Cowan Creek Golf Club Review

Cowan Creek Golf Club Review

Review of Cowan Creek Golf Course

Cowan Creek Golf Course is the newest addition to Del Webb's Sun City retirement community in Georgetown.  On over 315 acres, each of three Del Webb courses has it own unique design and personality - Legacy Hills is a parkland type course (narrower lawn like fairways and lots of trees) and is the longest but the most playable, White Wing is the tightest and the toughest, and Cowan Creek has a resort course feel with wide forgiving fairways, not a lot of trouble, and expansive greens.   

Cowan Creek opend  for play in November 2008 with a front nine that plays through this well known retirement community with homes set well back off most of the fairways and a back nine that is very fun as it plays through some scenic gently rolling north Texas Hill Country with lots of mesquite trees, cactus, and wildlife.  In fact, someone described Cowan Creek as "Hill Country Golf Lite." 

Cowan Creek has a real resort or retirement course feel to it - wide open and forgiving fairways, no tricks, few hazards to content with, 5 sets of tee boxes to choose from,  large greens, great service, and very good conditions.  With yardages ranging from 5034 to 7050, you can bit off as much as you want but if you pick the right set of tee boxes for your handicap, you can easily have a very fun, relaxing, and low scoring round. 

To make it fun and challenging, Cowan Creek does offer some blind shots (a couple holes have an electronic Tee Sentry to let you know when it is safe to hit), elevated greens and tee boxes, rolling contoured fairways, water on three holes, strategically placed bunkers, forced carries, dog legs, and a couple great risk reward shots.  For example on the front nine:

• #1 will test your "go-for-it" attitude with a forced carry over a creek and a risk reward opportunity to shorten the hole off the tee box for the longer hitters
• #5 is a very scenic and short 138 yard downhill shot to a large green protected in front by a huge bunker
• #7 has a large strategically placed bunker that spits the fairway and without any course layout cards you don't know which side to aim for the first time you play this hole - I'll spill the beans and say the left side gives you a little better approach shot
• #9 is a fun downhiller with 4 strategically placed bunkers - two make the drive landing zone a little tight and two make the approach shot challenging

We loved the back nine - it's more scenic, a little tougher, and has some fantastic holes.  Here are some that we loved:

• #12 is a 515 yard par 5 with an excellent risk reward opportunity to shorten this #2 handicap dog leg left beauty (if you take the risk and miss short you're history and if you're long you may catch the bunker) which also has a pretty tough approach to a left offset green surrounded with a drop off that leads down to a creek - don't miss the green or small fringe!  
• #13 has one of those Tee Sentry's which is needed for the blind shot off the tee box leading to a downhill second shot to the green making club selection critical
• our favorite hole was #14 which has a very high risk reward opportunity to try to carry the natural area and pond protecting the green 387 yards out or you can take the safer approach down the left where you need to miss the bunker guarded the left side of the fairway and the limestone lined pond all along the right side of the fairway - a fun and scenic hole
• and 18 is great downhill finishing hole

When we played in September,  all three courses had just survived a torrential downpour which put a lot of holes underwater and did some significant damage.  We could still see some of the rain and flood damage on Cowan Creek, but the fairways were in near perfect condition as were the greens.  The fairways are rolling and most are contoured making for some uneven lies. 

The fairways are  wide and forgiving with a few strategically placed bunkers.  The first cut is playable and ball seems to stay on top making it easy to find and hit.  But if you miss the fairway and the first cut, you're probably history somewhere in the natural area with lots of rocks, trees, cactus, and wildlife - 4 baby armadillos almost got in our cart and we saw several deer among the trees.  You should be able to avoid the water with the exception of #14 and we found it easy to avoid most of the bunkers. 

The soft white sand bunkers were still a little wet from the recent rain but very playable.  They were in excellent condition with thick sand and small lips. The rough around the bunkers is thick and challenging. 

The greens were excellent when we played.  They were rolling very true and at a very good speed of about 10 to 10.5.  The majority of the greens are huge and they held well.  There is plenty of slope, some undulation, and multiple tiers but the were easy to read and putt. 

Cowan Creek, despite the damage from the rain, was very well maintained, well landscaped, and included a number of water and rock features that make the course esthetically pleasing. 

This is fun track and one where if you play smart you will have a very enjoyable, relaxing, and low scoring round.  This course is home to a lot of seniors and the pace of play can be a little slow - but be patience, its well worth it.