Texas Outside review of Sugar Tree Golf Club

Date Played: September 20, 2009
Front Nine Rating: 9.5 Stars
Back Nine Rating: 9.5 Stars
Approximate Weekend Price Range: $45.00 to $55.00
Where To Get Coupons: Sugar Tree Website

Brief Description:
Sugar Tree is a Texas Outside Favorite because of its condition, challenge, scenic beauty, variety, and value -- they don't come much better than Sugar Tree. Every hole is unique and presents it's own set of challenges which include doglegs, blind shots, rolling hills, very narrow approaches, creeks, bunkers, ponds, and natural hazards -- which make this a very fun course to play but you need to keep your patience and bring your A game to score well! With a slope of 129 to 145, Sugar Tree ranks with the best of them in terms of difficulty - but don't let that discourage you from playing this fantastic course - move up a tee box and make the course a little easier and more relaxing to play.

Talk about course management and club selection - this course demands it if you want to score well and you may have to play it twice before you can conquer this great golf course. In addition to variety and challenge, Sugar Tree is also one of the most scenic courses we have played - trees line all the fairways and you'll find waterfalls, small lakes, the Brazos River, rolling hills, and elevation changes with views of the surrounding country. In fact, the 12th hole, a 110 to 210 yard par 3, is from our perspective the prettiest hole in Texas. From an elevated tee box you look down at a small lake with waterfalls, trees, a pond, stone terrace, bunkers, and a water wheel. Don't let the view cause you to loose focus, because if you miss the small green and you're in trouble.

There are lots of fun and challenging holes, but a couple of our favorites include: #14 the #2 handicap which is a 524 yard par 5 that plays along the banks of the Brazos River and requires accuracy off the tee box and a very precise approach shot to an uphill well protected small green (you'll want to play this one again); #3 the number one handicap at 550 yards - a dog left that keeps curving left along a creek with a narrow approach over the creek to the green; or the Most of the greens are big and rolling and in near perfect condition and the fairways are well groomed and in excellent condition when we last played.

Not only is this a fun, challenging, and pretty course, the value is outstanding for a course of this quality. The only challenge is that Sugar Tree is not on the way to anywhere, it is 20 miles south of Weatherford. It's not easy to get to but you will really enjoy it once you're there.

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.