Maridoe Golf Club Review

Texas Outside Rating: 9.3

Golf - Private Course · 18 Holes · Par 72
Carrollton
Website · Locate This Course

Dsc_0401 Dsc_0417 Dsc_0409

Maridoe Golf Club Review

Honors Golf Club is now Maridoe Golf Club and in 2017 underwent significant renovations.  We have not played Maridoe yet.  Here is a dated review of The Honors Golf Club

Review of The Honors Golf Club Dallas

As one of Dallas' oldest private golf clubs, The Honors Club Club was originally founded in 1881 as The Phoenix Club and Ralph Plummer designed the first 18 holes (with a little help from Lee Trevino on the back nine) which opened in 1954.  In 1999 D.A. Weibring completely re-designed the course including new bent grass greens and tif-sport Bermuda fairways.  Today, The Honors Golf Club is focused on providing a pure golf experience while building upon the Club’s tradition of commitment to excellence and quality.  And that commitment has resulted in lots of accolades, some of which include:

  • the Dallas Morning News ranked it in the "Top Ten Private Courses in DFW"
  • Roger Staubach claims "there are few golf courses that I really enjoy playing and The Honors Golf Club is one of them - great people, great golf"
  • Brady Tinker of the DFW Sports Beat claims "There is nothing like this anywhere in Dallas - there just isn't.  It's phenomenal."
  • Dallas Morning News stated "it's a diamond in the rough" and rated it #31 in the "Best Courses in Texas"
  • Lee Trevino said "it is one of the best in the area...A hidden jewel"
  • Texas Outside rated it in our "Best Private Courses in Texas," "Best Courses in Dallas," and "Best of the Best in Texas"

The Honors Golf Club is a fairly traditional layout on 212 acres and in most cases you can see the pin and what you're up against and it includes some long daunting par 4s, some demanding par 3s with forced carries over water, a couple  excellent risk-reward opportunities, unexpected elevation changes, and some fun par 5s - all of which play by mature cedars, elms, live oaks, blooming crape myrtles, and a variety of colorful landscaping plus creeks, ponds, and the largest private lake in Dallas.  In addition to all that, what really made The Honors Golf Club special from our perspective included:

  • the trees, landscaping, waterfalls, clear creeks, white sand bunkers, and cross cut fairways all contribute to a very eye pleasing round of golf
  • the course is very well manicured and maintained
  • the bent grass greens are huge and run fast and true
  • the conditions from tee to pin are near perfect
  • the course is fair but demanding and will throw a little bit of everything at you - tight fairways, thick rough, water, strategically placed bunkers, dog legs, forced carries, uphill and downhill shots, and more
  • service is first class and the halfway house has drinks (tea, soda, hot chocolate, cappuccino, etc.) and snacks

When we played in November 2013, the fairways were in near perfect condition as was the rough which was a tad thick but playable.  Most of the fairways are a little tight, all are tree lined, and they are unencumbered by homes and barking dogs! Some of The Honors Golf Club fairways are flat, some have slight uphill and downhill shots, and a few have some slope and contour.  There are some surprising elevation changes and five sets of tee boxes - don't bite off more than you can chew.  Based on the tee box, the hole plays very different and the handicap is different - for example, from the back tee boxes #4 is the #1 handicap but the #5 handicap from the middle two tee boxes and #3 for the ladies - which makes it fun playing from different tee boxes.  

The bent grass greens at The Honors Golf Club are huge and a couple are big enough to have two different zip codes!  Some are raised, most are guarded, and you'll find some slope, undulation, and tiers - pin placement can be challenging.  They run true and smooth and typically around an 11. 

The bunkers were also in excellent condition with soft, thick, white sand.  Most are large and have a somewhat steep and deep face. And all are strategically placed.

Some of the holes that we loved at The Honors Golf Club include:

  • #4 is a beautiful and demanding par 3 that's 195 yards from the tips and all carry over a pond to a huge raised green with a hidden bunker on the back left and another steep-faced bunker on the right
  • #7 is a 378-yard par 4 that is the #1 handicap for the blue and white tees thanks to a big lake on the right which pinches the fairway as the fairway horseshoes around it to a raised green with water and a bunker putting a premium on the approach shot
  • #16, a 569-yard par 5, is fun with it's elevated tee shot that requires an intimidating carry over a natural area and a creek to a tight tree lined fairway that dog legs right to the green
  • #17 is a short (from the three forward tee boxes) uphill dog leg right that offers an excellent risk-reward shot to come close to the pin if you think you can carry the trees and bunker - from the back tees it's 408 yards with a carry over water

Bottom line - a great layout, excellent conditions, and some excellent holes

Dsc_0403 Dsc_0415 Dsc_0422

Course Slope & Ratings

Tee Box Yardage Rating Slope
Black 7,037 74.6 132
Blue 6,425 71.4 125
White 5,941 69.2 123
Gold 6,892 73.6 127
Red 5,152 71.2 127

Course Information

Course Architect:
D. A. Weibring
Greens Type:
Bent
Greens Condition
9.8
Greens Difficulty
9.0
Fairway Condition
9.5
Bunker Condition
10.0
GPS:
No
Walkable:
Yes
Beware of water on 14 holes and the 43 sand traps.

Texas Outside Rating

Overall Rating:
9.3 out of 10
Beauty:
9.5
Difficulty:
8.8
Variety:
8.8
Fun to Play:
10.0
Value:
8.8
Condition:
9.8
Front Nine Rating:
9.3
Back Nine Rating:
9.4
Dsc_0419

FEES & AMENITIES

Initiation Fees: $10,001 to $25,000
Monthly Dues: $601 to $800

Service is top notch, the club house is upscale with a good restaurant and bar and well stocked pro shop. The practice facilities are good.

Dsc_0430

 

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.