Texas Outside review of Rockwood Golf Course

Rockwood Golf Course

Texas Outside Rating: 6.3

18 Holes - Golf - Public
Ft. Worth, TX
817-624-1771
Website
Online Specials

Date Played: April 18, 2008
Front Nine Rating: 6.0 Stars
Back Nine Rating: 7.0 Stars
Approximate Weekend Price Range: to
Brief Description:
Rockwood Golf Course is one of the five public courses run by the City of Fort Worth. Rockwood was built in 1938 and has dated facilities, low prices, a straightforward layout and below average conditions.

The terrain is heavily treed with gently rolling hills and some sloping fairways. Most of the fairways are straight, pretty wide, and you can typically see what you are up against. On a few holes, study and play the slope or you'll watch your ball roll into the trees. You will find one blind shot, three sharp dog legs, and a couple fun holes. The back nine is more fun and a little more challenging.

When we played in April, the fairways were still making the transition and were in below average condition. My guess is that the fairways would never make it above a rating of 6 on condition. The greens are very small, sloping, and very fast when we played. The greens were hard and very difficult to hold an approach shot, which means the ball was likely to roll back off the green. Make sure you practice putting before you head out - it will help you judge the speed and break, which we found difficult to read.

The course is a little short at 6350, the fairways are forgiving and mostly straight, and there are very few hazards. With a rating of 69.5, you should have an enjoyable round, score well, and not have to spend a fortune. Have fun.

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.