Review of Moody Gardens Golf Course

Moody Gardens Golf Course
Texas Outside Rating: 7.8
18 Holes - Golf - Public
Galveston
409 683-4653
Website
Locate This Course

Date Played: February 19, 2008
Front Nine Rating: 7.5 Stars
Back Nine Rating: 8.0 Stars
Approximate Weekend Price Range: $36.00 to $75.00
Brief Description: Galveston Island Municipal Golf Course was leased to Moody Gardens in 2007 and is now called Moody Gardens Golf Course. Moody Gardens put $17 million into redesigning the course and it reopened for play in June 2008. The redesign included adding some undulation and slope to the greens and fairways, changing the layout of a number of holes, adding and redoing bunkers, plus a new irrigation system for the new sea spray paspalum grass. Based on the previous slope and rating, the redesign make the course a little easier. We were told that the conditions were perfect until hurricane Ike hit and put most of the course under 5 feet of water plus littered the course with tons of debris including a 30' shrimp boat, swing set, and a back porch. When we played in February, the course was clean and free of debris, but some of the bunkers were not yet repaired and the fairways and greens were still trying to recuperate.

Moody Gardens Golf Course plays around Syonor Bayou and as such you'll find upland and lowland native areas, shorebird habitat, and water coming into play on 17 holes. The terrain is flat but the course takes advantage of the natural landscape of water, brush, and sand and over 500 palm trees add character to the course. With 5 sets of tee boxes, the yardage varies from 6816 to 4549 yards, making Moody Gardens both challenging and playable for all skill levels.

The front nine is fairly straight with mostly open and contoured fairways. This nine has 3 par 3's and 3 par 5's where you can pull the driver out and let-er-rip. Miss the fairway and you're in the rough which was cut thin and was playable. You need to really spray the ball to get in trouble with the water. Number 7 is a fun 584 yard par 5 that plays along the water and has a fairly sharp dog leg right. On this hole you have a great risk reward shot if you're along the right side of the fairway and want to fly the trap and water to cut off the dog and a lot of yards - miss and this might be a hard hole to par. Number 8 is challenging with a precise approach shot needed to avoid the the water around 3/4th of the green and a huge bunker on the right side and if you spray it left and you've got water trouble.

The back nine is great and offers more variety and some challenging and fun holes. This nine is a narrower and requires more accuracy off the tee. You'll also find water on one or both sides of the fairway. For example, on #18 from the tips you need to clear the native areas and water on the left and right - a perfect drive of 270 yards will avoid the left side fairway bunker and put you good position to approach the green. The approach needs to carry 100 yards of water to an oval green that is protected on the front by water and brush and on the left and back by bunkers.

The fairways were in above average condition (much better than when the course was owned by the City)considering they were dormant and still recovering from hurricane Ike. The greens were also in good condition, pretty fast with some slope, and a tad difficult to read. The fringe is wide and was cut thin enough for putting to the cup. The bunkers were in great condition with soft thick fluffy white sand. This is the only course on the island and well worth playing.

Texas Outside Scorecard for Moody Gardens Golf Course
Beauty:
Difficulty:
Variety:
Fun Scale:
Value:
Condition:

Other Good Information:

Designer/Architect: Jacobsen Hardy Golf Course Design
Beware of water on 18 holes and the 62 sand traps.
Service is good.
Condition of the greens is 8.0 and the green difficulty is 8.0 out of 10.
Type of Greens: Sea Spray Paspalum
Walkable: Very
GPS: No

Course Yardage, Slope, and Rating:

Tee Box	Yardage	Rating	Slope	Par
Black	6,816	72.6	127	72
Gold	6,380	69.7	122	72
Blue	5,972	67.4	119	72
White	5,529	65.1	109	72
Red	4,549	71.0	121	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.