Old at Firewheel Golf Park
About
Firewheel is Texas’ most impressive example of municipal golf. Owned and operated by the city of Garland, and extremely popular because of the fair price and number of available golf holes, Firewheel now sports 63 holes since the new Bridges course opened in the past few years. All three tracks can be challenging because they each incorporate a variety of hazards into their designs, including limestone that is scattered throughout the property.
The Old Course, the traditional layout, was rated No. 1 by the Dallas Morning News. Water hazards come into play throughout the design, such as on hole #18, a 400-yard, par 4, requiring a tee shot and an approach shot over the same creek, which winds through the hole. Hole 9 is the feature hole, a 552-yard par 5 that rolls downhill. The tee shot is into a narrow landing area carved out of trees, and on the approach you must be in perfect position because of the strategically placed pecan trees. Number 18 is challenging with both the tee shot and the approach over a creek that winds through the hole.
| Tee | Par | Length | Rating | Slope |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gold | 71 | 6845 yards | 74.1 | 135 |
| Blue | 71 | 6429 yards | 71.6 | 131 |
| White | 71 | 6054 yards | 69.9 | 124 |
| Red (W) | 71 | 5497 yards |
| Hole | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Out | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | In | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gold M: 72.2/130 W: 79.5/142 | 385 | 385 | 546 | 175 | 411 | 408 | 366 | 226 | 548 | 3450 | 425 | 454 | 177 | 516 | 377 | 191 | 557 | 167 | 389 | 3253 | 6703 |
| Blue M: 70.6/128 W: 77.6/139 | 360 | 355 | 530 | 163 | 390 | 395 | 354 | 195 | 530 | 3272 | 400 | 435 | 163 | 503 | 356 | 178 | 540 | 151 | 365 | 3091 | 6363 |
| White M: 68.8/125 W: 75.2/134 | 342 | 309 | 464 | 140 | 366 | 385 | 341 | 183 | 510 | 3040 | 382 | 411 | 133 | 495 | 332 | 167 | 525 | 118 | 337 | 2900 | 5940 |
| Black M: 67.1/121 W: 73.2/129 | 340 | 305 | 435 | 135 | 346 | 355 | 335 | 160 | 498 | 2909 | 306 | 381 | 126 | 480 | 330 | 147 | 455 | 112 | 330 | 2667 | 5576 |
| Red M: 65.6/114 W: 70.8/123 | 335 | 230 | 428 | 125 | 338 | 347 | 326 | 125 | 490 | 2744 | 302 | 375 | 115 | 475 | 265 | 144 | 445 | 97 | 294 | 2512 | 5256 |
| Handicap | 3 | 17 | 9 | 15 | 7 | 5 | 11 | 13 | 1 | 8 | 2 | 14 | 6 | 10 | 12 | 18 | 16 | 4 | |||
| Par | 4 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 36 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 35 | 71 |
Course Details
Rentals/Services
Practice/Instruction
Policies
Food & Beverage
Bar, RestaurantAvailable Facilities
Clubhouse, Conference Facilities, Banquet FacilitiesReviews
Reviewer Photos
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Photo submitted by chancebolter on 07/09/2024
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Typical fairway Photo submitted by u000003577134 on 09/19/2023
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Center fairway Photo submitted by u000003577134 on 09/19/2023
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Hole 18 approach shot Par 4 Photo submitted by nwoods0008 on 04/29/2023
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Photo submitted by David2527490 on 04/14/2023
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18th hole Photo submitted by Jlawtungi on 01/22/2023
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Photo submitted by Tom5929581 on 07/18/2022
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Photo submitted by Tom5929581 on 07/18/2022
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Photo submitted by u853787857 on 10/08/2021
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Canadian Geece on 9 Photo submitted by wolffman65 on 07/24/2021
Fire Wheel Old Course
Since it is Winter, the grass was brown. sometimes it was hard to locate the ball in the fairway. There also a number of places where there was no turf. I usually move the ball in those cases so as not to have to hit off of hard dirt.
As the day progressed it did get warmer, abut 50 degrees. I thought that was quite pleasant.
All in all, I enjoyed my round. As of today, here in the greater Dallas area, we are going to get lots of Rain for the next 2-3 days. So I took the opportunity to play when I could.
Good possibilities but needs attention - play at your own risk!
This was my first time to play this course. Scheduled for a fun day with my son. To be fair, they were booked up and pretty crowded. That said, most of the staff didn’t seem to be in any hurry to help out patrons.
Our tee time was at noon, and we arrived over 30 minutes early. The driving range was functional though there were no tees on the mats and it was “mats only”. The problems started when we went to grab a cart and they had none. We had our names called to go to the first tee, but were still waiting on a cart. 5 minutes after our start time, one arrived. No bid deal, right? Except that cart died near the 1st green.
I had our other twosome driver bring me back to the cart shed, where there were still no carts (and no one really working either). I walked all the way through the cart prep area underground and found someone after 5 minutes of looking. We did get a replacement cart, and it held up through the round.
As for the course, the greens were in pretty good shape. However, there were places ALL OVER the course that had serious drainage issues, mud all over, and trenched areas where carts had driven and we almost got stuck multiple times.
For the money, it still wasn’t a good deal. Not sure I’d go back.
Powerline distraction
Disappointed by the large powerline going across the fairway on a par 4 hole. Never seen that before on any course we’ve played.
One of the worst courses I’ve played in a long time.
This was my first time playing “The Old Course” I’d played “The Bridges” before and had a nice experience. I thought they would be similar. I was wrong. The pro shop was fine, but you have to go through a weird abandoned lobby to get there. It had rained the day before, which if there was grass throughout the course, wouldn’t have been a problem, but unfortunately the course had large expanses of dirt, or should I say mud? The entire course was cart path only. If there was actual grass, maybe this wouldn’t have been necessary. The greens were terrible. The previous days’ holes were not filled in correctly. Some were poached in too far and made a crater, while others weren’t poached in far enough, and made a plateau above the level of the green.
Lots of Damage & Construction
The staff needs to communicate to potential golfers about the state of the course. Construction impacted 2 holes on the back 9. Tire tracks and even muddy ruts on the edge of several greens. Greens were patchy with lots of bare spots. Tee boxes and greens were like concrete. Actually broke several tees trying to get them in the ground. Booked a later tee time knowing I might have to play the last few holes as the sun was going down. The course supposedly closed at 7pm but they required the carts be returned at 5:30. With the slow course play and the early cart return I only got to play 15 holes.
Although the greens are still in good shape, it appears they have started to let the fairways go. Lots of dead spots and dirt. It also appears they’re doing a lot of construction either new either drainage or sewer pipe so several holes are torn up.
3 Stars
Very slow greens, fairways have huge cracks from not being watered. Even though I bought their hot deal on Golf Now the course had no record of me being on the schedule and was about to give me a hard time until I produced my email receipt. The
Course isn’t cow pasture golf but isn’t far from it.
Did the city of Garland not pay its water bill this summer?
I've played Firewheel multiple times (all three courses) and always found it to be an excellent place.
But yesterday's round really disappointed me in terms of course conditions. There was practically no grass in many of the fairways and multiple greens had bare spots.
Of course Texas summers are brutal - and it hadn't rained for a couple of months. But isn't that why you have sprinklers?
Slow pace
I have played out here multiple times and never had a round less than 4:30 hours. It’s always miserably slow
Desperately need grass repair
I love the course and play here a lot. But conditions have gotten very bad this year specifically. I quit after 12 holes because the fairway conditions were so bad. I hear the irrigation is being replaced very soon (or in process now) and grass will be addressed next spring. That’s great news. But I won’t be back again until that happens.
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