Trails of Frisco Golf Club Review

Texas Outside Rating: 8.8

Golf - Semi Private Course · 18 Holes · Par 71
Frisco
Website · Locate This Course

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Trails of Frisco Golf Club Review

Review and rating of The Trails of Frisco Golf Club

The Trails of Frisco Golf Club is part of a 750 acre master planned community and the course meanders along a creek, beside some beautiful homes, around some ponds, and through some wetlands.  This par 71 course is a tad short at 6959 yards but with wetlands, natural areas, treacherous bunkers, fast sloping greens, and water on 16 holes, it's no walk in the park - in fact the slope is 138 from the tips.  But if pay attention to the GPS yardages and tips, don't get overly aggressive, and play fairly safe you'll walk into the club house with a good score and free beer from some of the bets you won!

Part of what makes playing The Trails of Frisco fun is that the designer, Jeffery Brauer, doesn't beat you up on every hole, in fact, the course seemed to be designed to give you an opportunity for a birdie on a hole and then the next hole will be  tougher and hard to par - each of the easy holes are followed by a very challenging hole, a fun way to mix it up.  The front nine is fun and the back (par 35) is fantastic with more variety, some very interesting holes, and some holes that require target golf and course management.

On most holes you will still find something that will test your game - dog legs,  deep bunkers, trees and out of bounds, creeks and ponds, blind shots, risk reward opportunities, challenging approach shots, and forced carries.   Some examples include:

  • #2 a blind slightly uphill tee shot to a dog leg right green with water along the left side, OB on the right, and a hidden creek crossing the fairway that can swallow your  tee shot - accuracy and positioning off the tee is critical
  • #7 is a demanding 555 yard uphill dog leg right hole that gives you a risk reward shot off the tee box and requires accuracy all the way to avoid the minefield of 10 bunkers leading to a challenging two tier undulating green
  • #9 requires an accurate second shot to carry the creek that crosses the fairway twice and encircles most of the elevated green - no room for error on this approach shot
  • #12 is a scenic but dangerous 462 yard par 4 thanks to an elevated tee shot that's looking at a carry over a lake off the tee box and a tough approach to a green protected by another lake on the right and large bunker on the left
  • #18 is a fantastic and memorable finishing hole with a sloping downhill fairway and  a meandering creek along the left which cuts across a large but sloping green with bunkers on both sides

When we played in the middle of December, the fairways were dormant as you can tell from the pictures but they were in very good condition, as was the rough.  During the summer the fairways are lush and plush and the course would be very scenic with the trees, lakes, white sand bunkers, wetlands and natural areas, and beautiful homes lining the fairways.  Most of the fairways are ample off the tee box and the rough is playable - but if you miss you'll usually find the creek or be OB in the back yard of a beautiful home.   The fairways are very gently rolling, with some contour, and several berms. 

The greens were lighting fast (11 to 12) thanks to winter conditions.  The Champion Bermuda greens were average to large, some were elevated, most had plenty of slope, and some had severe slope as well as undulation.  They ran smooth and true and held the ball very well, but putting was challenging thanks to the speed and severe slope.  Check the pin position which can be a killer and when the greens are running fast, downhill putts are very demanding.  All but two greens had at least one treacherous bunker protecting it and several were also guarded by water, putting a premium on your approach shots.

The bunkers were average to huge and most are steep faced.  The bunkers on the front nine were ok, but the back nine bunkers were horrible - little to no sand, gritty, and hard clay.  Almost unplayable.  The Trails of Frisco Golf Course is in a flood plain and every time it rains, the bunker sand is washed away - management is doing it's best to refill them with sand and keep them playable.

Bottom line - The Trails of Frisco Golf Club is an outstanding track and one you should add to your list of must plays.  It is also a fantastic bargain. 

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Course Slope & Ratings

Tee Box Yardage Rating Slope
Blue 6,317 70.7 124
White 5,777 68.3 114
Gold 6,959 74.0 138
Red 5,104 65.0 111

Course Information

Course Architect:
Jeffrey D. Brauer
Greens Type:
Champion Bermuda
Greens Condition
9.0
Greens Difficulty
9.0
GPS:
Yes
Walkable:
Yes
Beware of water on 16 holes and the 46 sand traps.

Texas Outside Rating

Overall Rating:
8.8 out of 10
Beauty:
8.5
Difficulty:
8.5
Variety:
8.5
Fun to Play:
9.0
Value:
9.5
Condition:
8.5
Front Nine Rating:
8.5
Back Nine Rating:
9.3
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FEES & AMENITIES

Approximate Weekend
Rates: $29.00 to $59.00

Service is good but on a Sunday in November when we played, no cart service was available. Pace of play is usually pretty good. The range is ok and the grill serves appitizers, salads, dog, sandwiches, and burgers. The pro shop has all the basics.

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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.