Sonesta Bee Cave

I realize we're still in the dormant season in Central Texas, but the greens at Avery Ranch and Star Ranch are in much better shape and run much truer. The Par 3 17th, which is supposed to be Falconhead's "signature" hole, was especially bad, where 1/2 the green is unplayable and it's clear they've had to cut down some trees to try to get it more sunlight. It'll be a while before I go back here again.

My wedding was on Saturday February 16th. The wedding party and fathers and friends playing Saturday morning filling three tee times back to back to back. The staff was super freindly and gave us some pointers because no one had played the course before. The course was in excellent shape for February. Then came the marshalls. I do not recall his name but an elder marshal had hassled the fathers group three different times about playing behind pace by 8 MINUTES!!! There was no one waiting behind them the entire day, so there was no issue to be had, yet the marshal felt it necessary to haggle the group and somewhat ruin thier experience of the course. Will not play here again because of it. Customer service is everything.

For a fairly high-end course Falconhead should have over seeded fairways during the winter season.

The course was OK. I would not pay their full rate. It isn't that good of course. The one really agravating thing about this course is that the architect and superintendent seem to think that obstacles in the fairway is a good idea. Multiple times I hit good drives only to have the second shot blocked out by a tree left in the edge of the fairway, Plenalizing good drives is not an attractive course feature. At first I thought it was probably just this one hole, but then it happened a couple of more time to me and a few times to the other people I was playing with. There are better options in Austin for the price.

Don't pay attention to the "Pace of Play" or any of the other slider based ratings. I can't get the sliders to work, so they are still default settings. Golfnow needs to fix this. Guys and/or gals. If you want a finitie set of ratings for these catagories, just put push buttons there.

Great staff and nicer course than I expected. Not much water and normal amount of traps but a couple of traps within traps. Greens are larger than normal but very difficult to read. Ball placement is important. Course is wide and forgiving for my not always down the middle drives.

Excellent course with many different tee boxes. Staff was outstanding and helpful. I enjoyed the variety of holes the most.
Greens were in great shape. Only negative was the driving range, allowed to hit from the mats only. Problem with that,
the matts are on a 5-10 degree angle upward. I couldn't drive to the first tee fast enough. Overall, a must course to play while
in the Austin area. Also many area places to eat, good traffic
flow in the area.

Even though the course was in winter condition, it was still in very good condition. Shot making is key on this course. just hitting the fairway isn't going to get you a par. The greens are tricky and need to be approached from the correct angle to score. The layout of the holes is really good, with a mix of risk/reward, distance and placement holes. The bunkers are well kept and have a nice grade of sand in them. Hazards were well thought out here. Seemingly good shots that are a little off line can find more trouble than you thought. I suggest a good warm up before your round. Fortunately for you, they have a nice, complete facility.

course is in pretty good shape for late January. the layout is very challenging. most holes require a lengthy second shot into the green--this can be tough on windy/breezy days. hole #9 is most unusual, not from layout standpoint but because of a "Danger" sign in a clump of oak trees about 75 yds out and to the left side of fairway. reason is to warn players of a bee habitat that should not be disturbed. have never seen such a warning before on any hole on any golf course. although bees are good things out in the country, they have no place so close to a fairway and green on a golf course. bees can be easily riled when disturebed. would be easy to do so with them located in this habitat so very close to fairway and green. player safety dicates that these bees should either be removed to the country or eradicated. not sure what the management of Falconhead is thinking on this! sounds ludicrous the way it currently is. greens are of average size, grass pretty good shape on them. traps are well-maintained. however, several holes have elongated monster traps and bunkers that seem to be way overboard. makes approach shots that much more difficult. got my tee time on a Hot Deal through GolfNow--great price and would play here again despite the course difficulty. have always met friendly staff and other players whom I have been paired with. realize this golf course was once a PGA designed gem. those days are long gone, so there should be some re-thinking done on how best to serve the average club member and daily fee golfer. a little thought and some minor tweaking would go along way toward creating an outstanding golf experience. some changes should be made. thanks for reading.

Love the layout of the course. The greens are fast and the staffs are friendly. I will play there again in the near future.

Played this course for the second time and it is absolutely a must play for any skillset. Greens are fast and have plenty of undulation to create a definite challenge. The course is in the shape you would expect considering this time of year. The club house was stocked with plenty of apparel and equipment for that impulse buy. The grill was pretty nice with a nice bar setup. On course the beverage person was timely and polite. As far as the actual play of the course, I would definitely like to play more often so long as the rate was in the below 70 dollar range. Any more than that makes the drive not worth it. Be very careful with your club selection off the tee however as there are angles best served being on the appropriate side of the fairway. There is a short drivable par 4 on the back that offers an easy birdie. The 17th hole of course is a tremendously cool set up with the green perched over water. During the spring this place would look amazing as well. Not much I would change on this course outside of keeping it affordable.

A very good and difficult course. Play the blue or white tee markers for having fun.

Flintrock Falls has always been one of my favorite courses for some reason. Being private and part of the country club lifestyle, they have more funds and likely better staff for keeping it in such great shape. But I also really like the layout and challenges therein. There are a handful of obstacles -- fairway crossing creek beds, water hazards, well placed bunkers, etc. And they certainly have some nicely rolled, undulating greens. The one negative -- they do not have a driving range at this course. They have a couple of outdoor hitting bays to warm up your swing. But if you want a range, then you have to go over to The Hills course.

Falconhead is such a great place to play, no matter what your level of game. I've played it multiple times, and it's more fun and challenging every time. One day I'll learn to hit them straight and really enjoy myself!

a lot of variety... elevation, slope & look. Greens were a little slow, but cosidering the recent weather, I'd expect this... Very true.

The course was challenging, but reasonable when i hit good shots. I played in December and was surprised and pleased that so most of the fairways were green. The greens were true and soft which meant my chips held but there were a lot of unfixed ball marks from lazy golfers. Best public Austin course I have played so far. I hope to play there again soon. I loved their signature par 3 hole (17 I think).

Course was in great condition. Pace of play was great, we played in less than 4 hours. Staff was very friendly and attentive. Great value for this type of course. Just an awesome day at Falconhead. Look forward to playing it again soon.

Overseeded rye is coming in on greens and tee boxes. Enjoy the views.

Good pace of play and marshall was excellent at keeping others on time.

A test if the wind is blowing over 15 mph. Greens were very slow considering the over seeded back in early November. The signature hole 17th green is in bad, bad shape. Not really worth the rake rate posted by any means. I feel sorry for the members there. Other public courses in Austin have better playing conditions for a third of the cost... Just saying... Would not recommend given the slowness of the greens right now.

Played from the tips, this is a tall drink o water! Not for the faint of game ...
greens are in need of some attention. good value with Golfnow discount