Waterview Golf Club Review

Texas Outside Rating: 8.0

Golf - Public Course · 18 Holes · Par 72
Rowlett
Website · Locate This Course

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Waterview Golf Club Review

Waterview Golf Club offers golfers of all skill levels a fun and somewhat challenging round of golf on some of the best greens in Dallas - all at a very good value. Waterview is owned by the City of Rowlett and managed by one of the best, American Golf. Waterview Golf Club was voted one of the TOP 10 Public Golf Courses in Dallas by Texas Golfer Magazine in April 2006.

The golf course has a simple (mostly straight links style fairways, no tricks or hidden gotchas, and wide forgiving perfectly manicured fairways with very playable roughs) championship layout with 5 sets of tee boxes with yardage from 5472 to 7191 yards. Most of the holes look easy from the box, but the rolling, contoured fairways with lots of berms and mounds along the side can result in some challenging uneven lies. The rough has some trees and most holes are lined with homes on along the fairways.

The bent grass greens are some of the best in Dallas and were in near perfect condition when we played. The greens also make Waterview challenging - they are large with lots of undulation and slope and spines. Plus most are elevated and pretty well protected with bunkers, making your approach shot challenging. Pin placement can be a killer - try to study the contour as much as possible before you chip and putt.

 

You'll encounter a lot of bunkers with soft very playable sand - some of which are huge and steep faced. Water comes into play on 7 holes, mostly on the back, but it's not that difficult to avoid. All of this makes it sound like Waterview is very challenging (a slope of 128 and rating of 74.1 from the tips) but with 5 tee boxes you can find something that will fit your skill level and even if you spray the ball a little, you can still score well and have a very fun and enjoyable round.

 

The front nine is very traditional, mostly straight, and very forgiving. The back nine is much prettier, a little harder, offers more variety, and has some great holes. For example, #11 is a challenging and scenic par 3; #12 requires a good approach shot to avoid the encroaching water that comes from the right side of the green to the front; and #13 is a fun and scenic downhill 442 yard par 4 with a narrow tree-lined fairway leading to a well protected green with water on the right and some huge bunkers. And the rest of the holes are also great. You'll enjoy this nine and want to come back and play it again.

 

The carts are new and American Golf has plans to expand the pavilion, add a bar area, and add large screen TVs and more to the grill area to give it more of a sports bar feeling.

 

Bottom line - great condition, an ok layout, good service, near perfect greens, and an excellent value.

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Course Slope & Ratings

Tee Box Yardage Rating Slope
Black 7,191 74.1 128
Blue 6,355 70.0 118
White 5,906 67.8 110
Gold 6,762 71.9 121
Red 5,472 71.6 122

Course Information

Course Architect:
David Graham & David Hanks
Greens Type:
Bend Grass
Greens Condition
10.0
Greens Difficulty
9.0
GPS:
No
Walkable:
Very
Beware of water on 7 holes and the 44 sand traps.

Texas Outside Rating

Overall Rating:
8.0 out of 10
Beauty:
7.0
Difficulty:
7.0
Variety:
7.0
Fun to Play:
9.0
Value:
9.0
Condition:
9.0
Front Nine Rating:
7.5
Back Nine Rating:
8.5
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FEES & AMENITIES

Approximate Weekend
Rates: $35.00 to $55.00

Service is good, carts are new, bar and grill are limited, and practice facility is ok.

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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.