Review of Lady Bird Johnson Golf Course

Lady Bird Johnson Golf Course
Texas Outside Rating: 8.5
18 Holes - Golf - Public
Fredericksburg
830 997-4010
Website
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Date Played: June 03, 2011
Front Nine Rating: 9.0 Stars
Back Nine Rating: 8.3 Stars
Approximate Weekend Price Range: $29.00 to $40.00
Brief Description:

This course is currently closed for renovations until early fall of 2012.

Lady Bird Johnson Golf Course which is just a couple miles from downtown Fredericksburg opened as a nine hole course in the early 70's and another nine was added in 1989. This is a course that truly lives up to it's motto of "Heaven in the Hill Country! Challenging * Exciting * Relaxing" and as well as it's reputation for good 'ole Texas friendly hospitality.

The "Challenging and Exciting" part of the motto comes from the front nine which has some very demanding, interesting, fun, and unique holes that are really fun and exciting to play. The back nine's motto should be "Traditional and Straightforward" - it is more traditional, much easier, and more relaxing nine holes.

The front nine of Lady Bird Johnson Golf Course takes maximum advantage of some hilly terrain and the meandering Live Oak Creek. This nine will throw a little bit of everything at you that will test your nerves, course management, club selection, and accuracy. For example, you'll find:

elevated tee boxes as well as big uphill shots to the green
forced carries over natural areas and the creek
some bunkers that seem to be where your ball wants to land
a couple very interesting risk reward opportunities
some pinched landing zones as well as some tight approaches
small sloping greens that are hard to nail

The front nine at Lady Bird Johnson Golf Course is very demanding and loaded with some really fun and unique holes like:

#1 a 402 yard par 4 with an elevated tee shot to a pinched landing zone thanks to a hill on the left and trees on the right and then a shot over a grassy ravine to an uphill green
#3 has an intimidating carry over a natural area and the creek to an elevated fairway and another 350 yards to the green
#7 is a short 126 yard uphill shot that needs to carry a ravine and float gently into a hidden green - you can just see the tip of the flag from the tee box
#7 is a 258 yard par 4 with an excellent risk reward shot if you think you can carry the trees to hit this uphill sloping green - a great opportunity for an eagle or a tough par if you can't carry the trees

After this nine you'll need a cold beer and you'll be ready for the back.

The back nine of Lady Bird Johnson Golf Course will seem like a walk in the park compared to the front. The last nine holes are very traditional, straightforward, and what you see is what you get. This nine is relatively flat with straight ahead tree lined wide fairways, a couple dog legs, a horseshoe fairway around a lake, a few bunkers protecting the greens, and some slightly elevated greens. You will encounter some fairway mounding and lots of mounds, swales, grass bunkers, and collection areas around some of the greens - approach shots demand some accuracy. This nine is your opportunity to salvage a good score and walk into the club house with your head held high!

The fairways range from wide to a tad tight but most are ample with a wide playable rough. All the fairways are lined with stately oaks and a variety of other trees. They range from up and down roller coasters on the front nine to flat and straight on the back. When we played in June, which was during a period with little to no rain and a severe freezing winter, the fairways were in very good condition - we were shocked and pleasantly surprised. Of course like most Texas courses in the summer, they were a little hard and firm which gave us lots of extra roll.

The greens range is size from very small ovals to about average size. Most have some very minor and manageable slope and a few had some undulation and ridges. We thought that they were in very good condition, ran true, about average speed, and held the ball pretty well. We were pleasantly surprised at the condition of the greens - several other courses had been ravished by Mother Nature's hard freeze and than severe lack of rain which had some lots of damage to the greens.

The bunkers at Lady Bird Johnson Golf Course were also in very good shape with soft thick sand. The bunkers ranged in size from small to large and most had manageable lips.

When we played the pace of play was a tad slow thanks to some slow seniors, walkers, and a fivesome. We were told that it was a little slower than normal.

Bottom line - a must play if you're in the area, a fantastic and unique and challenging front nine and a traditional relaxing back nine - and a very reasonable rate!

Texas Outside Scorecard for Lady Bird Johnson Golf Course
Beauty:
Difficulty:
Variety:
Fun Scale:
Value:
Condition:

Other Good Information:

Beware of water on 9 holes and the 13 sand traps.
Lady Bird Johnson Golf Course is home to a newly built 10,000 square foot clubhouse with a fully-stocked golf shop, good restaurant, and a great meeting room for corporate outings or tournaments. Practice facilities include a 20 station driving range and two practice greens.
Condition of the greens is 8.8 and the green difficulty is 7.5 out of 10.
Walkable: Some hills
GPS: No
Course Map
Scorecard

Course Yardage, Slope, and Rating:

Tee Box	Yardage	Rating	Slope	Par
Gold	6,448	70.6	126	72
Blue	6,069	68.7	113	72
White	5,687	66.7	110	72
Red	5,094	69.0	117	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.