Buffalo Creek Golf Club Review

Buffalo Creek Golf Club Review

Buffalo Creek Golf Club is a fantastic layout designed by Tom Weiskopf and Jay Moorish to take advantage of the natural rolling terrain to provide an enjoyable, scenic, and demanding round of golf.   In 2011 the Dallas Morning News rated Buffalo Creek as #17 in their Top 25 High Priced Courses ($61 to $80), Zagat labeled it as "a gem with two of the hardest holes in the area and an excellent challenge," and annually Golf Digest has given it 4 stars. The course plays up and down the gently rolling hills,  through the trees,  and past a very upscale neighborhood with some huge beautiful homes lining the fairways. 

We played in June 2010 when Texas had suffered a horrible winter with frost, snow, ice, and freezing conditions followed by a severe drought and 26 days of 100 degrees.  95% of the other courses we played in 2010 were struggling to keep the fairways green and soft and the majority of the greens typically had some winter as well as some hot weather damage.  But that wasn't the case at Buffalo Creek - the fairways were lush and green, the rough was in near perfect condition, and the greens were excellent - what a joy to play! 

In addition to excellent conditions, one of the things that we really like about Buffalo Creek is that each hole is a little different from the other holes and each hole offers something that puts a premium on shot making.  You'll need to manage dog legs left and right, risk reward opportunities, uneven lies, huge bunkers, tough approach shots, creeks and ponds, and elevation changes.  All of that variety and a superb mix of holes with varying yardages meant that we got to test our skills with almost every club in the bag.  Buffalo Creek Golf Club has:

• par 3s that from the tips are 156 yards up to 227 yards
• par 4s from 347 up to the staunch, round-busting 481-yard 18th
• three par 5s, one of which could be reachable in two at 523 yards while the other two are a demanding 572 and 611 yards

The front nine is fantastic - it's scenic with lots of outstanding and unique holes that are a blast to play, and some that are very challenging.  For example:

• #1 is a fun starting hole with a creek to carry and an uphill landing zone with a huge bunker complex
• #4 is a drivable 227 yard par 4 from a slightly elevated tee box but it's a little tricky with a narrow fairway lined with big bunkers, mounds and a hill with a hidden creek on the blind side, and a challenging raised green complex
• #6 is one of the hardest holes in North Texas - a 478 yard par 4 with a large fairway bunker and a lake that follows the fairway from tee to 150 yards from the green where the fairway turns left and requires an accurate shot to nail the green and avoid ponds on both sides of the fairway and bunkers on each side of the green
• #7 is an excellent 397 yard par 4 that horseshoes around a big lake to a green with a large bunker and water in front

We were told that most golfers like the back nine more and find it a shot or two harder.    But we didn't think that was the case - to us, the back seemed a little flatter, more straightforward, and with some good but not as fun or unique holes as the front.  Then we came to the last three finishing holes and almost changed our mind.   #16 is a demanding 611 par 5 that if you spray it left you're wet or slice it you're lost in the woods and you second shot  needs to fly a creek and pass through a narrow fairway pinched by trees on each side and then you've got an uphill shot to a green guarded by two huge bunkers.   #17 is 171 yard uphill par three to a huge light bulb shaped green with a treacherous bunker that lines the entire right side of the bunker.  #18 is a fantastic finishing hole with a downhill shot from an elevated tee box to a fairway that dogs right and it requires accuracy off the tee box to avoid the trees on the right and miss the string of four fairway bunkers on the left.  

The fairways at Buffalo Creek Golf Club are ample and forgiving but if you miss them you're OB in the back yard of a very expensive home, wet, sandy, or lost in the trees.  The fairways were lush and plush with a wide playable rough.  Mounds, uphill and downhill slope, and lots of fairway contour can cause some uneven lies.

The greens range from large to huge and are all shapes and forms.  Most are raised and well guarded requiring a precise shot - the good news is they are soft and hold well.  They were in near perfect condition when we played.  Most have some slope ranging from minor to sever plus you'll need to read tiers, a couple ridges, and some undulation.  They were running around a 10 to 11 and ran true and smooth.  Some of the best greens we have played in 2011. 

The bunkers range from large to big enough to hold a tractor trailer and a couple of VWs - and there are plenty of them in the fairway and around the bunkers.  However, we didn't hit as many as we thought we would which we attribute to large fairways and big greens.  The sand is brown and firm, the lips are small and manageable, and all the traps are well maintained. 

Bottom line - Buffalo Creek Golf Club is a must play with lots of variety and interesting holes, it's demanding but fair, and when we played it was in excellent condition.  You'll want to play this course again and course knowledge may make it a little easier.