Forest Creek Golf Club

I love Forest Creek and always have. This winter has been exceptionally rough on the condition this year. Always worth playing but not at full price right now...

The only negative comment is that the staff pulled all the pins before we were finished. We played the last five holes without pins! The young man who pulled them said they knew they were pulling them early and they were sorry.

Personally, based on the condition of the course, the price was out of line

When I played at Forest Creek, it was after several days of rain, so everything in this review is in that context.

I thoroughly enjoyed the layout of this course. Lots of doglegs, elevation changes, and opportunities to birdie. However, good scores are not likely for first timers; a knowledge of Forest Creek's various challenges is required for shooting a round that will produce bragging rights. For example, a couple of the par 5's are wide open and almost compel one to use driver. However, the smart play is to use 3 wood to control the shot and place the ball to the short side of the dogleg, saving over 150 yards on the approach. In addition, on a few holes there are creeks or other water hazards that are in play on the approach that are not easy to see or judge from where the ball lies.

Unfortunately, the day I played, holes 8,9, and 18 were closed but noone in the pro shop mentioned this when I checked in. In fact, the pro in the clubhouse nary spoke a word other than directing me to the guy with whom I was to share a cart. Especially on days when holes are closed and conditions are rough, it's essential for course personnel to be candid and forthcoming. That was not the case at Forest Creek.

Having worked on maintenance crews at three different golf courses, I know how difficult it is to maintain good conditions after several days of rain, especially if sand has been washed out of bunkers. The key is to rake the bunkers to distribute remaining sand and to not let the existing materials harden as they dry. Apparantly, no one was working the morning maintenance rounds the day I played (or the day before) because the bunkers hadn't been raked or tended to in any way for some time. I bent a SW trying to hit out of a bunker on the 11th hole because the sand was so compacted and hard. There's simply no excuse for this on a course considered one of the finer tracks in the Austin area. If the superintendant couldn't or didn't want the bunkers dressed for play, the pro shop should tell all players so, and allow for "no closer to the pin" drops.

I will return to play Forest Creek again, the conditions above notwithstanding. The layout and location are too good to not give it another chance.

Got for $11 on golfnow. It had rained a lot overnight and a bit during the round. Holes 8 and 9 were closed due to weather conditions. Greens were smooth and above average speed. Layout was nice, its over 7000 from the tips. Definitely will play it on a nice dry day again as many bunkers were pooled with water. The golf carts are fast.

enjoyed everything about the experience. the young man even located a lost iron and called me to let me know it would be there at my convenience.

I am new to the area and have been looking for a course to play on a regular basis. Fairways, rough, and greens (a little slow) were in good shape throughout the course. The only reason I will not go back is play off the tee. There are very few driver holes on this course. The back nine had more than the front nine but not enough to bring me back. I am not the longest player but I had trouble finding places to hit the ball off the tee with anything longer than hybrid on many holes. I hit driver on about half of the par 4 and 5s and probably should not have hit driver on one or two of those. If you enjoy playing target golf off the tee this course will be fun, but if you like to hit the driver this course is a terrible set up.

A little slow going when we caught up to some players ahead of us on the 7th hole. Good track that was maintained well.

Beautiful and nice course.
My team used to play golf at here

Pro shop staff could stand to be a little bit nicer but Rest of staff was very nice. Courses in best shape in 10 years.

Course was in good conditions. On this particular day no range balls were available and course play was slow.

I have played many course in the central Texas area, and this course is one of the few hidden gems.

First time I've played here. Really nice layout, but definitely not a course for a long hitter. It's target golf.

Course was in very good shape with only a couple of rough spots on two greens (9 & either 13 or 14, can't remember). Greens were FAST and the cup placements were often on ridges, which I thought was a bit unfair. Fairways and rough were in excellent condition. Would play here again in a heartbeat if another good deal comes up.

Staff was okay. Tried to get me to buy range balls with only 5 minutes till tee time. Must be hurting for money. Greens were not good. Cut poorly.

For the value, this was an excellent course to play!!! Didn't see any signature hole, but the course was in great condition, considering the dry weather, and I would play it again. The only drawback I witnessed was we were put off the back 9 to start, due to a league starting later that afternoon, and were told to be off the back in 2 hrs., which wasn't a problem really.

