Review of Chase Oaks -- Blackjack

Chase Oaks -- Blackjack
Texas Outside Rating: 7.8
27 Holes - Golf - Public
Plano
972-517-7777
Website
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Date Played: September 08, 2006
Front Nine Rating: 7.0 Stars
Back Nine Rating: 8.5 Stars
Approximate Weekend Price Range: $32.00 to $52.00
Where To Get Coupons: Their website, 2007 Entertainment Passbook 2006

Brief Description:

Chase Oaks has 27 holes of very good golf. Sawtooth is a challenging and fun 9 hole course. Blackjack is an outstanding 18-hole championship layout that can be very fun and challenging, particularly from the back tees. Both courses have Tiff Eagle Bermuda Greens, 419 fairways, creeks, lakes, hills, and lots of trees. Blackjack's 18 holes require strategic shot making instead of strength and distance. The front nine of Blackjack is fairly open, has some fun holes, and a lot of variety. Water and other natural hazards come into play on 8 out of nine holes. The back nine is one of the best nines in the Metroplex -- it is very pretty, with natural and man-made hazards, plus water on six holes. You will find each hole has its own unique character and challenges and no two holes are the same. Course management and good club selection are required on this nine. Blackjack is usually in very good condition. On this trip, despite the 2006 drought, the greens and fairways were in very good conditions. The greens are large, with very minor slope and are not as challenging as the course itself. Blackjack is an excellent value for the money and is well deserving of its accolades: "Top Ten Municipal Courses in the State" by Texas Golfer Magazine in 2005, "One of the Top 25 Overall Courses" by Avid Golfer Magazine 2005, "The Best Course in 2005" by Texas Golfer Media, and in 2006 Texas Golfer Magazine rated it number 5 in the "Top Economy City Owned Courses". Blackjack is a Texas Outside favorite and a must play course.

Texas Outside Scorecard for Chase Oaks -- Blackjack
Beauty:
Difficulty:
Variety:
Fun Scale:
Value:
Condition:

Other Good Information:

Beware of water on 14 holes and the 41 sand traps.
Condition of the greens is 8.0 and the green difficulty is 6.0 out of 10.
Type of Greens: TIF Eagle
Walkable: Very
GPS: No

Course Yardage, Slope, and Rating:

Tee Box	Yardage	Rating	Slope	Par
Gold	6,773	74.1	139	72
Blue	6,355	71.9	130	72
White	5,840	70.5	124	72
Red	5,123	70.0	122	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.