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White Bluff -- New Course
Texas Outside Rating: 6.7
36 Holes - Golf - Resort
Whitney
(254) 694-4000
Website

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Date Played: May 11, 2006
Front Nine Rating: 6.5 Stars
Back Nine Rating: 7.0 Stars
Approximate Weekend Price Range: $40.00 to $80.00
Where To Get Coupons: Special Stay & Play Deals

Brief Description:
White Bluff is a Double Diamond resort with 36 holes of very good golf. Double Diamond also owns The Cliffs at Possum Kingdom and The Retreat in Cleburne -- you can read the Texas Outside reviews of each course here.

On this trip we played the New Course that has gotten good reviews and is the host for the Texas Open. Overall we found it to be a very good course but it does not have a lot of variety, it's fairly flat and straight, and not as challenging as we would like. The back nine is better than the front because it is much prettier, offers more variety, and is a little tougher.

They say this is a hard course with high ratings (74 from the gold, 73 from the blue, 71 from the whites!!) and lots of water, but we didn't find the water, traps or trees to cause much trouble. Hook or slice and you will have a problem. The fairways were in good condition as were the greens.

White Bluff Resort was listed as one the Dallas Morning News 2006 Fantasy Road Trips places to consider as a first resort for play and stay. Remember, Texas Outside has a tough rating scale and even though White Bluff didn't get a high rating, it is an excellent course and you'll enjoy your round on the New Course. White Bluff continuously runs promotions which include a gift if you take a tour of the property, give them a call and take a tour of this premier golf community.

 
Texas Outside Scorecard for White Bluff -- New Course
Beauty:  
Difficulty:  
Variety:  
Fun Scale:  
Value:  
Condition:  
Other Good Information:

Beware of water on 16 holes and the 30 sand traps.
Condition of the greens is 5.0 and the green difficulty is 5.0 out of 10.
The 19th hole is great and the clubhouse food is good.
The pro shop is good
Walkable: Yes
GPS: No

Course Yardage, Slope, and Rating:

Tee Box Yardage Rating Slope Par
Gold 6,964 74.1 142 72
Blue 6,574 73.1 136 72
White 6,198 71.3 133 72
Red 5,589 73.3 128 72

 

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. 

 

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