Texas Outside Golf Course Review
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Firewheel -- Bridges Course
Texas Outside Rating: 7.3
27 Holes - Golf - Public
Garland, TX
972-205-3651
Website

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Date Played: September 10, 2006
Front Nine Rating: 7.0 Stars
Back Nine Rating: 8.0 Stars
Approximate Weekend Price Range: $34.00 to $60.00
Where To Get Coupons: Web site, GolfQ

Brief Description:
Firewheel has a total of 63 holes of very good golf -- the Lakes, Old Course, and the Bridges. The Bridges is the newest of the courses and was completed in 2001 and has three different nines holes: The Masters, The Champions, and The Traditions. Any choice of the three nines provides the golfer with a good experience. This time out we played the Champions and the Masters courses. The Champions is relatively flay, very open with a lot of holes that are side by side, and doesn't offer a lot of variety. The water on 7 of the nine holes and some strategically placed bunkers can cause some problems, but in general we didn't find the Champions that difficult. The Masters is a much more enjoyable, scenic, challenging, and fun 9 holes. There is water on 7 holes, some narrow approaches, a couple of blind shots, over 36 big traps just waiting for you, and some dog legs to contend with. You will be rewarded for strategic course management and club selection. Both sides were in good shape and overall the Bent greens are fair and in good condition. In 2006, Texas Golfer Magazine rated Firewheel a well deserved number 4 in the "Top Mid Range City Owned Courses."
 
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Texas Outside Scorecard for Firewheel -- Bridges Course
Beauty:  
Difficulty:  
Variety:  
Fun Scale:  
Value:  
Condition:  
Other Good Information:

Beware of water on 13 holes and the 63 sand traps.
Condition of the greens is 8.0 and the green difficulty is 6.0 out of 10.
Type of Greens: Bentgrass
The 19th hole is ok and the clubhouse food is excellent.
The pro shop is good
Walkable: Yes
GPS: Yes
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Course Yardage, Slope, and Rating:

Tee Box Yardage Rating Slope Par
Gold 7,027 99.9 37 72
Blue 6,556 99.9 35 72
White 5,848 99.9 34 72
Red 5,143 99.9 36 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. 

 

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