Tour 18

In 2006 Avid Golfer rated Tour 18 as #3 in their Top 5 Luxury Courses and #4 in their Top 10 Best Dallas Fort Worth Courses. And we can see why, wow, this is an outstanding course and one that you will really enjoy! If you watch golf on TV, as you play the course it will seem familiar to you because each hole is a simulated hole from some of the greatest golf courses in America (i.e., Sawgrass in Florida, Pine Valley in New Jersey, Augusta National in Georgia).  

We recommend you get a pamphlet at the clubhouse that explains each hole and provides some tournament history for that hole. For example, hole descriptions like “Arnold Palmer dubbed this hole The Monster” or “Ray Floyd describes this hole as the toughest par 4 in the world.”

Tour 18 has some very interesting, challenging, and fun holes to play — for example, a par 3 surrounded by water or a green with a sand trap in the middle. The front nine is relatively open with minor elevation changes and doglegs, however good club selection and course management are still key to scoring well on this nine. The bunkers are strategically placed and seem to attract of lot of your shots.

We found the back nine to be much prettier, more challenging, and a lot more fun than the front. Huge and very beautiful houses, each with a different architecture, greet you as you drive to the course and they line a lot of the holes — it’s worth the price to play Tour 18 just to admire some of the magnificent houses.

We last played Tour 18 during the drought of 2006 and the condition of the fairways and greens were not the best (as you can tell from the pictures) because they could not pump water from Lake Grapevine due to the water level being below the pump. They have fixed this problem and drilled two new wells so Tour 18 should be back to its normal condition which we rated a 9 on our previous visit. 

Bottom, line this is a must play course and if you buy a North Texas Premier Golf Guide you get a free round and a free meal when you buy a round and a meal – plus you get similar deals at a number of other great Dallas area golf courses – well worth the price!