Pecan Plantation Country Club Review

Texas Outside Rating: 8.9

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

Dsc_4115 Dsc_4122 Dsc_4130

Pecan Plantation Country Club Review

Review & Rating of Pecan Plantation Country Club in Granbury, TX

Pecan Plantation Country Club in Granbury was a very pleasant surprise and one of those courses we would love to play again.  The course was built in the early 70's and then redesigned by Colligan Golf Group in 2013.  After your round at Pecan Plantation you'll have a much better feel for the layout and where to place the ball and should have a great round.  The course is short by today's standards 4537 to 6689 yards with 5 tee boxes but it requires some shot making and good course management skills to score well. 

Some of what we really liked about Pecan Plantation Country Club included:

  • the conditions from tee to green were very good and the course is well maintained and manicured
  • there are some really fun holes
  • the layout will test your skills with tough approach shots, dog legs left and right, uphill and downhill shots, huge bunkers, dense rough, and some tight fairways
  • it's somewhat scenic with lots of trees, white sand bunkers, ponds with fountains, rolling terrain, and some beautiful homes lining the fairways
  • the amenities for members are excellent

The first hole at Pecan Plantation Country Club was a beauty and evoked some "wows" from our foursome.  It's a 394-yard par 4 with an elevated tee shot downhill and then a dog right over a deep and unplayable gully to the green with a right side bunker.  In addition, the fairway is tight and tree lined, the gully is reachable on a long rolling drive, and at the gully the fairway is splt but playing left is tight and risky - a fun hole! 

Some of the other holes we liked included:

  • all of the par 3s are scenic, fun and challenging and every one has a forced carry over a pond with a water fountain to a green with a big bunker
  • #9 is a good hole to finish and head in for a beer before teeing off on 10 - its a 399 yard par 4  with a big carry over a pond off the tee then an uphill shot on a fairly tight tree lined fairway following by an uphill shot to a big green with a back and front big bunker
  • #10 is a fun 374-yard par 4 with elevated back tee boxes, a shot over a pond, then uphill and left followed by a big down hill shot to a green guarded by a bunker on the right

When we played in October the fairways at Pecan Plantation Country Club were in near perfect condition.  The fairways range from tight to wide-open "let-er-rip" and all are tree lined and the majority have some homes lining both sides.  They range from flat to rolling and they are firm and provide some nice roll.  The rough is wide but dense and thick and coupled with the trees it makes for a tough recovery shot.

The greens at Pecan Plantation Country Club are a variety of shapes, big to huge, well guarded, and have some combination of slope, contour, or ridges.  They are soft and hold the ball well but the breaks can be very subtle and pin placement can be a killer.  When we played they were running a little slow (8 or so) and a tad bumpy thanks to recent rains. 

The bunkers are some of the best in Texas - soft, fluffy, light, and deep sand.  The lips are a tad steep and you're not likely to roll out - if you do, you'll probably be in some very deep grass before the green.  The bunkers are well maintained!

Dsc_4135 Dsc_4142 Dsc_4134

Course Slope & Ratings

Tee Box Yardage Rating Slope
Blue 6,432 72.2 127
White 5,882 69.5 120
Gold 6,689 73.4 129
Red 5,238 70.3 125

Course Information

Course Architect:
Gooigan Golf Group
Greens Condition
9.0
Greens Difficulty
9.0
Fairway Condition
8.7
Bunker Condition
10.0
GPS:
No
Walkable:
Yes, but a little hilly
Course Map
Beware of water on holes and the sand traps.

Texas Outside Rating

Overall Rating:
8.9 out of 10
Beauty:
8.5
Difficulty:
8.7
Variety:
8.8
Fun to Play:
9.0
Value:
9.2
Condition:
8.9
Front Nine Rating:
9.2
Back Nine Rating:
8.5
Dsc_4144

FEES & AMENITIES

Initiation Fees: Under $10,000
Monthly Dues: $1 to $200

Service is very friendly as are all of the members we talked to. The pro shop has all the basics. The grill and bar are good and the amenities at Pecan Plantation are excellent.

Dsc_4116

 

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.