliffside Course
Austin - Hole 17 - Par 3
Best wedge hole in Texas, no question. If the tees are on the back of the back and the flag is in the back, the 17th at Cliffside might stretch out to 125 yards. And that’s when it plays easiest, because you can hit a full shot to it. The green is shallow and shaped like the 12th at Augusta, and the shot from any tee flies over a 50-foot deep canyon with 50-foot trees growing out of the bottom. But what makes this hole great is what’s behind the green. Right off the back collar, the rough (and part of the collar) rises up about a 40-degree slope to the cart path above. It’s so tempting to throw one up on that hill and let it trickle down close to the hole. But if it’s wet or they’ve let the rough get up a bit,
I challenge the best short-gamers in the world to get up and down from back there. It’s the only place in Texas (that I know of) where you can actually pull off Phil Mickelson’s sick backward shot.
—Carlton Wade
Waterwood National Resort & Golf Course
Huntsville - Hole 14 “The Cliffs”
(nominated by Grant Lovaasen)
Oak Hollow Golf Course - McKinney
Hole 6 - Par 5 (nominated by Grant Lovaasen)
Buffalo Creek Golf Club - Rockwall
Hole 16 - Par 5 (nominated by Grant Lovaasen)
Bear Creek Golf Club, West Course
Dallas - Hole 8 - Par 4 (nominated by James McAfee)
Sky Creek Ranch Golf Club - Keller
Hole 18 - Par 5 (nominated by Grant Lovaasen)
Barton Creek, Fazio Foothills Course
Austin - Hole 8 - Par 5
I wish the eighth green on Barton Creek’s Fazio Foothills Course was my backyard. It’s got waterfalls, steep cliffs, great shade, pristine landscaping,
a perfect blend of native rocks and foliage and–oh, yeah–a really awesome putting green.
The 529-yard par 5 definitely has one of the more memorable green areas, but it’s eye-catching from tee to green, with a narrow lake guarding the left side and a well-forested golf ball preserve lining the right side. Seems I always hit my tee shot too far right and play my second shot “blind” to a deceptively generous landing area. This par 5 is a classic combination of two elements that always make me remember and admire a golf hole: it plays fair (rewards good shots, punishes poor ones) and it’s gorgeous. The first time you see it it’ll have you reaching for your camera.
—Carl Mickelson
Memorial Park Golf Course - Houston
Hole 15 - Par 3 (nominated by Art Stricklin)
Heritage Ranch Golf & Country Club - Fairview
Hole 16 - Par 3 (nominated by Grant Lovaasen)
The Shores Country Club - Rockwall
Hole 18 - Par 4 (nominated by James McAfee)
Tour 18 Golf Course - Flower Mound
Hole 9 - Par 3 (nominated by Grant Lovaasen)
Barton Creek, Fazio Foothills Course
Austin - Hole 9 - Par 3
I like this one mainly because I was a cart jockey at Barton Creek back in the early 90s. We got to play the course for good behavior or if we kissed enough assistant pro ass. The ninth at Foothills is awesome in every way: aesthetics, length, risk/ reward, different tee locations, condition, feel, place in the round. It’s just a great hole, with no real bailout. Multi-level waterfalls and pools crowd the left side, and there’s no real “right side” to the hole, only a sharp slope up to the cart path with a little skinny bunker halfway up to keep chickenshits from banking one off the hill. Tiny green with lots of break toward the water and an unused bunker behind the green.
—Carlton Wade
The Tribute Golf Club - The Colony
Hole 5 - Par 3 (nominated by Grant Lovaasen)
TPC Four Seasons Dallas at Las Colinas
Hole 17 - Par 3 (nominated by Grant Lovaasen)
Firewheel at Garland, The Bridges Course
Masters Hole 4 - Par 4 (nominated by James McAfee)
Lions Municipal Golf Course - Austin
Hole 6 - Par 4
If you think technology in golf has ruined the art of shotmaking, you haven’t been to your local muny lately. There’s nothing like firm fairways, centuries-old overhanging treelimbs and unapologetic rocky slopes to force you to hit shots on-line and on-task.
The 380-yard, par-4 sixth hole at Lions Municipal is a hole I should really hate because it doglegs right and I’ve been playing a sweeping draw for almost 25 years. You have to either peg a tee shot dead straight down the left-center or play a smart-missile cut that finds the fairways downslope that can valet your ball all the way into partial-swing territory. It’s great fun forcing a fade around the right-side treeline that seems to get taller and denser every time I play there.
Then, the fun continues as you walk down to see what kind of break the rocky downslope has issued you. The wrong kick could jail you in the trees on the right while a good one will put you in wedge range. Whether you play your second shot from 24 yards or 240, the real excitement begins on the deceptively slick putting surface. The bowled green complex is high in the back and slopes slyly to the low front of the surface and has the wonderfully idiosyncratic habit of forcing putts to break uphill. It’s always hilarious to watch a first timer line up a jab that should break two-and-a-half balls right-to-left only to see it tug defiantly up the slope.
—Carl Mickelson
The Golf Club at Twin Creeks - Allen
Hole 5 - Par 4 (nominated by Grant Lovaasen)
|
