Squaw Creek Golf Course

Just west of Ft Worth in the city of Willow Park is an excellent golf course that won't cost your a fortune – Squaw Creek Golf Course. Squaw Creek was built in 1971 by Ralph Plummer and is owned by Lockheed Martin and is primarily for the benefit of Lockheed's employees, but it is open for public play. Squaw Creek is an excellent value and was named by the Dallas Morning News as "Best Bang For The Buck." The PGA Tour Caddies used to play their tournament on Squaw Creek.

The course was named for Squaw Creek which meanders beside and across 10 holes and on some holes it seems strategically placed and just waiting for you ball. As such, you need to deploy some course and club management to avoid getting wet. #16 is a good example where you need to manage the course – this par 5/6, #1 handicap hole is 595 yards from the tips, requires a precise tee shot to make the turn and clear the creek through a narrow slot on your second shot. The second shot needs to avoid the creek on the right and land on a narrow fairway. And finally, the approach shot is to a small green protected by trees and 4 bunkers.

The terrain is rolling hills with trees lining both sides of most of the fairways. You'll find a little bit of everything here to make this a fun and challenging course – elevated tee boxes, a 22 acre lake, rolling hills, slopping fairways, blind shots, narrow approaches, and both uphill and downhill bunker protected greens. The course is tough, but fair and won't beat your brains out. There is no in-course out of bounds, but if you spray the ball, you're in trouble.

When we played in the middle of November, the day after four and a half inches of rain, the fairways were still in very good condition and the course was very well maintained and manicured. The bent grass greens were in near perfect condition, soft, a tad fast, and somewhat difficult to read. You should practice putting before setting out if you want to limit your number of putts. You need to add this course to your list of must plays and you won't find a better value than Squaw Creek.