This is an interesting course. You can definitely challenge yourself here, and I know they play some more serious tournaments here. But you can also tee it forward and it's very playable and enjoyable for the everyday golfer. Some very challenging holes and a lot of strong doglegs. One par 5 takes 2 90-degree turns. The fairways and tee boxes were in great shape. The greens were dry and fast, but not dead. They had recently hosted a tournament there, which makes me think that the greens were dried out for a reason. Sand bunkers had good loose sand. Very thick woods along most of the holes require accuracy. This is definitely a course for the accurate golfer and not the long-bomber. The practice facilities were adequate - putting green, chipping green, and range. The range is nothing special, but it's all that you need with real grass and matts to choose from. We played at 3:30 on a wednesday and basically had the place to ourselves. Overall the course has an older feel to it. The clubhouse looks like it used to be an old church, and it shares a parking lot with a church. The neighborhood surrounding the course has some beautiful houses on it, but only a few are anywhere where you might lose a ball. For the most part the woods are what you need to avoid. If you like to get some holes in after 5:00 you can play here for a decent price and it's definitely a course worth checking out and if you live nearby it'd be hard to find a better value.

Took a friend to play the course a couple of weeks ago and he was shocked at how beautiful the course was and by the 3rd hole, he was wanting to go back the next day to play again. We played on 4th of July and then came back for the 6th and played again. I love this course and wish I didn't live so far away or I would make this my home course. Staff is extremenly professional, courteous and I would highly recommend this course to anyone with whatever handicapp you have. As a 6 handicapp, this course provides any player with challenges and I hope to go and play this course again very soon. The STPGA also held one of their tournaments there and all the kids were challenged with this course. Even though it got rained out and they only got to play 9 holes (thank god for rain for the course), my daughter had a great time playing there. Highly recommended course. Food is kinda pricey, but the folks in there are awesome as well.

Most of this review will seem on the negative side. It's hard to write about how great a course is when it's an average/okay course with things that bother you. For this reason, I don't play this course too often ... because it just beats me up too much.

I've played this course numerous times over the years and I just can't get past some of the holes. This course is more of a target course where you need to know your distances and be accurate with your irons etc. Granted, we should all hope to be able to play that way, but for those of us who aren't quite there a course like this can really bully you. The fairways are, for the most part, also a little tighter than average. It's just something to know and be prepared for. This is not a course for long bombers off the tee; you will be punished accordingly. There are a number of holes (even a par-5 or two) where you simply can't hit drive off the tee because of a (severe) dogleg. Doglegs in general are fine, but they had to work with the land provided and it just makes for a few oddities. In fact, this is probably the most doglegged course I've ever played ... with nine (9) doglegs ... and all of them right doglegs! And not already knowing yardage to doglegs, creeks, traps, etc. can really cause problems with club selection. Oh, and when your ball goes into the thicker greenery, beware of poison ivy; there's more of it than you think.

Here are some thoughts on specific holes:

1 -- right of center is best, but don't hit too far (200 is good).
2 -- just keep it down the middle and don't forget your hitting uphill.
3 -- par 5 with a shorter tee shot.
4 -- bomb if you want, but a 210-230 down the middle is best.
5 -- I'm guessing 210-230 left of center is best.
6 -- ignore those trees and hit it on the green; slopes back to front and left to right.
7 -- hit maybe 185 or so ... longer if you draw it to the left side where the fairway carries farther. But then you have a monster oak on the other side of the creek blocking your way to the green. It's almost a S-curved double dogleg.
8 -- they really need to level out this green that has severe back to front slope; I've seen balls putted uphill stop, roll backwards, and end up off the green ... and once all the way to the creek below.
9 -- hit 210-230 ... drawing it if possible. But your second shot is still going to get you as it's uphill with trees, bunkers, etc. It's just an odd hole and the only way they could get you back up to the clubhouse.
10 -- simple enough ... stay left of center to accommodate for left to right slope of the fairway.
11 -- you can hit driver but take it over the edge of the big tree of this dogleg right if you're a longer hitter. Second shot downhill can be blind if you're not long enough off the tee.
12 -- bombs away on this par 5. Do you go for it in two or lay up before the creek?
13 -- similar to 5, this dogleg right can be hard to judge. Hit 210-230 and stay left of center.
14 -- nice pond and should be a normal par 3 for you.
15 -- driver, 3-wood ... not really sure.
16 -- hit it as far as you can preferably down the left side of the fairway. Very few will even consider trying the mostly blind 2nd shot onto the green. Lay up to the 100 yard marker ... closer to the cart path is preferred as trees may get in the way on the far side of the fairway. Slopes back to front and mostly left to right.
17 -- easy par 3; slopes back to front and left to right; play for a little more break than you think.
18 -- driver is good but keep it in the fairway -- left side preferred. When hitting to the green, stay clear of the hillside on the left or it'll shoot your ball down to the creek. There's safety (low cut) rough on the right.

Slow But Super turf
Pace of play ridiculous over 5 hours
Too many golfers for 8 minute tee times
Difficulty of course not for beginners
Plus side
Friendly staff
Fairways tees greens the best from DFW to San Antonio that I have played in June and July

Play on a hot or rainy day so can hit when arrive at ball less golfers
3 groups on every par 4

Really enjoy this course. One of my fav local courses!!