 Horseshoe Bay -- Apple Rock Course
Texas Outside Rating: 8.7
18 Holes - Golf - Resort Private
Horseshoe Bay
830.598.6561
Website
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Stay & Play
Date Played: July 03, 2008
Front Nine Rating: 8.5 Stars
Back Nine Rating: 9.0 Stars
Initiation Fees: Under $10,000
Monthly Dues: $401 to $600
Brief Description:
Horseshoe Bay Resort is home to three of Texas' top rated courses - Ram Rock, Apple Rock, and Slick Rock. In fact, the courses have all been featured in the "50 Best Courses in Texas" list in the Dallas Morning News every year since the origin of the annual ranking in 1989. Apple Rock is clearly the most scenic of the three courses and when it was completed in 1986 it received distinction as "Best New Resort Course" by Golf Digest. The course takes advantage of the rocky and rolling Hill Country terrain and offers lots of variety, some unique challenges, and a very enjoyable round of golf.
Apple Rock is very well maintained and manicured course with lots of trees, rolling fairways, elevated greens, elevation changes, beautiful homes, and spectacular views of Lake LBJ and the surrounding countryside. In fact, the first three holes on the back nine are some of the most scenic in Texas and make the course well worth the price. The course is not that tight but a number of holes demand some thought and good club selection or you're in some trouble.
When we played (July 2008) the 419 Bermuda fairways were not as lush as expected, but still in great shape for the hot July weather. The greens are relatively small, fast, in very good shape, and most were elevated and well protected.
Apple Rock is a resort course and as such you need to stay at the Horseshoe Bay Resort to play the course - the good news is that they have a very attractive Stay & Play package with unlimited golf! See our Stay & Play Page to learn more. This is one of the courses that you need to add to your "must play" list.
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Other Good Information:
Designer/Architect: Robert Trent Jones
Beware of water on 6 holes
and the 56 sand traps.
Service is very good and attentive, the club house and pro shop are outstanding, and the food is very good but a littly pricie.
Condition of the greens is 8.5 and the green difficulty is 8.0 out of 10.
Type of Greens: Tif - Eagle
Walkable: No
GPS: Yes
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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.
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