 Ambush at Lajitas
Texas Outside Rating: 8.5
18 Holes - Golf - Resort
Lajitas
877-525-4827
Website
Locate This Course
Date Played: November 30, 2008
Front Nine Rating: Stars
Back Nine Rating: Stars
Approximate Weekend Price Range: to
Brief Description:
We visited Lajitas Resort & Spa in November 2008 and weren't able to play what we had heard is a fantastic course because Ambush Golf Course was closed due to a September flood of the Rio Grande River. The River exceeded the 500 year flood plane, rose 33' above normal, and ruined most of the back nine of the Ambush! The four holes on an island of the Rio Grande were damaged beyond repair, the hole where you drive from Texas to a green in Mexico was ruined, and all of the back nine and the majority of the front were under water for weeks. The flood also ruined the irrigation system, which means what survived the flood died because of a lack of water in very dry and arid conditions. Resort management has stated that the front nine will be repaired and hopefully open by March 2009. The back nine will be relocated and no longer located along the River - no date was given for an opening. We got permission to ride bikes on the front nine to check out the course - how depressing to see what must have been a very challenging, unique, and fun course turned brown because of no water or Rio Grande mud. The scenic beauty is magnificent - mountains up to 8000 feet, the mighty Rio Grande River, the arid brown desert next to what was lush green fairways. It looked like the course offered lots of variety, steep faced bunkers, contoured fairways, and beautiful landscaping. We can't wait for it reopen! By the way, Lajitas Resort and Spa is fantastic and you can learn more about it by reading our review of Lajitas Resort. One of the pictures shows the course under water, another is a before flood picture of the hole where you drive across the river into Mexico plus a picture of the same hole covered in mud after the flood, and then two pictures after the flood with dead grass.
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| Texas Outside Scorecard for Ambush at Lajitas |
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Other Good Information:
Designer/Architect: Roy Bechtol
Beware of water on holes
and the sand traps.
The 19th hole is excellent and the clubhouse food is excellent.
The pro shop is good
GPS: No
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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.
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