Texas Outside review of Rayburn Country Resort

Rayburn Country Resort - Green Course

Texas Outside Rating: 8.8

27 Holes - Golf - Resort
Jasper, TX
800 882-1442
Website
Stay & Play

Date Played: November 10, 2007
Front Nine Rating: 9.0 Stars
Back Nine Rating: 7.8 Stars
Approximate Weekend Price Range: $30.00 to $45.00
Brief Description:
Rayburn Country has 3 nines, each of which was designed by someone different. The Green Course was designed in 1979 by Robert von Hagge and Bruce Devlin and it is the most challenging of the three 9s. Von Hagge and Devlin also designed Lufkin's Crown Colony Country Club course which is consistently rated in the top 5 best courses in Texas. The Green Course is not your typical resort course which is usually wide straight fairways with little to no variety and designed so you can score well and will come back again - if you're expecting that, go to Florida.

Rayburn Country's Green Course is one of the most challenging, unique, and fun courses we have played in Texas. The first hole will give you an idea of what you're in for - it's a short dog leg left 373 yard hole from the tips requiring a precise drive to the landing zone and then an iron shot to an elevated green. Oh, and on the way down to the landing zone, it is a multi-terraced fairway (try to override your temptation to zoom down the terraced fairway which feels like you're on a roller coaster) and then back up a steep hill to a narrow plateau green protected by a couple bunkers - miss short and you roll back down the hill, miss left and you're in the bunker, and if you miss deep you have a very challenging chip to a sloping green! What a fun hole. And the other 8 holes offer similar challenges, variety, and fun.

This course demands strategic shot making and a lot of forethought. Placement off the tee is critical, so you may want to leave the driver in your bag. We loved this nine but if you want to have an easy round, then play the Gold or Blue nine. The terrain on the Green Course is mostly up and down, narrow, well treed, and scenic. Each hole is different and unique and has it's own personality.

The fairways are in very good condition and it takes a couple rounds to really figure out how to manage them. The greens are very small, with some slope that makes them hard to read, and most are plateau requiring a precise approach shot. When we played the greens were in transition from summer to winter, but once they make the transition they should be in very good condition and a little fast.

Here's some good news for you, there are only 11 bunkers (9 of which protect that small green) and although the card shows water on 7 holes, it only presents a challenge on two holes. One golfing magazine ranked 2 of the holes on the Green course in the "Top 10 Toughest Holes in Texas". Get out of your comfort zone and play this nine - forget about your score and enjoy the challenge, variety, and unique personality of this 9.

Rayburn Country has a very economical Stay & Play package - click here to read the review of the stay and play package. You can learn more about the other 18 holes from the our reviews. The below rating and slope are based on playing the Green and Gold course together.

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.