Review of Crystal Falls

Crystal Falls
Texas Outside Rating: 8.8
18 Holes - Golf - Public
Leander
(512) 259-5855
Website
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Online Tee Times Online Specials

Date Played: March 06, 2006
Front Nine Rating: 9.0 Stars
Back Nine Rating: 8.0 Stars
Approximate Weekend Price Range: $37.00 to $49.00
Where To Get Coupons: website, American Cancer Pass, Entertainment Passbook 2006

Brief Description:

Wow, this is a great course - one of those that you say, "where have you been all my life?" and that you really regret finishing the 18th hole. The course goes up and down the hills just northwest of Austin and it has a lot of elevation changes, rolling terrain, and sloping fairways.

When we played in March and the course was in transistion between seasons and not in the best condition, but I imagine it would be a 7 on the condition scale during the summer. The greens were extremely fast and difficult with plenty of slope and undulation. The fairways were in good condition, narrow, and most had a lot of slope and contour.

Crystal Falls Golf Club leverages the natural terrain and you'll need to manage the hills, creeks, bluffs, and trees. Each hole is different with doglegs, trees, and blind shots. On the front nine you can see the flag on 2 holes from the tee box - that's what I call fun and challenging!

Crystal Falls is a very hard course if you have never played it before and course management and club selection are critical - bring a few extra balls. Not only is this course a lot of fun, it's a real bargain!

Texas Outside Scorecard for Crystal Falls
Beauty:
Difficulty:
Variety:
Fun Scale:
Value:
Condition:

Other Good Information:

Beware of water on 8 holes and the 0 sand traps.
Service is good.
Condition of the greens is 6.0 and the green difficulty is 9.0 out of 10.
Type of Greens: Bermuda
Walkable: Very Hard
GPS: No
Scorecard

Course Yardage, Slope, and Rating:

Tee Box	Yardage	Rating	Slope	Par
Blue	6,654	72.3	126	72
White	6,164	70.1	122	72
Red	5,194	70.0	123	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.