Old Brickyard Review

Texas Outside Rating: 8.6

Golf - Public Course · 18 Holes · Par 70
Ferris
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Old Brickyard Review

Old Brickyard Golf Course in Ferris is about 20 miles south of Dallas on Interstate 45 and is well worth the drive - this is a fantastic course. The course leverages the natural terrain to create lots of elevation changes and ups and downs. Old Brickyard is also on the site of the old Ferris Brick Company and the course was designed around three quarries that were dug out by the brick company. Coupled together, the quarries and the elevation changes make Old Brickyard a very fun, unique, and interesting 18 holes of golf.

Old Brickyard is short by today's standards - three tee boxes with yardages from 4478 to 6280 - but it's still no walk in the park. The front nine is outstanding - it's challenging, unique, and every hole is different from the others. This nine is the hardest of the nines and is probably a little longer than the scorecard claims thanks to elevation changes and uphill shots. You'll encounter several elevation changes, blind shots, lots of ups and downs, ravines and valleys, water, pinched fairways, and elevated greens. The bad news is that three of the holes play along busy Interstate 45 which can be a little distracting, but the good news is that those few holes demand focus and you may not even notice the cars and trucks buzzing by. A very fun nine.

The back nine of Old Brickyard is a little flatter and more traditional but has several interesting and demanding holes as it plays around the three old quarries. This nine may be easier of the nines but it still ate three of my golf balls and caused me to get some sand in my hair!

Some of our favorite holes include:

#2 which is the #1 handicap - a 455 yard par 4 with an uphill shot of the tee box to a heavily mounded and contoured fairway and than a long downhill shot though a narrow fairway with a pond on the right and tall hills on the left and a raised green with little room for error
#5 is a long 562 yard par five with an uphill shot off the tee box to a landing zone littered with 4 bunkers and an approach shot that has to carry a deep and wide grass ravine to a green that will be hard to hit and hold
the par 3 #8 has an elevated tee box with a forced carry 207 yards over the quarry and natural area to the green
#9 nine demands accuracy off the tee box to thread the fairway pinched by a hill on each side and to stop short of the quarry and then you'll need a precise shot to stuff it on a slightly downhill 2 tier green guarded by a bunker, hills, and water
#10 is the #2 handicap and one of those holes you'll love or hate - a 553 yard par five that horseshoes around the quarry and requires accuracy off the elevated tee box to carry the lake and land on a narrow fairway thanks to tall hills on the left and the quarry on the right; then you face a huge risk reward shot to carry the lake to get you closer to the pin, followed by a demanding approach shot - par this beauty and you deserve a margarita
#11 is fun as it dog legs left along the quarry
#12 has a dramatic elevated tee box (you can see forever) and a good risk reward shot to try and miss the trees and carry the quarry to shorten the dog right to the green - a great birdie opportunity

We played in the middle of August when all of Texas was suffering from a harsh winter and a severe drought and 99% of the Texas courses were in pretty poor condition. That was also the case with Old Brickyard Golf Course - the fairways were dry and cracked and hard and firm. The rough was the same with a sprinkling of weeds and dirt. The lack of rain also meant that they were pumping from the quarries which were down 5 to 7 feet.

The greens on the other hand were near perfect with little to no browning or damage. They held the ball well, ran true, but were a little slow and bumpy. They ranged in size from average to large and all had some gentle to severe slope. Some were raised, some well guarded, and some difficult thanks to tiers and slope.

The bunkers were average with hard firm sand.

Bottom line - Old Brickyard Golf Course is a blast to play with some very fun and unique holes, lots of variety, and some demanding holes. It is also a great deal and they have lots of coupons and specials available to save you even more money.

Course Slope & Ratings

Tee Box	Yardage	Rating	Slope
Blue	6,280	70.6	125
White	5,852	68.6	119
Red	4,478	62.5	102

Course Information

Greens Type:: TIF Eagle
Greens Condition: 9.0
Greens Difficulty: 7.5
Fairway Condition: 6.0
Bunker Condition: 6.0
GPS:: No
Walkable:: Hard walk
Scorecard
Beware of water on 7 holes and the 48 sand traps.

Texas Outside Rating

Overall Rating:: 8.6 out of 10
Beauty:: 8.0
Difficulty:: 8.5
Variety:: 9.0
Fun to Play:: 9.5
Value:: 9.0
Condition:: 7.5
Front Nine Rating:: 8.8
Back Nine Rating:: 8.0

FEES & AMENITIES

Approximate Weekend
Rates: $20.00 to $45.00

Service is ok, the proshop has the basics, and the range and putting green are adequate. The bar and grill has hot dogs and pre-made sandwiches, chips, and candy bars only.

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.