Review of Tapatio Springs Resort - Valley Course

Tapatio Springs Resort - Valley Course
Texas Outside Rating: 8.5
9 Holes - Golf - Resort Public
Boerne
800 999-3299
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Date Played: August 09, 2010
Front Nine Rating: 8.5 Stars
Back Nine Rating: Stars
Approximate Weekend Price Range: $35.00 to $50.00
Brief Description:

Tapatio Springs Resort is home to three fantastic nine hole courses, each of which has it's own unique personality, challenges, and characteristics. The Valley and the Lakes nines were the original 18 and they were frequently ranked a "Texas Top Ten" by the Dallas Morning News. The Lakes is the most traditional of the three nines, has water on 7 of nine holes, and is a typical resort course - great conditions, wider fairways, and very golfer friendly. The Valley plays up and down the ridge line and back into the valley which is surrounded by rolling hills dotted with some beautiful homes. The Ridge is the most challenging of the tree courses is it traverses up and down the hills above the Resort taking advantage of the natural rolling and sometimes very steep terrain.

The Valley is not your typical resort course which is usually wide open, pretty flat, and not real challenging. The theory being who wants to be beat up by a course when they are on vacation. Tapatio Spring's Valley course doesn't follow that model - it is a challenging course that has a lot of variety, blind shots, dog legs, elevation changes, a couple risk reward opportunities, narrow approaches, ravines, and creeks. This is a short (3376 yards from the tips) par 37 (three par 5s) fun nine holes of golf where you can score well and have a lot of fun if you use good course management, choose your clubs carefully, and don't try to kill it with your driver.

The first four holes on the Valley are awesome. For example:

#2 is a scenic, tight, and fun 158 yard uphill par 3 with a carry over the water to a green guarded by a bunker in front
from a set of staircase elevated tee boxes on #3 you'll need to carry the pond and avoid the fairway bunkers for a dramatic uphill shot to a green protected by three intimidating bunkers
#4, the second hardest hole, is a sharp dog leg left 559 yard par 5 with a creek crossing the fairway and 8 bunker to avoid

The Valley's greens are average size with minor slope and undulation. The fairways are somewhat tight but fair and were in fair condition. The terrain is very pretty with limestone cliffs, views of the courses, and beautiful homes that are scattered among the hills. This is a memorable nine holes of golf that you'll want to play again.

In June 2010, Tapatio Resort changed hands and Kemper Sports was brought in to manage and revitalize the resort and the golf courses. Prior to Kemper's arrival, the courses had been neglected and suffered the drought of 2009 and according to most people we spoke with the conditions were horrible - the fairways were dirt and weeds and the greens were about gone, and the bunkers were overgrown. Kemper has done an amazing job in bringing the course back and is committed to continued improvement. When we played, we rated the greens and fairways around a 7.5 (several members and staff said that 5 months ago it was a cow pasture and barely playable!).

The greens on the Valley are about average size and were coming back nicely. Just prior to our round the greens had been aerated and sanded and as such they were a little bumpy. They have minor slope and little to no undulation and were easy to read. My guess in that within 4 months they will be in very good condition and a good solid 9. Most of the greenside bunkers had been redone with soft thick fluffy sand and manageable lips. Some bunkers were in need of some work, which is planned.

Tapatio Springs Resort has an excellent Stay & Play package and it's a perfect place to stay for a fun weekend of golf. To learn more, read our review of Tapatio Spring's Stay & Play Package and our review of Tapatio Springs Resort.

The slope and rating are based on playing the Valley and the Ridge course - our two favorites.

Texas Outside Scorecard for Tapatio Springs Resort - Valley Course
Beauty:
Difficulty:
Variety:
Fun Scale:
Value:
Condition:

Other Good Information:

Designer/Architect: Bill Johnston
Beware of water on 7 holes and the 36 sand traps.
Service is very good and very friendly. The pro shop is well stocked and the practice facilities are adequate. The restaurant and bar are excellent.
Condition of the greens is 8.0 and the green difficulty is 8.0 out of 10.
Walkable: Hard
GPS: Yes
Course Map
Scorecard

Course Yardage, Slope, and Rating:

Tee Box	Yardage	Rating	Slope	Par
Gold	3,376	71.7	133	37
Blue	3,232	70.2	131	37
White	3,023	68.5	127	37
Red	2,775	70.2	126	37

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.