Review of Lufkin Country Club

Lufkin Country Club
Texas Outside Rating: 6.5
18 Holes - Golf - Semi Private
Lufkin
936 632-2848
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Date Played: September 03, 2010
Front Nine Rating: 7.0 Stars
Back Nine Rating: 6.0 Stars
Approximate Weekend Price Range: $33.00 to $33.00
Brief Description:

Lufkin Country Club plays through and around some tall east Texas pines with some of the holes playing near and over a couple small lakes. A majority of the holes are side-by-side but a tree line will keep sprayed balls out of the other fairways. Some of the holes take advantage of the natural terrain - for example, holes 6, 7, and 8 have roller coaster fairways, elevated greens, and some down hill shots off the tee box - making for a fun ride with some challenging shots to the green. Outside of a couple minor dog legs, some fairly tight fairways and approach shots, plus a blind shot, most of the holes are straightforward with what you see is what you get.

Water comes into play on three holes:

#14 is a fun 153 yard par 3 with a carry over a lake to one of the largest greens on the course
you can get wet on #9, if you spray the ball any where along the right side of the fairway
#15 is a short 349 yard par 4 with a carry over a lake sitting in front of the green

Outside of the water, what makes Lufkin Country Club challenging are the very small oval greens which for us were very difficult to hit in regulation. If you can hit the greens in regulation and keep the ball fairly straight you should have a very good round.

Lufkin Country Club, like most Texas courses was hit hard by a very harsh winter and then a very dry summer and the conditions when we played were really bad. The fairways seemed to be about 70% sparse grass and 30% dirt until you got near the green where they were in much better condition. The greens had also suffered a lot of damage and there were some very rough spots, making for some bumpy and challenging putts.

The majority of the greens are flat, some have some minor slope, and you shouldn't have much trouble reading the greens and two putting - outside of the rough spots. There are only 10 bunkers and all are guarding the greens. They are the strangest bunkers that I've ever seen - they averaged about 2 or 3 feet wide and 7 or 8 feet long! The traps were wet when we played thanks to a recent rain, but it looked like the sand was thick and soft.

Lufkin Country Club was built in 1926 and all of the facilities are very dated. The course was described to us as a "poor man's country club."

Texas Outside Scorecard for Lufkin Country Club
Beauty:
Difficulty:
Variety:
Fun Scale:
Value:
Condition:

Other Good Information:

Beware of water on 5 holes and the 10 sand traps.
The pro shop is limited and the range and putting green are ok. The grill was closed when we played but we heard the food was ok. The members are all very friendly.
Condition of the greens is 4.0 and the green difficulty is 6.0 out of 10.
Walkable: Very
GPS: No

Course Yardage, Slope, and Rating:

Tee Box	Yardage	Rating	Slope	Par
Gold	6,327			72
Blue	6,120			72
White	5,805			72
Red	5,037			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.