Tell me about the following and rate the course conditions and condos

The Hideout in Brownwood
The Bandit in New Braunfels
Vaaler Creek in Blanco
Pine Dunes Franston

Looking to do a mid fall guys trip
18 Friday afternoon
36 Saturday
18 Sunday morning and then drive home to Houston

Go to Pine Dunes - unless you need something to do other than golf, like eat out or any kind of entertainment.

You are 10 minutes to Frankston where there are maybe 5 food options with DQ and Subway being the best.
Palestine is maybe 20 minutes away and there are plenty of options there.
South side of Tyler is probably 30-35 minutes away.
Food at the club is serviceable.
Liquor stores are 5 minutes the other side of Frankston.

Golf Course is really good and pretty unique and always in good condition.

I believe they have updated some of the condos, but they are pretty bare-bones.

I haven't been to the others, but have heard good things about The Hideout.

White Bluff might be an option as well.

I wouldn't drive from Houston to Brownwood to play that course. Looks nice but that's a long way to go.

Pine Dunes is a great course but nothing else there. The food is not great, the lodges look old from the outside. There is an eagle lodge or something like that that look really nice.

Another option in East Texas is the Tempest, but there's a lot of blind shots and cart path only par 4's on slopes that would make 36 holes pretty rough. The club house and lodges are nice though.

I'm looking to do a similar type of trip in the fall and I've researched a few of the places.

I agree Pine Dunes is great if it's all about the golf. We'd do that, but we have family in the area and play the course fairly regularly so looking at going somewhere different.

Our top choices so far are:

Kliffs at possum kingdom
Vaaler Creek
White Bluff Resort


I also know if your email the Falls and mention you want to do a stay and play they will allow it to non members. It is pricey though.

Vaaler was cart part only month ago. We do 18,36,18 too and Saturday gets long. Fairways are in great shape considering lack of rain. The accommodations are nice but the sulphur water smell can run you of out the room.

The newer rooms at Pine Dunes are nice but prices are absurd. The older rooms are like a 1980s motel.

Bandit is on the list but was told the course conditions weren't great.

White bluff has 36. And multiple restaurants. I believe they redid the guest lodging a few years ago but I haven't stayed in them.

Crown colony and Rayburn are two more east TX options. Next year I think we're doing Cypress Bend in LA.

This would be all golf
Then drinking , poker and cooking a simple meal at the condos for about 8 or so peeps.

Crown Colony will look very different next year. The restoration project is making great progress.

ccgreens.golfgenius.com

Anything in Louisiana that would work for y'all?

Tapatio
Lajitas
Pine Dunes

Those 3 would be my choices. Tapatio a step down from the other 2 if all you care about is golf.

Check out Lighthouse in Kingsland. While you're there you can also play Legends, which is just down the road.

https://lighthousecountryclub.com/stay-play/

DargelSkout said:

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Check out Lighthouse in Kingsland. While you're there you can also play Legends, which is just down the road.

https://lighthousecountryclub.com/stay-play/

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We just had a golf trip a couple weeks ago and played these two courses. Legends was in pretty good shape and was a fun course. Lighthouse's greens were some of the worst I've ever seen.

Oh man, I hate to hear that. I haven't played that course in a few years. We had a guys trip there for several years. It was a fun course and decent bang for your buck back then.

Matsui said:

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Anything in Louisiana that would work for y'all?

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I'm not against anything in Louisiana
Anything 4 hours from Houston is fine

Thought about doing a lake chuck trip but really want somewhere with a house or condo we can hang out after the rounds

It's a cool layout. We had a big group and just played a scramble so it wasn't the biggest waste of time. Had the greens been in good shape I'd definitely recommend it for the course itself.

We actually had a guy hit a hole in one on 16. 177 yards and the wind was blowing about 20 into our face and he hit a hybrid (the group was the guys I played college baseball with and we're all somewhat long off the tee, so a hybrid adds to the absurdity). One of the worst golfers in the group. What's wild is they were having a tournament as soon as we finished and that was one of the holes that had a big prize for a hole in one. The guy in charge of watching the hole wasn't paying that close of attention and started freaking out when it happened. We had to tell him we weren't part of the tournament.

https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/905903497119474196?adults=1&children=0&enable_m3_private_room=true&infants=0&pets=0&check_in=2024-05-19&check_out=2024-05-24&source_impression_id=p3_1714528775_cz9XXfwTqeEOgIN%2B&previous_page_section_name=1000&federated_search_id=9a49538a-2e3d-4e84-a89f-de78cc7aecbd

3 minutes from the courses and casinos. Lots of other options too.

Have you considered Lake Charles?

Is this thing on?

Don't do Cypress Bend. Shame too, because it's on a pretty wild piece of property. It has some really fun shots.

Buuut, unless something has changed drastically, I've been there twice and they were in the running for the worst greens I've ever played. As my buddy so eloquently put it… it was like putting on a crocodile's back.

To be fair, my 2 trips out there were 10-12 years ago… but I'd be very leery to go back. Fool me once…

Sterling took over that course in last couple of years. Dumped alot of money in it. Came on recommendation and told its in great shape. Wanted to add some fishing to the trip too.

That would be cool because the course itself is unique and several holes have an old Waterwood feel to them. Lots of terrain.

Been to White Bluff and it is pretty decent. I would also consider Horseshoe Bay as an option. Great stay and play options there for multiple courses.