Bentwater - Weiskopf Course Review

Bentwater - Weiskopf Course Review

Review of Bentwater's Weiskopf Golf Course

Bentwater is a master planned, gated community with three excellent courses and outstanding amenities including a yacht club and marina, club house, tennis courts, spa, beautiful houses on the lake, and 3 very good 18 hole golf courses. 

Each of the golf courses is a little different from the other, for example:

• Weiskopf is open and forgiving with broad rolling fairways and it is the easiest of the three 18s
• Miller was designed around a natural creek and a 3-acre lake and it plays through towering pines and pine straw roughs similar to those at Augusta National - read our review of Miller Golf Course to learn why we rated this 18 a 9 out of 10 stars
• Grand Pines is the most exclusive of the three 18s and it's a beautiful course that plays through Sam Houston National Forest - here is a link to the review of Grand Pines which made our list of the Best Private Courses in Texas

The Weiskopf 18 is a Weiskopf and Morrish design and regarded as the easiest of the three 18s at Bentwater, but with a slope of 121 to 137 it's no walk in the park.  If you pick the right set of tee boxes (there are 5 to choose from) and play smart, you'll have a very fun round and walk into the clubhouse with a good score!

The front nine is your opportunity for some pars or better - it's straightforward and traditional, you can typically see what you're up against from the tee box, and the fairways are open and forgiving.  But there are 35 bunkers to avoid, you'll need to stay out of the trees and back yards, and avoid the water on the 213 yard par 3 #8. 

The back nine is a lot more fun with some outstanding holes and it's got 4 holes that play along Lake Conroe and some huge beautiful homes.  Some of the holes that we really liked included:

• #11 is a fun 542 yard par 5 with a slight uphill climb and then a dog right past a minefield of 11 bunkers
• #12 is a split fairway - the right side is tight and longer with a dog leg left and slight downhill shot to the green with Lake Conroe on the left and back side of the green; taking the left side is shorter but requires a good tee shot to avoid the trees that pinch the fairway on your drive and then you'll need a precise shot across Lake Conroe to stuff it on the green guarded by three bunkers and Lake Conroe
• #14 is a 202 yard par three with Lake Conroe along the entire right side
• #16 is a good 417 yard par 4 with a huge bunker waiting for your drive followed by a dog leg right and an approach shot over a narrow channel of Lake Conroe about 220 yards from the green and one more about 100 yards out

The fairways are fairly flat, wide and forgiving, and lined by trees and some beautiful huge million dollar homes.  When we played the fairways were dry and firm which meant lots of extra roll.  They were spotty with some damaged areas and brown dry spots, but very playable - typical for a dry summer in Texas.  The rough was cut about an inch and a half thick and in pretty good shape and not that hard to get out of.  Miss the rough and you're under the trees and pine needles, in the lake, or lost in a back yard.

The Weiskopf greens are large, a variety of shapes, and most are guarded with one to three bunkers.  Most of the greens were recovering from some winter damage, which in some cases required us to move our ball to get a smooth shot at the cup.  The greens ran true, had some minor slope, a few tiers, and held the ball well.  When we played they were running a tad slow around 8 - normally they run around 10 to 11.   With the damage we would rate them a 6 but for this review gave them an 8 which would be what we heard was normally the condition and what they have been like when we played in the past.

The bunkers at Weiskopf were great - soft fluffy sand and in great shape.  They ranged in size from small pot bunkers to some big monsters.  The lips also ranged from small (you might get lucky and roll out) to steep and deep.