Texas Outside review of ShadowGlen Golf Club

Date Played: September 27, 2007
Front Nine Rating: 9.0 Stars
Back Nine Rating: 8.0 Stars
Approximate Weekend Price Range: $40.00 to $44.00
Where To Get Coupons: Website

Brief Description:
ShadowGlen is a hidden gem just north east of Austin in Manor. The course opened in 2004 and is well deserving of it's rating as Golf Digest's "Top 10 Best New Golf Courses." The terrain is picturesque rolling hills and the course is a links style course as it meanders through the countryside. It was built and designed by renowned architects Roy Bechtol and Randy Russell of Bechtol/Russell Golf. They exceeded their challenge to build a course that was a stout test of golf and one where top-level golfers could challenge their "A" game. Roy Bechtol said "This may be my most impressive work yet" adding that "if I did it all over again I wouldn't change a thing."

ShadowGlen offers a little bit of everything: lots of variety, some very pretty and different holes, beautiful scenery, plenty of challenges (water, creeks, berms, mounds, bunkers, waste areas, doglegs) and some very fun holes. From the tips at 7174 yards ShadowGlen can be a monster - this is also somewhat true of playing the Bronze/Gold tees - so if you just want a fun and somewhat challenging round, be humble and move up to the next set of tee boxes. We got this advice in advance, so we played the White tee boxes, scored well, and had a very enjoyable and fun round.

The fairways were in very good condition and most were rolling with mounds/berms, creeks, ravines, big bunkers, water and natural grass hazards. The greens were also in great shape and seemed much larger than normal. The greens were somewhat fast and true but the slope and undulation, and pin placement can cause putting challenges - so study the greens carefully before you putt.

ShadowGlen just opened the clubhouse in mid 2007 and it was quickly nominated for "Best New Clubhouse" by Golf, Inc. The carts are new Yamaha's and equipped with Prolink GPS. The staff was very friendly and courteous. Book a tee time now - you'll love this course regardless of your skill level. ShadowGlen has definitely achieved their goal of providing championship golf at reasonable prices.

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.