Canyon West Golf Course Review

Texas Outside Rating: 9.1

Golf - Public Course · 18 Holes · Par 72
Weatherford
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Canyon West Golf Course Review

Review and Rating of Canyon West Golf Course, Weatherford, TX

Canyon West is a one-of-a-kind course and well worth the drive to Weatherford for 18 holes of fun golf. The golf course winds through 6,653 yards of the foothills of Parker County just 28 minutes west of Fort Worth. Canyon West features elevated tee boxes extending over 1000 feet in elevation, rolling fairways, eight lakes, and a magnificent panoramic view of four different counties. Adding to the majestic vistas are beautiful cascading waterfalls, streams, fountains, and limestone walls and jutting limestone stabs along the fairways.  Rustic fences constructed out of cedar posts protect the native prairie grasses and wildflowers bordering the course. Prickly pear cactus, cholla, live oaks, mesquite, wild plum thickets, and a few big native pecan trees dot the course and protect the deer, quail, raccoons, bobcats, pumas, opossums, occasional skunk, and other wildlife.

You'll also find 21 scenes scattered throughout the course that represent authentic western memorabilia from life in Texas in the 1800s like wagons, tools, wagon wheels, a lantern, tack, and other rustic treasures and some cactus to the mix.  The course is also well landscaped and very maintained and the rates are very reasonable. 

Some of what we liked about playing Canyon West includes:

  • each nine is a little different and has it's own unique personality and characteristics for example the front is a more open links style where the back is tighter with tree lined fairways and water on 4 holes including an island green
  • 8 elevated tee boxes with panoramic vistas that require you to manage the wind as well as the elevation changes
  • lots of things that will force you to focus on both course management and club selection as well as test your game - blind shots, strong prevailing winds, uphill and downhill shots, uneven lies in the contoured fairways, dog legs left and right, tight fairways, risk reward opportunities, and tough approach shots
  • the views from the tips on all of the elevated tee boxes are stunning and the cascading waterfall over a massive limestone wall into a pond is very impressive - and the course is quiet and peaceful with no road traffic, barking dogs, sirens, or airplanes and only a scattering of big beautiful homes along a couple of the fairways
  • the course is demanding but very fair and golfer friendly with most holes acting like catcher's mitts with fairways that tend to kick the ball toward the middle and to the green, bunkers that prevent the ball from getting wet, wide fairways, and generous greens

It's not surprising that Canyon West Golf Club was named one of the "Top Five New Golf Courses in the Southwest" by the Dallas Morning News and has received rave reviews from Golf Digest, Par Fore Magazine, Acer Internet Golfer, Southwest Golf Magazine, Texas Monthly, The Arlington Morning News, and Scratch Golfer Magazine. All of the above are just some of the reasons why Canyon West Golf Club made Texas Outside's list of the Best Public Golf Courses in Texas.

And there are some really fun holes at Canyon West Golf Club, for example:

  • #4 is a fun 434-yard par five with a carry over a pond and uphill from the tips then a dog left down a roller coaster fairway and over a cascading rock-lined creek crossing the fairway in front of the green
  • #8 is a 168 yard par 3 with a dramatically elevated tee shot to a figure-eight green with a heart shaped bunker in front and two more bunkers on the back left
  • #12 is scenic it is requires a precise 168 yard shot to an island green with a long bunker along the back side protecting a pond and trees guarding the approach shot
  • #13, #14, and #15 are great holes with a mixture of a tight fairway and tough approach (thanks to an encroaching pond and a tree in the middle of the fairway) on 13, a 90-degree dog leg right on the 420-yard par 4 #14, and a giant sprawling oak splitting the fairway making the tee shot very demanding on #15

When we played in late September, the fairways were in fair condition and they were dry and firm (thanks to several days over 100 degrees!) offering extra roll you'll need to manage.  Most of the fairways are sloping and contoured and some are like a roller coaster ride.  They are ample with a generous rough that's playable, but miss the rough and you'll lost in the water, natural areas, or dense trees. 

The Canyon West greens were in very good condition, soft and held the ball well, and ran very true.  The greens are all shapes and sizes from oval to oblong, a 3 leaf clover, a figure eight, and more.  And they range in size from small to a little above average. They are gently sloping and some have some minor contour or in one case a ridge to contend with.  The ran speed a great speed of around 9 or so.

The bunkers were also near perfect.  The sand was thick and fluffy and a joy to hit out of.  The lips are thin and might get lucky and roll out.  We found the bunkers relativly easy to avoid. 

Bottom line - this is a fun and scenic course with an excellent layout that is well worth going out of your way to play.

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Course Slope & Ratings

Tee Box Yardage Rating Slope
Black 6,653 71.0 124
Blue 6,236 68.7 116
White 5,821 66.9 112
Gold 5,433 65.0 107

Course Information

Course Architect:
Wes & Stan Mickle
Greens Type:
Champion Bermuda
Greens Condition
9.8
Greens Difficulty
8.0
Fairway Condition
7.5
Bunker Condition
9.0
GPS:
Yes
Walkable:
hard walk
Scorecard
Beware of water on 9 holes and the 20 sand traps.

Texas Outside Rating

Overall Rating:
9.1 out of 10
Beauty:
9.3
Difficulty:
8.5
Variety:
9.7
Fun to Play:
10.0
Value:
9.2
Condition:
8.0
Front Nine Rating:
9.2
Back Nine Rating:
9.0
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FEES & AMENITIES

Approximate Weekend
Rates: $38.00 to $48.00

Service is great - very friendly and helpful. The 7200 square foot native limestone clubhouse is impressive - it sits on a tall knoll with stunning 360 degree views of the course and four counties from an upscale wrap around bar and restaurant area. The pro shop has the basics and the putting area and driving range are adequate.

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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.