Review of Firewheel - Old Course

Firewheel - Old Course
Texas Outside Rating: 8.7
18 Holes - Golf - Public
Garland
972-205-2797
Website
Locate This Course

Date Played: November 11, 2009
Front Nine Rating: 8.7 Stars
Back Nine Rating: 8.7 Stars
Approximate Weekend Price Range: $28.00 to $47.00
Where To Get Coupons: GolfQ.com

Brief Description:

Firewheel is owned and operated by the City of Garland and it is home to 63 very good holes of golf. The Bridges opened for play in 2001 and is the crown jewel of Firewheel with three unique nines and bent grass greens. The Lakes 18 is the most challenging and the Old Course is the most traditional, shortest, and easiest.

The Old Course has tree lined fairways that play through gently rolling terrain and across slow moving streams. It is short at 6845 yards and is a par 71. Although it is the easiest of the Firewheel courses, the Old Course is no walk in the park thanks to rolling terrain, 65 strategically placed bunkers, and water on 13 holes - and if you spray the ball and find the trees, you're most likely lost!

The Old Course gives you a little bit of everything that makes golf both fun and challenging. You'll find water, bunkers, dog legs, tough approaches, forced carries, plenty of trees, and lots of ups and downs. Some examples include:

#3 is a long 566 yard uphill fairway all the way to a green guarded by 3 bunkers - trees line both sides of the fairway and large bunkers on the right are waiting for you
#8 is a 234 yard blind uphill shot to a large green guarded by bunkers on both sides and on the back of the green
#13 is a fantastic 517 yard par five with a double dogleg and a tee shot landing zone guarded by two fairway bunkers and a treacherous green protected by some huge bunkers
#18 is a diabolical finishing hole that requires accuracy off the tee box and a second shot across the creek to green set off to the left and front sloping

Conditions at the Old Course are typically well above average - the greens and fairways are both in good shape. The greens run fast, hold pretty well, and have plenty of slope. A majority of the greens are elevated, demanding accuracy on the approach. The bunkers are also in good condition.

Texas Outside Scorecard for Firewheel - Old Course
Beauty:
Difficulty:
Variety:
Fun Scale:
Value:
Condition:

Other Good Information:

Beware of water on 13 holes and the 65 sand traps.
The pro shop is very well stocked, the practice facilities are good, and the grill serves some good food. Service is good.
Condition of the greens is 5.0 and the green difficulty is 5.0 out of 10.
Type of Greens: Champion Bermuda
Walkable: Yes
GPS: No
Scorecard

Course Yardage, Slope, and Rating:

Tee Box	Yardage	Rating	Slope	Par
Gold	6,845			72
Blue	6,429	74.1	135	72
White	6,054	71.6	131	72
Red	5,497	69.9	124	72

Here's How Texas Outside Determines the Scorecard Rating

The Texas Outside rating scale ranges from 1 to 10 – a perfect 10 course would be something like this: links along a cliff overlooking the Pacific ocean and bordered by tall trees; lush fairways on rolling hills with lots of natural hazards; water (which is crystal clear) on most of the holes; immaculate greens (but they are undulating and tough); lots of variety and character (each hole is completely different and includes blind shots, elevation changes, doglegs, and significant challenges); perfectly manicured traps with the whitest and prettiest sand you’ve ever seen; a nice club house with great food and a 19th hole; a GPS; plenty of beverage carts or your own cooler and ice; and it only costs $40 bucks! What this means is that you probably won’t find any 10s in Texas – try Cabo San Lucas, Pebble Beach, or some of the Hawaii courses!
Texas Outside rates courses on the following:

Beauty – tall trees, rolling hills, beautiful houses, waterfalls, and similar stuff would score high; a 1 would be flat, bushes or cactus instead of trees, and some grass but mostly weeds
Difficulty – a straight, 300 yard par 4 with no traps or hazards, no out of bounds or water would probably get a 1; if it is a 460 yard par 4 over two ravines, with water along one side, natural hazards on the other, strategically placed traps or that dreaded tree right in the middle of the fairway, we are talking a 10.
Variety – what would you give a course where all the holes looked and played exactly the same (“I thought we just played that hole!”); were side-by-side, which is good for finding or dodging other people’s balls, but not much fun; and you can see the flag from every tee box? That’s right, it gets a 1.
Fun Scale – a 10 is where you walk off the course and say “now that was fun” and you can’t wait to get back, or you immediately turn around and play another 18 holes
Value – a 5 is $50 to $60, a 10 is $20 to $30, and 1 is $200 or so – of course all of this is dependent upon how you liked the course. For example, if a run down, boring municipal course, with six players on each hole was only $10; it would still get a value rating of 1.
Condition – this one’s pretty easy – what condition are the fairways. A 10 commands very lush perfectly manicured fairways, compared to a 1, which has fire ants, weeds, and more dirt than grass!
Condition of Greens and Difficulty – very hard to read greens with lots of undulation and tough pin placement, rate very high on the difficulty scale. Condition is self-explanatory.

All of the above determines the overall score for the golf course. In other words, we like courses that are pretty, fun, very challenging with a lot of variety, and fairways and greens in excellent condition – all for $40. We also tend to play the courses that are affordable for the masses, which means in the $30 to $80 range. We rate hard and we haven’t found a 10 in Texas yet – don’t worry we haven’t given up and we’re still looking.