Maxwell Municipal Golf Course Review

Texas Outside Rating: 7.3

Golf - Public Course · 18 Holes · Par 72
Abilene
Website · Locate This Course

Img_7058 Img_7060 Img_7062

Maxwell Municipal Golf Course Review

Maxwell Golf Course is owned and operated by the City of Abilene and the course does its best to leverage the natural terrain to try and deliver an interesting and fun round of golf.  Which means the fairways are perfectly flat with a pockets of trees lining them and there aren't a lot of memorable or unique holes.   Maxwell Golf Course was built in the 30’s and  like most older courses, it’s short by today’s standards (6129 yards from the tips),  very traditional with no tricks, and gives you an opportunity to turn in a good score.

The fairways are flat and a number of them are side by side, which sometimes give you a good opportunity to recover and stuff it on the green if the fairway doglegs and if you can fly the trees.  To keep you on your game, you’ll encounter 9 dog legs, one fairway that horseshoe around a creek, and one boomerang shaped hole.  One some of the dog legs, you’ll be presented with a good risk reward opportunity if you think you can fly the trees – and if you make it, you’ll be a chip shot away from, or maybe even on the green.    For example, #3 is a 349 yard par 4 that dog legs left and gives you a shot at hitting the green if you can fly the trees. 

We thought the fairways were a little tight and in a number of cases you needed to be accurate off the tee box if you wanted to be on in regulation.  And most of the holes are short; so long hitters really need to manage club selection.   Wind can also make Maxwell Golf Course a little tougher than you expect. 

Where you need to deploy your “A” game is on stuffing it on the green and getting the ball in the cup in less than 3 stokes.  When we played in late January, the greens were running about a 12 or more – they normally run fast but around a 10 or so.  Most of the greens are average size but the majority of them have severe slope (typically back to front) and some have slope and undulation, making it even more difficult to control your putts.  A lot of the greens are elevated and since it’s hard to get the ball to hold, a bump and run strategy seemed to work ok.  Practice putting before you head out! 

When we played in January, the greens and fairways were dormant but the greens were in very good condition and pretty true if you could judge the speed.  The fairways were dry and a little rough (maybe a 7 out of 10) and the rough was pretty rough – a combo of grass, dirt, and gravel.  The good news is that the dry flat conditions give you a lot of roll and extra yardage. 

There are only 8 bunkers and all of them line one side of the green.  They range in size, have a small lip and they weren’t in very good condition – thin, hard, gritty sand and some grass popping through the sand.    

A stream lines some of the holes and if you spray the ball, you’ll be gone.  A small pond can also come into play on a couple holes and look closely at the scorecard to find a couple hidden small dry creek beds that cross the fairway near the green. 

Bottom line – Maxwell Golf Course is affordable, can be challenging thanks to narrow fairways, wind, and challenging greens. 

Img_7064 Img_7066 Img_7068

Course Slope & Ratings

Tee Box Yardage Rating Slope
Blue 6,129 68.1 111
White 5,877 66.9 109
Red 5,031 66.5 105

Course Information

Course Architect:
O. D. Maxwell
Greens Type:
Champion Bermuda
Greens Condition
7.5
Greens Difficulty
9.0
GPS:
No
Walkable:
Very easy walk
Beware of water on 3 holes and the 8 sand traps.

Texas Outside Rating

Overall Rating:
7.3 out of 10
Beauty:
7.0
Difficulty:
7.5
Variety:
6.5
Fun to Play:
7.5
Value:
8.5
Condition:
6.5
Front Nine Rating:
7.0
Back Nine Rating:
7.0
Img_7057

FEES & AMENITIES

Approximate Weekend
Rates: $25.00 to $35.00

The pro shop has the basics but the food is limited to some microwave items and hot dogs. There is a driving range and putting green. Service is friendly. The facilities are dated, but who cares, you’re here for the love of golf. Pace of play can be a little slow - the course stays pretty busy.

Img_7067

 

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.