Quarry Golf Club Review

Texas Outside Rating: 9.0

Golf - Public Course · 18 Holes · Par 71
San Antonio
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Quarry Golf Club Review

The Quarry Golf Club is one of the "must play" golf courses if you are in the San Antonio area. What a fun layout with a lot of character. Each nine has it's own unique personality and challenges. The front nine is a links style course with wide fairways bordered by native grasses while the back nine meanders around and into a 100 year old quarry pit. The Quarry is one of those courses that after the round you can't wait to get back and play it again.

On the front nine, outside of a couple blind shots you can see what you're up against, some of which includes water, creeks, large bunkers, uphill greens, and forced carries. Most of the fairways are wide and forgiving with a playable rough, but if you spray the ball you're in the native areas and will need to reload. The name of each hole will give you a feel of what you're up against - for example, "Short Fuse" is a short 325 yarder with water along the right side and a small oblong two tiered green well protected by four large bunkers blow your drive or miss the approach and you may just blow a fuse; you're likely to loose a ball on "Watery Grave" if you don't carry the lake to a landing zone on this 544 par 5 and then again when you need to carry a creek cutting across the fairway leading to an uphill green; and the ditch that cuts across the fairway about where your drive wants to land and then heads up to the uphill green beside a fairway that slopes back to the ditch is appropriately named "Devils Ditch." This is a very fun nine that we would have rated higher but the freeway noise and buildings distract from the natural beauty and serenity of this nine.

From the clubhouse you can see the entire back nine and what you're up against which includes: water, large bunkers, forced carries, elevated tee boxes, uphill greens, natural areas, ravines, and contoured fairways. Chiseled from Texas stone, the back nine plays around sheer limestone quarry walls and down into the quarry and around it's lake. #13 is a horseshoe left with sheer cliffs from the tee box to the green and it requires an accurate tee shot to clear the lake and avoid the huge bunkers that line the left side leading to the smallest green on the course. #17 (named "Reload") is a beautiful and fun hole that if you miss carrying the quarry pit ravine off the tee box, you'll need to reload and try it again.

 

When we played in December, the fairways were in excellent condition, the rough was playable, and most of fairways were wide enough that you can let it rip with your driver. The bunkers have soft white sand and range from flat to steep faced. The greens were also in very good shape but a little slow. The greens vary in size from huge to postage stamp, some are elevated, all have some slope, and they are hard to read - practice putting before you head out if you want to score well.

 

Bottom line, this is a must play course with a unique personality, great conditions, fair but challenging layout, and a very good deal at twilight or with a special

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Course Slope & Ratings

Tee Box Yardage Rating Slope
Blue 6,128 69.2 120
White 5,576 66.7 111
Gold 6,740 72.4 128
Red 4,897 67.4 115

Course Information

Course Architect:
Keith Foster
Greens Type:
Bermuda
Greens Condition
10.0
Greens Difficulty
8.5
GPS:
No
Walkable:
Yes
Scorecard
Beware of water on 10 holes and the 33 sand traps.

Texas Outside Rating

Overall Rating:
9.0 out of 10
Beauty:
7.5
Difficulty:
8.0
Variety:
10.0
Fun to Play:
10.0
Value:
8.0
Condition:
10.0
Front Nine Rating:
9.0
Back Nine Rating:
9.5
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FEES & AMENITIES

Approximate Weekend
Rates: $49.00 to $95.00

Service is very good, the pro shop has all the basics, the food in the grill is excellent but pricey, and the practice facilities are good. Check out their "Players Club" to save some money.

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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.