Golf - Public Course · 18 Holes · Par 71
San Felipe
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Review & Rating of Stephen F Austin Golf Club San Felipe
Stephen F Austin Golf Club opened nine holes for play in the 50's and the back nine was added in 1972. For us city folks, this is a hidden gem (locals know all about it and the course gets a lot of play) with very good conditions, some fun and challenging holes, and an excellent value! When you look at the scorecard and see that there are only 3 tee boxes with yardages of 5258, 5718, and 6018 your first reaction may be “this should be a piece of cake!” Wrong – Stephen F Austin is short but puts a premium on accuracy rather than distance and in most cases you’re going to want to leave the big dog in the bag and focus on staying in the narrow tree lined fairways that twist and turn to the green as well as positioning your drive to give you a shot at the greens on the dog legs both left and right. In addition to some intimidating carries off the tee box you’ll need to be deadly accurate to hit the small guarded greens on the front nine and somewhat larger greens on the back. This is one of those courses where you get to use a lot of clubs and you need some good course management and club selection skills.
If you don’t try to crush the ball and play smart, you’ll have a very enjoyable round with an opportunity to turn in a good score. Stephen F. Austin Golf Club is out in the country and adjacent to Stephen F Austin State Park and you’re likely to see a wide variety of wildlife including white tail deer, raccoons, armadillos, squirrels, and lots of birds. It’s also a very peaceful and quiet course with no homes, dogs barking, ambulance sirens, or hecklers sitting on their back patio. However, you will hear the birds, woodpeckers, and the ricochet of golf balls careening off the trees!
The front nine at Stephen F Austin is harder by two to three storkes thanks to more water, more bunkers, and smaller greens. The first hole sets the stage for what to expect - a 367 yard dog leg right with a carry over water off the tee box and a tight fairway leading to a small green with a bunker on the left and a creek across the back of the green. The front nine at Stephen F Austin has water or deep dry creek ravines on four holes that you’ll need to cross and ten of the twelve bunkers, all of which are guarding the greens. The front nine is a par 35 with three par threes, two par fives, and five par fours. Some holes that are fun and challenging on this nine include:
The back nine is newer and has better irrigation and as such is in much better condition with grass fairly thick but playable roughs, whereas the roughs on the front don’t get much water and are a mixture of dirt and grass. This nine is a longer with two par fives at 540 yards and a 195 yard par three, the greens are much bigger, and there is only one sand bunker, but there are some interesting inverted thick grass bunkers guarding the greens – in a couple of cases the greens have 6 of these terrors surrounding them! The fairways on the back nine are more rolling and some have plenty of roll and contour that can cause uneven lies. Some great holes on this nine include:
The fairways are all tight and tree lined, some with the eerie gray hanging Spanish moss which gives the course a lot of character. The trees are tall and in most cases they are too tall to try and fly to cut the dog leg. Miss the rough and you’re on the dirt under the trees with a tough, but recoverable worm burner or lost in the forest where you’ll need a chain saw and machete to find your ball.
The vast majority of the Stephen F Austin Golf Course greens were in near perfect condition with a 2 to 6 foot puttable fringe. They range in size from small to smaller on the front and about average size but a tad larger on the back nine. All have some very minor slope and subtle breaks. They run true and smooth and at a decent speed of around 8 or so.
The bunkers are small and all of them are guarding the greens. The lips vary but most are small and less than a foot but tall enough to prevent the ball from rolling in and back out. The sand is soft and fluffy and think – perfect!
When we played Stephen F Austin Golf Club was still recovering from a devastating couple of foods - one of when destroyed the clubhouse and pro shop, took out one of the greens, and did significant damage. Management has done a great job in getting the course back to normal.
Tee Box | Yardage | Rating | Slope |
---|---|---|---|
Blue | 6,018 | 69.7 | 123 |
White | 5,718 | 68.2 | 122 |
Red | 5,258 | 69.0 | 116 |
Approximate Weekend
Rates: $30.00 to $40.00
The pro shop and clubhouse were destroyed in the flood and a trailer is being used as the temporary clubhouse. The range and putting green are adequate. At each of the tee boxes is plaque with some very interesting history of the area.
Here's How Texas Outside Determines the Scorecard RatingThe 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!
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.
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