ColoVista

Review of ColoVista Golf Club in Bastrop, Texas

ColoVista Golf Club was built in 1999 and before it was closed from 2009 to 2013 because of flooding it had been rated as one of the top and favorite courses in the Austin area.  As proof of it's return to glory in 2013 the Austin American Statesman called ColoVista Golf Club the "Crown Jewel of Central Texas Golf."

Over the last  6 years ColoVista has been the victum of devastating fires in Bastrop, two floods, unusual weather conditions, and a couple management changes.  The impact on course conditions has been significant.  New management came to ColoVista Golf Club in 2017 and they are committed to improving the conditions and restoring the course to where it was in 2013.  According to a couple of regular players and members, the new management team is making great progress on improving the conditions.

What makes playing ColoVista fun are the rolling fairways; well-protected, undulating greens; variety on the back nine; and forgiving landing areas – all of which leads to a variety of shot strategies. The front nine of ColoVista is plays in the valley as a Texas Links style nine and if you like a links style course you will love this nine. It includes some trouble with water and tall natural grasses, several wide open straight ahead what-you-see-is-what-you-get holes, and a couple holes that require some shot making to par.

ColoVista's back nine sits on a ridge overlooking the valley and it is completely different as it meanders through the  trees, offers some panoramic views for miles, dramatic elevation changes, tight tree lined fairways, and some very challenging holes with sharp doglegs and lots of steep ups and downs.  

Some of the holes we really liked include:

• #15 is the signature hole and it's a beauty – a 191 yard par 3 with an elevated tee box that's around 120' above a green guarded by two pot bunkers and it offers a magnificent view of the valley and the winding Colorado River – the elevation change requires one less club than normal but the ball hangs in the for so long that the wind has about twice the impact on it compared to normal
• #16 is a challenging 370 yard dog leg right par 4 – sounds easy but its a steep climb to the green along a tight fairway with a steep hill on the left and tree trouble on the right and if your drive isn't deadly accurate and your ball hits the hill near the dog leg, you'll watch your ball roll 50 to 100 yards back down the hill making for a tough shot to the green around hiding around the corner

The fairways on the front are open and you can let it rip but on the back nine you might want to keep the big dog in the bag and play more strategically.  The back is tight, tree lined, and rolling.  Some beautiful homes can come into play on a couple of the holes on the back.  Considering what ColoVista Golf Club has been through, the fairways as you might expect are in relatively poor shape (bare spots, a mixture of weeds and grass, and firm), but getting better from what we heard.

The greens have been redone in 2013 and they are firm, run a tad slow, and have plenty of slope and contour that can cause some three putts!  They range in size from average to large and some are raised and quite a few are guarded.

The bunkers were in pretty poor condition thanks to all the weather related problems.  The sand is shallow and gritty.  Some TLC is needed around the edges. 

ColoVista has a great Stay & Play with 24 one bedroom units that overlook the 2nd hole.  Read about our Stay & Play at ColoVista to learn more.