Glenlakes Golf Club - Lakes Nine Review

Texas Outside Rating: 7.8

Golf - Public Course · 9 Holes · Par 35
Foley, AL
Website

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Glenlakes Golf Club - Lakes Nine Review

Glenlakes Golf Club with 27 holes of great golf is widely regarded as one of the Gulf Coast's premier golf facilities and best values. Each of the three nine hole courses is unique and different from it's sister courses:

  • Vista makes for an enjoyable and relaxing warm up round as it plays through the trees with wide open let-er-rip fairways but watch out for water on six holes, raised greens, and some strategically white sand bunkers - here is a link to our review of the Vista Nine at Glenlakes Golf Club
  • Dunes has a Scottish links feel and is a spectacular layout and a true test of all of your golf skills thanks to strategic dramatic mounding, extensive bunkers, ups and downs, and undulating fairways and greens -- read our review of the Dunes Nine at Glenlakes Golf Club
  • Lakes is a resort style nine and at 3019 yards from the tips is the shortest and most golfer friendly of the three nines with generous fairways but water on nine holes and 29 bunkers that can come into play

With a par of 35 and five sets of tee boxes with yardages ranging from 1875 to 3019 yards, the Glenlakes Course is the shortest and easiest of the three nines at Glenlakes Golf Club.  The fairways are flat and ample, the rough is wide and playable, the greens have minor slope, and the water and bunkers seemed easy to avoid.  Most of the fairways are traditional and straightforward and you can see the pin from the tee box and know what you’re up against.  The approach shots can be demanding because most of the greens are raised and well guarded.  Other than that, the Lakes Course gives you an opportunity to have a relaxing and well scoring round and is suitable for play for all skill levels.    

There are some holes that are fun and somewhat challenging, for example:

  • The two par 3s (189 and 183 yards from the tips) require you to carry a lake and on #7 stuff it on a raised green guarded by 2 big bunkers
  • #5 is only 357 yards from the tips but it plays through a fairly tight tree lined fairway, past a couple big fairway bunkers that pinch the fairway, and a two tier green with some significant slope that is surrounded by 4 good sized bunkers
  • #6 will tempt you with a good risk reward opportunity to try and fly the lake and trees or to thread a small gap in the trees to try and shorten the approach to this dog leg right green
  • The #1 handicap 9thhole is only 370 yards but the raised green with 4 bunkers set off to the right requires a precise shot and trees could block your approach shot if you’re not far enough left

The fairways are flat with trees and a scattering of mounds lining them plus homes set well back but in play if you spray the ball.  The fairways and rough were in very good condition when we played in mid February. 

The Lakes Course greens were also in very good condition, held the ball well, and ran true, but a tad slow around an 8 or so.  Most of the greens are relatively flat with minor slope and little to no contour.  They range from average to large and putting was pretty straightforward.  A lot of the greens are raised preventing a bump and run and requiring you to hold the green or you’re on a pretty wide puttable fringe or back in the fairway.  All of the Lakes’ greens are guarded by at least one bunker.

The bunkers range from average to large and most had a manageable lip of 6 inches or so.  The sand varied from soft and light to thick and thin.  And some of the bunkers needed some maintenance and TLC to remove the weeds and grass.  Although there are 29 bunkers, we didn’t have any trouble avoiding them and it wasn’t because we were playing well. 

Bottom line – a straightforward and easy nine and a good warm-up for the Dunes Course which is fantastic!

The above Rating and Slope are based on playing Dunes and Lakes Nine together. 

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Course Slope & Ratings

Tee Box Yardage Rating Slope
Blue 2,821 69.3 123
White 2,437 74.7 116
Gold 3,019 71.6 128
Red 2,322 68.6 117

Course Information

Course Architect:
Bruce Devlin & Robert Von Haggee
Greens Type:
Champion Bermuda
Greens Condition
9.0
Greens Difficulty
7.5
Fairway Condition
9.0
Bunker Condition
7.3
GPS:
Yes
Walkable:
Easy
Scorecard
Beware of water on 6 holes and the 29 sand traps.

Texas Outside Rating

Overall Rating:
7.8 out of 10
Beauty:
7.5
Difficulty:
7.3
Variety:
7.5
Fun to Play:
8.3
Value:
8.0
Condition:
9.0
Front Nine Rating:
7.3
Back Nine Rating:
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FEES & AMENITIES

Approximate Weekend
Rates: $30.00 to $65.00

Service is ok, the pro shop has a limited amount of gear, the practice facilites are adequate, and the grill has the basics.

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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.