Texas Outside review of Cowboys Golf Club

Cowboys Golf Club

Texas Outside Rating: 8.8

18 Holes - Golf - Public
Grapevine, TX
817- 481-7277
Website
Stay & Play

Date Played: July 13, 2006
Front Nine Rating: 10.0 Stars
Back Nine Rating: 9.0 Stars
Approximate Weekend Price Range: $160.00 to $75.00
Where To Get Coupons: None

Brief Description:
After the first three holes, we were still saying "Wow, can it get any better then this?" The first three holes are some of best in Texas -- very pretty, excellent condition, fun and challenging. And there was more of the same to come! Cowboys is an excellent course with large sloping greens in perfect condition, but very difficult to read -- if you're playing for money or pride, make sure you get a good read from all around the hole. The 419 fairways are in perfect condition, even in mid June during the drought and heat spell of 2006. Cowboys has a lot of variety with fun, challenging, and very scenic holes. The deep faced traps are numerous, humongous, well groomed, and just waiting to trap your ball in their perfect sand. This course requires good course management and careful club selection because of the narrow fairways and approaches, traps, and water. The entire facility is meticulously groomed and maintained and Cowboys seems very mature for being only 5 years old. The clubhouse, carts, and proshop are top notch, as is all the staff. Each hole has a plaque with a history of the Cowboys and the carts all have player names. If price ($160 during prime time and $75 after 4:00) wasn't factored into our course ratings, Cowboys would be a solid 9.5 stars! Some of the many awards for Cowboys include: Voted #3 Daily Fee Golf Course in Texas? in the March 2003, Golfweek Magazine; Voted #1 Public, #2 Best Food, and #2 Best Course to Hold a Corporate Event by 2003 Avid Golfer Magazine; #1 Newcomer in America from the 2003 Zagat Survey of America's Top Golf Courses; #2 in Top 50 Courses in America (tie) from 2003 Zagat Survey of America's Top Golf Courses; #7 in Top 50 Service? in America (tie) from 2003 Zagat Survey of America's Top Golf Courses; #29 in The Top 50 Courses For Women by Golf for Women Magazine; Honorable Mention in Golf Magazine's Top Ten Courses You Can Play in America; Rated 2nd Top 50 Courses in America in the Zagat Survey for 2003, 2004, and 2005; and #1 Public Golf Course Dallas/Fort Worth from the 2004 San Antonio Express News. You have to play a course that has gotten that many awards at least twice in your lifetime.

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.