Timber Creek Golf Club - Timber Trails Nine Holes

Timber Creek Golf Club is home to 27 holes of very good golf that takes advantage of the 316 acres of tall stately East Texas pines and towering oaks and includes 13 bridges that cross a meandering creek that can present some challenges, rock outcroppings, and plenty of sculpturing that was created by moving one million cubic yards of dirt. 

The course was designed by Jay Riviere and first opened for play in 2001 and is currently considered to be one of the top 10 courses in the Houston area.   Part of Jay's genius in designing each of the nines is that from the tee box, you'll know where you want to hit it and where you don't – no guessing but you need to execute on each shot to score well.

Jay seemed to design each nine to fit a different skill level – from the novice to the shot makers.  Each nine has it's own unique personality and characteristics:

• The Pines, as the name implies, plays through some stately east Texas pines and is considered the easiest of the nines with wider more forgiving fairways – read our review of the Pines nine to learn more
• Creekside is the shortest of the nines – 2172 to 3135 yards – and considered the middle of the road course from a playability perspective and it has water on 8 holes, some dog legs, and 28 bunkers
• Timber Trails is the longest – 2479 to 3575 yards- and toughest of the nines

Timber Trails is one of those nines where you really need to choose the right set of tee boxes and not bite off more than you can chew or you'll be buying rounds at the clubhouse.  This is the longest nine, 3575 yards from the tips, and the hardest with lots of forced carries, dog legs, tighter fairways, and 27 challenging bunkers. 

To test your nerve, Timber Trails starts off with the #1 handicap hole – a 482 yard slight dog leg right along a narrow tree lined fairway (spray the ball and you're history) with three huge bunkers and a small pond on the right.  Par this beauty and you'll most likely have a good round. 

This nine is loaded with some fun, interesting, and challenging holes that put a premium on accuracy.  Seven of the holes have forced carries over the creek or a pond and #7 has two forced carries, 4 bunkers, and a small pond near the green.  #2 is a fun 165 yard par 3 with a carry over the pond to a heart shaped back to front sloping green guarded by a couple large bunkers. #6, a 427 yard par 4 requires a precise drive to carry the creek and stuff it in a landing zone that is pinched by a bend in the creek encroaching into the fairway.

When we played Timber Creek Golf Club in May, the tree lined fairways were dry thanks to a drought in the Houston area but they were still in very good condition.  They are gently contoured with some mounding, a playable first cut, and most are fairly tight.  The dry conditions resulted in a lot of extra roll that could be both good news or very bad news if the extra roll took you into the bunker or creek that you didn't think you could reach. 

The Timber Trails greens were in very good condition outside of a few spots that were recently patched due to some winter damage.  They vary in size and shape from huge to about average and most are guarded by 2 to 5 bunkers.  They held the ball well, rolled true, but were a tad slow – around a 7 to 7.5.  Most had some very gently slope and little to no undulation.  Putting was not a problem for us. 

The problem was the forced carries and trying to avoid the bunkers.  The bunkers are thin lipped but the sand is thin, gritty, and challenging.

The slope and rating are based on playing the Pines and Timber Creek together.