The Lake Murray Lodge at Lake Murray State Park

Usually play this course once a month. Always enjoy my round of golf at this course. Course was in great condition. Very helpful and friendly staff. looking forward to the next time I play it.

Disclaimer: I am a high handicapper.

I really enjoyed playing this course for the first time. I live about an hour away, and I will definitely play here again.

I had heard there were a great deal of trees, so I expected to lose quite a few balls. I think I lost one ball all day. As long as you think through each shot, you can minimize the risk of going OB. There are no sand traps, but water is featured on several holes. On at least two holes there were water shots hidden from view, so pay attention to the course map on the scorecard if it is your first time playing.

This course features five par 5's and five par 3's. Most of the par 4's--and some of the dog-leg par 5's--you're better off using something less than driver off the tee. This setup and the course design puts a premium on accuracy and level-headed thinking. I wouldn't consider myself very accurate, but a high handicapper can stay in bounds as long as they play within their ability. For me, this sometimes meant hitting 3-hybrids from the tee box on par 5's. Once in the fairway, I didn't really play many full swing shots--instead opting to use my 3/4 swing most of the day.

The bermuda greens are very quick. It is difficult to utilize bump and runs effectively on many holes due to everything from elevated greens to shots over water hazards. Golfers with a high trajectory ball flight will definitely have an advantage hitting into the greens. It wasn't very windy when I played, but I would imagine high winds might level the playing field between high and low trajectory golfers when it comes to hitting greens.

Really my only complaint pertains to course yardages. There are no stakes marking yards to the green, and the yardage markers that are on the course are not very prominent (most of the day I could not find them at all). Additionally, the yardages displayed on the score card do not appear to be very accurate. On most holes the distance between tees is greatly exaggerated on the score card. For instance, the senior's tees will say they play 100 yards shorter than the white tees, but will be 50 yards away from them. I am unsure which are correct.

Hadn't played this course in about 6 years. They have taken out all their bent grass greens and replaced them with bermuda. Made a big difference in these small greens. Didn't have the fungus and bare spots that normally appear in bent grass in this area. Greens were rolling well & with speed. The course manager has done a good job in bringing back this neglected resort course. I will play it again when I get the urge to drive 80 miles to play golf :)

As with anyone, is it worth the hour+ drive from Dallas north just to play golf? My answer is yes, the bent grass greens, beautiful oak trees and all around fun course (at a great price). Not to mention you can stop along the highway on your return trip to TX...

This course is very challenging to me. A lot of the fairways are tight, and you really have to think about your shot. It offers elevation changes from the tee box to the fairway to the super fast greens. A majority of the fairways are tree-lined on both sides. Fairway grass could be fuller, and the greens were dry and hard. Very difficult to land the ball on the green and keep it there. I really like the layout and beauty of the course, and the challenge.