Texas Outside review of Horseshoe Bay -- Ram Rock Course

Horseshoe Bay -- Ram Rock Course

Texas Outside Rating: 9.2

18 Holes - Golf - Resort
Horseshoe Bay, TX
(830)598-2561
Website
Stay & Play

Date Played: May 12, 2007
Front Nine Rating: 10.0 Stars
Back Nine Rating: 9.0 Stars
Approximate Weekend Price Range: $95.00 to $125.00
Brief Description:
Ram Rock, a Robert Trent Jones designed course, is consistently rated as one of the best, most challenging courses in Texas. We agree with that rating and found that Ram Rock offered a little bit of everything - majestic, panoramic views, beautiful scenery and homes, lots of variety, challenge and strategic shot making, and near perfect conditions. The only downside is the price and you must stay at the Marriott or be a club member with reciprocal rights.

As you drive up to the beautiful club house and magnificent pool, you know that if the course is half as nice as what you've just seen, you are in for a treat. And you are only going to be more impressed. The first hole really gives you an idea of what you are in for with the elevated tee box and magnificent view of the rolling and sloping terrain and a dogleg left with a narrow approach and creek to protect the green.

Every hole on Ram Rock is a lot of fun and each hole is different and offers a unique set of challenges. You'll find narrow fairways, natural streams, plenty of water and sand (including an island green surrounded by water and sand), rock gardens, granite outcroppings, blind tee shots, dog legs, and all manners of trees, bushes and plants.

The greens are well protected with bunkers or other hazards that require precise iron shots, but once you are on them they are in perfect condition, fast, true, and tough - but fair. The fairways are also in excellent condition. In fact, everything on course is very well maintained.

Author, journalist and golf enthusiast Turk Pipkin writes, "If you want to put your game to the ultimate test of Texas golf, the breathtaking, backbreaking, eye-pleasing Ram Rock has all you could want and a little more." Ram Rock received a 4? star rating from Golf Digest and was named as one of the top 15 courses in the state by Golfweek in 2006. Ram Rock is a course you need to add to your list of must plays. After a great round of golf, put on your swimsuit and enjoy the beautiful rock pool and a cold drink while you reminisce about your round.

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.