Harlingen Country Club Review

Texas Outside Rating: 8.7

Golf - Private Course · 18 Holes · Par 72
Harlingen
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Harlingen Country Club Review

Review of Harlingen Country Club Golf Course

Harlingen Country Club was established in 1946 and the golf course, designed by Leon Howard, opened in 1969.  Over the years the Harlingen Country Club Golf Course has gained a solid reputation as having the best conditions in the Rio Grande Valley – based on the courses we’ve played in the Valley, we would agree.  The course is well maintained and manicured, the conditions from the tee box to the cup are excellent, and the landscaping enhances the golfing experience.

The course is fairly straight forward and traditional with flat tree lined fairways, water on 11 holes, 20 greenside bunkers, and several dog legs (a couple of which offer great risk reward opportunities), both left and right.  On the front nine of Harlingen Country Club most of the holes are side by side but the separation between the fairways thanks to the trees, wide roughs, or water means that you don’t get that crowded feeling and you really need to spray the ball to land in the adjacent fairway.  The back nine meanders through a nice community of homes without as many side by side holes. 

In addition to very good conditions, Harlingen Country Club has some great holes.  A few that we really liked included:

  • #4 is a great 181 par three with two bodies of water to carry to a raised green with a big bunker on the right side
  • #6 is a short “go for the green” par 4 at 336 yards but it dog legs left, has water on the left side, and a very challenging oval green with bowl shaped slope which may make par a little tough
  • #13 is a 382 yard par 4 that has a lot to contend with – a dog leg right, trees, a ditch, and a raised green
  • On #16, a 400 yard par 4, you need to watch out for water that cuts into and almost all the way across the fairway about 120 yards from the green

The fairways at Harlingen Country Club range from ample to a little tight and all are flat and tree lined and a lot of them are lined by some nice homes that could come into play.  If you miss the fairway, the rough is also wide and playable and from under the trees it’s easy to get back to the fairway.  When we played both the rough and fairway were in excellent condition and a joy to hit from.

The greens are about average size and most are oval with some slope and contour, particularity around the perimeter of the green.  They were in excellent condition, ran true and fast at around 11, and held the ball well.  Most are slightly raised.

Like the rest of the course, the bunkers at Harlingen Country Club were perfect – well manicured with soft fluffy and thick sand.  Most are average size and all 20 are guarding the greens – no fairway bunkers.  The lips are manageable but don’t expect to roll out.

Bottom line – traditional and straightforward with excellent conditions and provides a relaxing and enjoyable round with an opportunity to turn in a good score.

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Course Slope & Ratings

Tee Box Yardage Rating Slope
Blue 6,261 70.2 123
White 5,625 67.1 113
Gold 6,541 71.6 128
Red 5,035 70.3 120

Course Information

Greens Condition
9.8
Greens Difficulty
8.0
Fairway Condition
9.0
Bunker Condition
9.3
GPS:
No
Walkable:
Easy
Scorecard
Course Map
Beware of water on 11 holes and the 20 sand traps.

Texas Outside Rating

Overall Rating:
8.7 out of 10
Beauty:
8.3
Difficulty:
8.0
Variety:
8.0
Fun to Play:
9.3
Value:
9.0
Condition:
9.5
Front Nine Rating:
8.6
Back Nine Rating:
8.7
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FEES & AMENITIES

Initiation Fees: Under $10,000
Monthly Dues: $201 to $400

Service is good and the members seem very friendly. The practice facilities and club amenites are very good and the restaurant serves some good food.

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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.