Grapevine Golf Course - Bluebonnet Course Review

Texas Outside Rating: 8.8

Golf - Public Course · 9 Holes · Par 72
Grapevine
Website · Locate This Course

Img_5147 Img_5146 Img_5144

Grapevine Golf Course - Bluebonnet Course Review

Grapevine Golf Course has 27 holes of some very good golf.  The Dallas Morning News rated it #19 of the "Top 25 Best Daily Fee Courses" and Avid Golfer rated it in the "Top 50 Public Courses" as well as a "Best Value Under $50."   On the weekends all three nines are in play and the pro shop determines with two nines you'll play during your round.  During the week, one of the nines is out of play for maintenance. 

Byron Nelson and Joe Finger designed the original 18 (Mockingbird and Pecan) which opened in 1979.   D. A. Weibring was hired for a major expansion and modernization renovation project for the original 18 and to add an additional 9 holes which opened as Bluebonnet in the fall of 1999. 

Each nine has its own unique personality and characteristics but common to all three are excellent conditions, white soft sand bunkers, memorable and fun holes,  reasonable rates, and low flying aircraft on their approach to DFW.   Each nine has 4 sets of tee boxes and regardless of which nines you play, the course is a little short at 6983 yards.   Mockingbird is the flattest, Bluebonnet has surprising elevation changes, and Pecan is the hardest and demands accuracy off the tee box and on a number of the approach shots.

Of the three nines at Grapevine Golf Course, Bluebonnet was the most fun to play - good variety, scenic, somewhat challenging, and memorable holes.  Each of the holes offers something to force you to pay attention if you want to score well - you'll find uphill as well as downhill shots, tough approaches, fairways ranging from ample to tight, water, dog legs, and blind shots.  

Holes 5, 6, and 7 have surprising elevation changes and are a blast to play:

  • #5 is a beautiful uphill shot to a rolling and contoured fairway and a roller coaster ride to a dog leg left green that is 506 yards away from the tee box
  • #6 gives you an opportunity to pull out the big dog and see how far you can drive it from a dramatic elevated tee box - but you better be accurate and miss the two fairway bunkers and nail the somewhat tight fairway
  • #7 is a short but tough uphill 303 yard par 4 followed by #8 which is a downhill 178 yard par 3

What a ride!   Bluebonnet and Pecan together are the toughest and longest  when played together - 7060 yards, 136 slope, and 74.5 rating. 

Bluebonnet's fairways seem a little tight and they were in very good condition when we played.  The greens on Bluebonnet are about average size and a wide variety of different shapes.  The greens held well, rolled true, and were fairly easy to read.  You'll need to manage both slope and undulation and pin placement could be a killer. 

The scorecard shows water on 5 of nine holes, but it only comes into play on three holes.  There are only 14 bunkers to contend with, 8 of which are guarding the greens.  All of the traps are about average size and filled with thick soft white sand. 

If you can pick the right club to manage the elevation changes and keep the ball fairly straight, you may be should be able to turn in a very good round on this nine.   And a fantastic round of 18 if you play Bluebonnet and Mockingbird together. 

Read our review of Grapevine's Mockingbird and Pecan  nines.

The slope and rating are based on playing the combo of the Grapevine Golf Course's Pecan and Bluebonnet nines.

Img_5138 Img_5136 Img_5130

Course Slope & Ratings

Tee Box Yardage Rating Slope
Blue 3,196 72.2 131
White 2,977 69.9 126
Gold 3,489 74.5 136
Red 2,522 70.9 117

Course Information

Course Architect:
Redesigned by D.A. Weibring
Greens Type:
TIF Eagle
Greens Condition
8.5
Greens Difficulty
8.0
GPS:
No
Walkable:
Yes - little hard
Scorecard
Beware of water on 5 holes and the 14 sand traps.

Texas Outside Rating

Overall Rating:
8.8 out of 10
Beauty:
8.8
Difficulty:
8.5
Variety:
8.7
Fun to Play:
9.0
Value:
9.0
Condition:
8.5
Front Nine Rating:
8.8
Back Nine Rating:
8.8
Img_5143

FEES & AMENITIES

Approximate Weekend
Rates: $36.00 to $50.00

The pro shop has the basics, the grill has a good menu, service is okay, and the practice facilities are more than adequate.

Img_5151

 

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.