Teravista Golf Club Review

Texas Outside Rating: 9.2

Golf - Public Course · 18 Holes · Par 72
Round Rock
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Teravista Golf Club Review

Review of Teravista Golf Course Round Rock, Texas

Teravista Golf Club in Round Rock is one of those courses that you walk into the clubhouse after your round, order a beer, and say "what a great course and a fun round - can't wait to play it again." Teravista Golf Club opened in 2002 and over the years since opening it has been consistently recognized as one of the best courses in Austin as well as Texas. Avid Golfer rated it #4 in Austin and the course also made Texas Outside's list of the Best Courses in Austin. The reason we rated it as one of the best is because it's fun and fair to play, requires some shot making and accuracy, it's scenic and in excellent condition and the rates are very reasonable.

Teravista is now part of the Magnolia Golf Management Company portfolio of excellent courses which in Texas also include Avery Ranch and Falconhead - both of which are also on Texas Outside's List of the Best Courses in Austin.

Teravista Golf Club plays through a very nice golf community with lots of amenities and some beautiful homes line most of the holes. There are 5 sets of tee boxes with yardages ranging from 3744 to 7039 making it golfer friendly for all levels of play. You might consider moving up a set of tee boxes when you play Teravista Golf Club because you'll need to avoid 65 huge strategically placed bunkers, several forced carries, some tight fairways, water on 17 holes, plenty of water, and several challenging approach shots to the greens. But if you pick the right set of tee boxes, play strategically, and don't let some of the risk reward shots tempt you, you'll find the course very friendly, fun, and you'll most likely walk into the clubhouse and not have to buy the drinks!

Some of the Teravista Golf Course holes that we really liked included:

#2 is a 455 yard par 4 (#2 handicap) that is a sharp dogleg right and offers an excellent risk reward shot if you think you can fly the trees and 3 bunkers to significantly shorten the hole - beware the approach shot is challenging thanks to left front and rear bunkers and water around three fourths of the green
#4 is a beauty that requires a carry over a pond and a slight downhill shot followed by a dogleg left past some right and left side bunkers leading to a green with a ridge across the middle
#12 is fun - a 414 yard par 4 that horseshoes left around a lake and requires a good tee shot to stay out of the lake on the left and avoid the bunker and an accurate approach shot to a dogleg left with a lake on the entire left side of an oblong green - from the tee box you've got a great risk reward shot to fly more of the lake and make the approach shot shorter but the landing is narrow
#16 is a fun 545 yard par 5 that requires some shot making to avoid the natural area crossing the fairway and waiting for your drive, then an accurate layup or carry over the creek to another landing zone, followed by an accurate shot over the creek/natural area to a raised green guarded by two bunkers

When we played in earkt October, the Terravista fairways and rough were in excellent condition. The majority of the fairways are forgiving off the tee but there are lots of huge fairway bunkers and creeks with dense areas to carry. Trees and homes and natural areas line most of the fairways. The rough is wide and cut somewhat thick but very playable.

The greens at Teravista Golf Club were also near perfect, very soft, ran true, and at a good speed of 10 to 11. They range in size (mostly very large) and shape from oblong to light bulb and lots of other interesting shapes. Some are raised and all are well guarded, putting a premium on your approach shots. The putting surfaces vary from relatively flat to some significant slope and tiers. We didn't have much of a problem reading the breaks.

The bunkers ranged in shape and size from huge bunkers to even bigger multi-fingered truck and trailer-sized monsters - and there are around 63 of them that you need to avoid! The bunkers were wet from a recent rain so it was hard to judge the sand but it felt deep and soft and would be a joy to play out of if dry. The bunkers are well maintained and the faces are fairly steep with a 3 or 4 inch lip - don't expect to roll out.

Head Pro's Corner

The Kids Play Free program is an affordable way to introduce kids to the game. With every paid adult, one child 15 years old and under play for free. And we even throw in the cart. We also offer ladies "2 of 1" green fees and there are senior and resident discounts.

We focus on "ready golf" to provide a shorter and more enjoyable round of golf. Singles and doubles are traditionally paired together.

Course Slope & Ratings

Tee Box	Yardage	Rating	Slope
Black	7,039
Blue	6,637	72.6	135
White	6,250	70.8	131
Gold	7,039	74.4	139
Red	5,099	69.3	116

Course Information

Course Architect:: Clifton-Ezell-Clifton
Greens Type:: TIF Eagle
Greens Condition: 9.3
Greens Difficulty: 8.5
Fairway Condition: 9.0
Bunker Condition: 7.0
GPS:: No
Walkable:: No - long distance between holes
Scorecard
Beware of water on 17 holes and the 65 sand traps.

Texas Outside Rating

Overall Rating:: 9.2 out of 10
Beauty:: 8.7
Difficulty:: 9.0
Variety:: 9.0
Fun to Play:: 9.5
Value:: 9.4
Condition:: 9.0
Front Nine Rating:: 9.2
Back Nine Rating:: 9.2

FEES & AMENITIES

Approximate Weekend
Rates: $29.00 to $69.00

Service is very good and friendly. The practice facilities are very good, the pro shop is well stocked. The food and drinks are good at the Cafe. The carts have two USB ports which are a good idea and one I've never noticed any other carts. Check into their membership option which allows you to play all three of these excellent courses.

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.