Texas Outside golf course review of Packsaddle Country Club in Kingsland

Date Played: September 18, 2009
Front Nine Rating: 8.5 Stars
Back Nine Rating: 7.5 Stars
Approximate Weekend Price Range: $38.00 to $38.00
Brief Description:

Packsaddle Country Club was initially built in 1968 but was completely redone, including the clubhouse and pro shop, and reopened in early 2007. The renovation included new greens, fairways, and bunkers making Packsaddle a fun, challenging, and excellent 18 holes of golf.

The front nine is outstanding and offers a little bit of everything including water, blind shots, strategically placed bunkers, trees, waste hazards, and great Hill Country scenery with some tall Texas Hill Country mountains in the background. Some of the great holes you'll find on the front include: #2 plays along side a lake on the way to a sharp dogleg left that requires a precise approach shot; #4 is a deceivingly tough 300 yard par 4 - keep the driver in the bag because your tee shot needs to be in the right spot to hit the well protected green for a potential birdie; #7 is a beautiful downhill par 3 that requires you to carry natural area nearly all the way to the green: and #6 is one of our favorite holes in Texas. It's a 534 yard dog leg left par 5 with a split fairway leading to a small green protected with granite outcroppings and natural areas. This fun hole requires accuracy all the way to the green - if you miss, you'll watch the ball bouncing and ricocheting off the granite! This is the kind of hole that you want to go play again and again.

The back nine is more traditional and straightforward and this a nine where you can score well. But don't underestimate this nine - it has 3 of the top 5 handicapped holes!

Overall, the course is in pretty good condition - when we last played, Packsaddle was going through some challenges with a change in ownership and the conditions were about average. The fairways on the front are ok, but the back needed some work. The greens however were in better shape and above average condition. The greens have lots of undulation, are a tad fast with lots of roll, and most were very challenging because of the pin placement.

Overall this is an excellent course with lots of variety and some very fun and pretty holes. The course is a risk reward course, take a chance and make the shot and you will score well - miss it and you've got some trouble. The second time you play this course, you should be able to manage it much better and enjoy it even more.

If you're coming into town and like to fish, call Texas Professional Fishing Guides and ask them about their
"Fish & Chips" package which includes a round of golf at Packsaddle and a fishing trip - and if you need lodging they can set that up for you also.

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.