Horseshoe Bay Resort - Slick Rock Course

Review & Rating of Horseshoe Bay Resort's Slick Rock Golf Course in Horseshoe Bay

The fantastic Horseshoe Bay Resort on Lake LBJ is home to three championship Robert Trent Jones, Sr. golf courses which are consistently ranked as some of the best courses in Texas. Some of the awards and accolades that Slick Rock course has received over the last couple years include:

• Top 50 courses you can play in Texas (#24) – Dallas Morning News, 2018
• Top 100 Courses across Texas (#88) -Dallas Morning News, 2018
• Texas Outside's Best Resort Courses in Texas

Each of the three courses, Ram Rock, Slick Rock, and Apple Rock, have their own unique challenges and personality. Ram Rock is the most challenging and one of the toughest courses in Texas and Apple Rock is the most scenic with breathtaking majestic views of Lake LBJ. Here is a link to Texas Outside's review of Ram Rock and the review of Apple Rock.

Common to all three courses are absolutely stunning facilities that blend in perfectly with the surrounding picturesque Hill Country; excellent service; great food; and an outstanding and well-equipped pro shop plus good practice facilities. The bad news is that you need to be a member or staying at the Horseshoe Bay Resort to play these courses. The good news is that you'll be staying at one of the best resorts in Texas and playing some of the best courses in Texas. So what are you waiting for, pick up the phone and book a reservation and a tee time. 

In 2016, Slick Rock reopened after six months of renovation by Robert Trent Jones Sr.  The renovations included:

• new bentgrass greens, two-foot Zoysia collars,  and softening of the green contours
• bunker reshaping plus new drainage and sod on the faces and new light fluffy sand
• a new irrigation system was installed around the greens and new automated sprinkler heads were added to the rest of the course
• trees were trimmed and cart paths were repaired
• and improvements were made to the pro shop, restaurant, and bar

As you make the turn into the Slick Rock course you cross some creeks, traverse gently rolling terrain, pass some beautifully landscaped grounds, and arrive at the stone clubhouse surrounded by granite boulders – and your quickly realize that you're in for something special!  And you won't be disappointed. Slick Rock opened in 1972 on over 170 acres of lush Texas Hill Country with granite outcroppings, rolling hills, and a variety of native trees including oak, cedar, and persimmon. Sage and other landscaping bring a variety of colors to this meticulously maintained course. 

Slick Rock is the most user-friendly of the three 18s at Horseshoe Bay Resort and it has a reputation as "hard to par but easy to bogey."  Like most resort courses, Slick Rock has wide and forgiving fairways off the tee box, big greens, huge bunkers, and near-perfect conditions. At 3401 yards, the front nine is pretty traditional and what you see is what you get – so pull out the driver and let it rip but don't get overconfident because the approach shots can be challenging because of the trees and green-side bunkers. On this nine you'll encounter water on 4 holes, 33 fairway and green-side bunkers, two great par 3's, and homes lining both sides of the fairways. The 3rd hole, a 575-yard par 5 is a fun hole with water along three-fourths of the right side and the dogleg right approach is narrow with traps, trees, and water leading to the green.  Number 8 is a fun and scenic par 3 requiring a 170 yard carry over the water to hit the front of the green.

The back nine of Slick Rock is fantastic with some fun, challenging and very scenic holes, including the infamous "million dollar waterfall hole," number 14 – probably one of the most scenic and dramatic holes in Texas. On this nine you need to deploy better course management and club selection to avoid the numerous bunkers, water on five holes, and doglegs. Some of the holes we liked on the back nine of Slick Rock include:

• #12 which is a 530-yard par 5 that is wide off the fairway but the landing zone is tight with a bunker on one side and a tree on the other side right where your ball wants to land. Survive that and its decision time – can you make it across the water crossing the fairway about 110 yards out from the green.  Then you need to stuff it on a green set off to the right side with a lake surrounding most of the green and two bunkers on the left side.
• #14 is awe-inspiring and a tad intimidating from the back tees – an elevated tee box, a million-dollar 35-yard long two-tiered waterfall, and a winding cart path that goes down and across the creek and back up to the wide-sweeping uphill fairway.  Get your camera ready for this Kodak moment!
• #18 is a great finishing hole with an uphill tee shot to the sharp dogleg right between a big right-side bunker and two left-side bunkers followed by a slight downhill and then uphill shot to a very well-protected green. 

The Slick Rock fairways are very wide and forgiving but if you miss you're in a back yard, wet, or out of bounds.  A wide playable rough borders all of the fairways.  You'll encounter some gentle slope and contour.  When we last played the fairways were very firm (thanks to some 100-degree weather!) and provided lots of extra roll.

The greens at Slick Rock are also very large and a variety of shapes.  They run very true, hold the ball well, and are relatively easy to read with minimal slope and contour.  We thought that they were a little slow at around an 8 to 9 when we played.

The facilities and service are second to none – the grill and restaurant are excellent, the grounds are beautiful with plenty of colorful landscaping and granite boulders; the practice facilities are very good; and the pro shop has everything you need. The on-course restrooms are unbelievable – granite countertops, beautiful stone tiled floors and walls, and it even smelled refreshing – very unique for a golf course restroom.