The Courses at Watters Creek - Futures Course Review

Texas Outside Rating: 8.0

Golf - Public Course · 6 Holes · Par 72
Allen
Website · Locate This Course

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The Courses at Watters Creek - Futures Course Review

Review of The Courses at Watters Creek Futures Course in Allen Texas

Owned and operated by the City of Allen, The Courses at Watters Creek offer a unique combination of three courses and 33 holes of golf that are a perfect fit with golfers of all skill levels - from young beginners to scratch golfers.  The Traditions Course is an 18 hole 4979 yard to 7015 yard layout that has a little bit of everything to test your game - read our review of The Traditions Course to learn more.  The Players Course is a nine hole 1941 yard course with 6 par 3s and 3 par 4s.  There is also a 9 hole FootGolf course which is a mix of soccer and golf played with a soccer ball on a shortened course with a 21" diameter cups.  . 

The Futures Course at The Courses at Watters Creek is a 6 hole par three course with two sets of tee boxes and yardages of 397 yards to 451 yards.  The holes range from 51 to 104 yards making The Futures Course perfect for practicing your short game or for young or beginning golfers.  The course is walking only, it's lighted, and your green fee includes unlimited play. 

We played with our two grandkids (5 and 8) and they had a blast, as did I - and I almost got beat!  Some of what makes playing The Futures Course fun includes:

  • the conditions are very good
  • it's easy to walk, requires only a couple clubs and a putter, and takes around an hour to play
  • the conditions were excellent and each hole is a little different from the others
  • it's much more fun than hitting balls at the range and it's reasonably priced
  • it's lighted and you can play when it's cooler

Every hole is fun but a couple that stand out include:

  • #3 is the longest hole on the course at 104 yards and it is a slightly downhill shot off the tee box to a green with a hill on the right and bunker on the left
  • #4 is 92 yards down a tight roller coaster fairway with a hill on the right from tee to green and a tree and some native brush on the left side of the fairway
  • #5 is a 94 yard uphill shot with a lake on the right side of the fairway from the tee box to in back of the green which has a right side bunker and 3 swales

When we  played the conditions were excellent from the tee box to the pin.  The greens are small, ran a little slow and bumpy, but soft and held the ball well.  They have some very gentle slope and contour. 

The fairways are tight and bordered by a rough that was cut thick but held the ball up, making for an easy recovery shot.  Both were in very good shape.

The bunkers at The Futures Course had soft, fluffy, and thick white sand.  They are small and the faces are fairly steep. 

Have fun.

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Course Slope & Ratings

Tee Box Yardage Rating Slope
Blue 461
Red 397

Course Information

Greens Condition
8.0
Greens Difficulty
6.0
Fairway Condition
9.3
Bunker Condition
9.3
GPS:
No
Walkable:
Easy
Beware of water on 2 holes and the 5 sand traps.

Texas Outside Rating

Overall Rating:
8.0 out of 10
Beauty:
8.0
Difficulty:
7.5
Variety:
7.5
Fun to Play:
8.7
Value:
9.0
Condition:
8.8
Front Nine Rating:
8.0
Back Nine Rating:
8.0
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FEES & AMENITIES

Approximate Weekend
Rates: $7.00 to $14.00

Service is good, the pro shop is well stocked, the practice facilites, are excellent, and the grill has some good food.

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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.