Hombre Golf Club - The Bad Course Review

Texas Outside Rating: 9.1

Golf - Public Course · 9 Holes · Par 72
Panama City Beach, Fl

Number6 Every_club Sunset_shot

Hombre Golf Club - The Bad Course Review

How can you visit Panama City Beach and if you're from Texas (or any State for that matter) not play a course called The Hombre with 3 nines called The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly - with a name like that you just have to check it out. We did and we were pleasantly surprised. We played The Bad and The Ugly nines and love it - great condition, scenic, lots of variety, challenging but fair, and very fun. The Hombre is the annual host to the PGA Tour Qualifying School and has earned a reputation for intimidation.

The Hombre Bad and Ugly nines opened in December 1989 and The Good nine opened in 2001. Each of the Hombre nines wanders through some homes, across and along wetlands, lakes, and marsh. The Hombre fairways are framed by a stunning assortment of palms, pines, and azaleas and are flat, like most Florida courses. Each of the nines has it's own character and challenges - The Good has a more traditional feel and is the easiest of the three; The Bad can live up to it's name and is the hardest of the three; and The Ugly is far from it with some scenic holes and fun holes and it seems much more open after playing The Bad.

The greens will also live up to the name - some are good, some are bad, and others are just plain ugly. They come in all shapes and sizes, with variety of slope and undulation, and some are turtle top with a fairly steep slope back to the fairway, bunkers, trees, or water. All are about average speed and were in good condition when we played.

 

 

We loved The Bad nine - very challenging, very pretty, and lots of variety made for a fun round. This nine offers a little bit of everything - doglegs, water on 8 of 9 nines, wide open to narrow fairways, plenty of tight approach shots, and even an island green! The first three holes are a tad intimidating - a straight and pretty 581 yard par 5, a 457 yard par 4 dog leg right with lots of water on the right side, and a 182 yard par three that is mostly carry over the lake - and then The Bad gets even more challenging and fun.

 

When we played, the fairways were in well above average condition and the rough (cut thin or covered with pine needles under the trees) was playable if you're able to dodge the pine and palms trees to get back to the fairway. The greens were also in excellent condition. Most of the 29 traps are protecting the greens, making your approach shots critical if you want to score well. The slope and rating are based on playing The Bad and The Ugly. This is a must play course if you're in the area.

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Course Slope & Ratings

Tee Box Yardage Rating Slope
Blue 3,016 70.2 131
White 2,684 66.8 125
Gold 3,404 73.8 137
Red 2,440 68.9 132

Course Information

Greens Condition
9.0
Greens Difficulty
8.0
GPS:
Yes
Walkable:
Very
Beware of water on 8 holes and the 29 sand traps.

Texas Outside Rating

Overall Rating:
9.1 out of 10
Beauty:
8.0
Difficulty:
8.5
Variety:
10.0
Fun to Play:
10.0
Value:
9.0
Condition:
9.0
Front Nine Rating:
9.5
Back Nine Rating:
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FEES & AMENITIES

Approximate Weekend
Rates: $59.00 to $79.00

Service is good and there is a good practice facility.

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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.