Teravista Golf Club

Review of Teravista Golf Course Round Rock, Texas

Teravista Golf Club in Round Rock is one of those courses that you walk into the clubhouse after your round, order a beer, and say "what a great course and a fun round – can't wait to play it again." Teravista Golf Club opened in 2002 and over the years since opening it has been consistently recognized as one of the best courses in Austin as well as Texas.  Avid Golfer rated it #4 in Austin and the course also made Texas Outside's list of the Best Courses in Austin.  The reason we rated it as one of the best is because it's fun and fair to play, requires some shot making and accuracy, it's scenic and in excellent condition and the rates are very reasonable. 

Teravista is now part of the Magnolia Golf Management Company portfolio of excellent courses which in Texas also include Avery Ranch and Falconhead – both of which are also on Texas Outside's List of the Best Courses in Austin.

Teravista Golf Club plays through a very nice golf community with lots of amenities and some beautiful homes line most of the holes.  There are 5 sets of tee boxes with yardages ranging from 3744 to 7039 making it golfer friendly for all levels of play. You might consider moving up a set of tee boxes when you play Teravista Golf Club because you'll need to avoid 65 huge strategically placed bunkers, several forced carries, some tight fairways, water on 17 holes, plenty of water, and several challenging approach shots to the greens.  But if you pick the right set of tee boxes, play strategically, and don't let some of the risk reward shots tempt you, you'll find the course very friendly, fun,  and you'll most likely walk into the clubhouse and not have to buy the drinks!

Some of the Teravista Golf Course holes that we really liked included:

• #2 is a 455 yard par 4 (#2 handicap) that is a sharp dogleg right and offers an excellent risk reward shot if you think you can fly the trees and 3 bunkers to significantly shorten the hole  – beware the approach shot is challenging thanks to left front and rear bunkers and water around three fourths of the green
• #4 is a beauty that requires a carry over a pond and a slight downhill shot followed by a dogleg left past some right and left side bunkers leading to a green with a ridge across the middle
• #12 is fun – a 414 yard par 4 that horseshoes left around a lake and requires a good tee shot to stay out of the lake on the left and avoid the bunker and an accurate approach shot to a dogleg left with a lake on the entire left side of an  oblong green – from the tee box you've got a great risk reward shot to fly more of the lake and make the approach shot shorter but the landing is narrow
• #16 is a fun 545 yard par 5 that requires some shot making to avoid the natural area crossing the fairway and waiting for your drive, then an accurate layup or carry over the creek to another landing zone, followed by an accurate shot over the creek/natural area to a raised green guarded by two bunkers

When we played in earkt October, the Terravista fairways and rough were in excellent condition.  The majority of the fairways are forgiving off the tee but there are lots of  huge fairway bunkers and creeks with dense areas to carry.  Trees and homes and natural areas line most of the fairways.  The rough is wide and cut somewhat thick but very playable. 

The greens at Teravista Golf Club were also near perfect, very soft, ran true, and at a good speed of 10 to 11.  They range in size (mostly very large) and shape from oblong to light bulb and lots of other interesting shapes.  Some are raised and all are well guarded, putting a premium on your approach shots.  The putting surfaces vary from relatively flat to some significant slope and tiers.  We didn't have much of a problem reading the breaks.

The bunkers ranged in shape and size from huge bunkers to even bigger multi-fingered truck and trailer-sized monsters – and there are around 63 of them that you need to avoid!  The bunkers were wet from a recent rain so it was hard to judge the sand but it felt deep and soft and would be a joy to play out of if dry.  The bunkers are well maintained and the faces are fairly steep with a 3 or 4 inch lip – don't expect to roll out.