 White Bluff -- New Course
Texas Outside Rating: 8.6
18 Holes - Golf - Resort Public
Whitney
254 694-0304
Website
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Stay & Play
Date Played: November 12, 2010
Front Nine Rating: 8.3 Stars
Back Nine Rating: 9.0 Stars
Approximate Weekend Price Range: $55.00 to
$85.00
Where To Get Coupons: Special Stay & Play Deals
Brief Description:
White Bluff is a Double Diamond resort with 36 holes of very good golf - the Old Course and the New Course. Double Diamond also owns The Cliffs at Possum Kingdom and The Retreat in Cleburne - in fact, The Cliffs is one of our favorite courses in Texas and a must play. You can read Texas Outside's reviews of each course here.
Both of the White Bluff courses were designed by Bruce Lietkze and each has it's own unique personality and characteristics. For example, the Old Course has more scenic vistas, several elevation changes, and the back nine is regarded as the hardest of the nines. The New Course is more traditional and has water on 16 holes, some tight approaches, and is 200 yards longer. With a slope of 144 versus 138 on the Old Course, the New Course is the tougher of the 18s. To learn more, read our review of the Old Course.
The New Course opened for play in 1998 and Lietkze designed this 18 to be fair but challenging. As such White Bluff's New Course will test your shot making and course management skills during your round. You'll find plenty of water to contend with, forced carries, elevation changes, some huge bunkers, tight approaches, complex greens, and some risk reward opportunities. But don't let that scare you from playing this 18 - it's really fun, fair and playable, and very manageable.
Talk to the pro about the course to get some ideas on how to manage the course if you want to score well. His biggest tip to us was to target to get to the 150 and not beyond because of all the potential trouble from 150 yards and in - water, bunkers, berms, trees, elevated greens, and more. It worked and we turned n a pretty good score.
The first three holes on the front start you out with water and trees and somewhat narrow fairways. The next five holes are more open and have a links feel. An example of a couple fun holes that we loved on this nine include:
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#2, a 374 yard dog leg right, requires a precise drive off the tee box to avoid the water on the left, trees on the right, and berms and trees if your drive is to long
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#4 is a fun 387 yard sharp dog leg left to a green with a pond across the font and two bunkers protecting it - a good risk reward opportunity to try to fly the trees on the left side and avoid the bunkers and water for a short chip to the green
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#8 is is a 424 yard par four that looks easy from the tee box but the green complex is very challenging - the green is elevated, has plenty of slope and undulation, and there are three big bunkers guarding the green - pin placement can be a killer
The back nine on the New Course was our favorite of all the nines and it has a number of very fun, challenging, and memorable holes. #10 will set the stage for this nine - a dog leg right 411 yard par 4 that has a pond encroaching into and narrowing the fairway which has tall berms all along the left side - accuracy from tee to green is required, there is little room for error. #12, the signature hole is a real beauty - if you're not careful on your drive you'll find the lake and white bluff where the fairway dog legs right and leads to an elevated green with a creek across the front and a tight approach thanks to some trees, plus there is a hill and bunker in back to catch long shots. Before you tee off on number 16 you best drive up and take a look at what you're up against and determine how to play this 515 yard par 5 with a blind uphill shot, then a long downhiller over a multiple terraced fairway requiring a carry over two creeks on the way to an elevated small green - you'll want to play this one over again.
When we played White Bluff's New Course in November 2010 the fairways were starting to transition to dormant but were still in excellent condition. The fairways range from wide open to tight off the tee box and a majority are lined with berms on one or both sides. The first cut was fairly wide and a tad thick but playable - but miss it and you're wet or lost in the trees. Approach shots demand forethought and accuracy thanks to strategically placed bunkers, elevated greens of a wide variety of shapes and sizes.
The bent grass greens were in very good condition. A few had some damage thanks to a really tough summer. They held well, ran true, and were about average speed - a 9 or so. Most had some slope with subtle breaks but not a lot of undulation.
The bunkers ranged in size from big to bigger - some were huge. The sand is soft and thick and they are well maintained, but some are very steep faced.
The New Course makes for a memorable round - quiet, great pace of play, fun, excellent conditions, and challenging.
White Bluff has some fantastic stay and play options and it's well worth a weekend trip. Read our review of our Stay and Play at White Bluff. Make sure you play both courses.
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Other Good Information:
Designer/Architect: Bruce Lietkze
Beware of water on 16 holes
and the 30 sand traps.
Service is very good and very friendly, the pro shop is well stocked, the grill has some very good food, and the practice facilites are good. Everything is very well maintained and manicured.
Condition of the greens is 8.5 and the green difficulty is 7.5 out of 10.
Type of Greens: Bent Grass
Walkable: Yes
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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