Plum Creek Golf Club

saw a few commercials for plum creek while watching golf channel and decided to check it out.

played late on a saturday so it was pretty dead out there since it was over 100 degrees.

the course was in pretty good shape. the greens were nice.

overall, the course is pretty straightforward and not that tough. there are a few holes where trees really come into play, but more holes are pretty open.

the most unique thing about this course to me was the par 5s. i recall at least 2 of them requiring you to layup off the tee unless you are confident enough to carry the ball 230. so even though they are fairly short for par 5s, they are still 3 shot holes. i liked that.

if you live in central or south austin this course is worth the drive. it's not going to be the best course you've ever played, but it's solid and a great way to expand on what are pretty limited options for quality public courses in the city. it's worth checking out.

There are a lot of options in the Austin area, especially semi-private subdivision courses built in the late 1990s/early 2000s when the golf boom really took off in Central Texas. Plum Creek has a hard time standing out in my mind, but the pluses of it are that there is a little more room off the tee than some other Hill Country layouts, though there aren't many memorable holes. It does have a great practice area and driving range, so I'd probably come here often if I lived closer. For the money though, I would probably stick to munis like Roy Kizer or Mo Willy instead.

I am partial because I saw this course when it was a horrible. The course was dried out, overgrown grass (even when you hit a good shot, you had the chance of losing your ball), unkept greens. The new staff has done a fantastic job of making this a real golf course. It is still long from the tips and forces you to use every club in your bag. I play all around town and this course is becoming as nice as Avery Ranch or Teravista. If you live south, get out and play.

It helps if you've played the course before as a few of the holes feel blind in that you can't quite see where your ball is going to land because of a downhill dropoff or trees/bushes that obstruct your view. You might feel more confident in your shot selection by already knowing the layout.

You'll only have a couple of carries over a creek or large pond and there certainly aren't too many bunkers. All in all it's a pretty basic course.

Conditions are often on the dry side here. Maybe it's water and/or money issues. Maybe it's just the type of soil and vegetation.

And finally, when they warn you about watching for rattlesnakes -- take them seriously. They'll often tell you if there have been any recent sightings. My brother just about stepped on a baby one that was curled up and sleeping in the grass right next to the cart path at a tee box. So be careful running off into the high grassy areas to find that mishit ball. Even that so-called snake club you're carrying may not give you the protection you need.

The driving range was a dirt patch but the putting green was nice and they did have a chipping area. It is a rather simple course but if you play the tips it would be a challenge, makes it really long. Did not like the fact I had to but a yardage book just to see the layouts of the holes since they were not on the scorecard but they said they are fixing that. If I had someone visiting I would take them there to play but at the same time I wouldn't brag about it either as a must play.