March 2025 – Was in the DFW Metroplex for a work trip and decided to play the other Fields Ranch course. Work trip? That’s right, though I retired, I came down to DFW for a Grand Opening for one of my consulting client’s locations. Seems I suck at retirement as much as I suck at golf. Anyways, I had played the more heralded East course here last year right about the same time. That is a Gil Hanse design that is set to host the 2027 PGA Championship and a slew of other lesser tournaments. In fact, they were already setting up the East on this trip for the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, taking place from June 19-22.
The West is the lesser of the courses on property but it is certainly no Fredo course as I describe in my Torrey Pines North write-up. The greens here are table tops – which make the Ross inverted saucers look like pin cushions. Add to that the fact that the greenskeeper must not have gotten laid in months and the “Sunday” pin positions made any approach shot carom off the green like water off oil. I’ll talk a bit more on the course in a bit, but I now digress for this tangent.
I really didn’t have a travel golf goal in mind when I set up this blog. It was really just a chance to publish the scrapbook I had been putting together based on the different courses I had played. I added the blog part to put in some review features from a bogey golfer’s perspective, blather on about whatever was on my mind, and talk up the destination as a potential golf trip. Since I retired, I have set the goal to play 1,000 courses before I hang up my golf shoes. If I average about 25 different courses a year after this year, I should get there by right around the time I turn 70 – at which time I will hopefully be healthy enough to still play. Fields Ranch was number 702 played.
So, even when I don’t have set plans with buddies, I still try to get a round in through the Thousand Greens app or just booking as a single at some area public courses. I will say I enjoy teaming up with new peeps almost as much as I enjoy playing with various groups of friends. I rarely run into an a-hole whether they are good golfers or bogey golfers like me. And for this round, I got teamed up with Mark from Minnesota (originally Iowa) and the Patricks (Sr. and Jr.) from Nova Scotia. As I have gotten to play a lot of courses and resorts, we can talk about which we liked best and as the other players are generally planning golf trips, I can give recommendations that I have memorialized here on the blog. The Patricks came down to Fields Ranch and the Omni Resort to get away from winter in NS and will add some of the recommendations I gave them below.
With traffic, I live about an hour northwest of Philly. Frisco is about equidistant from Dallas (a hair further from downtown Fort Worth). So the PGA bought up this huge parcel of land and created a golf resort. I live in a state park and think it would be great to convert the course I live on and some of the surrounding park area into a high-end golf resort. Like Fields Ranch, it would give travel golfers a change of pace from the high-end, super remote resorts like Bandon, Streamsong, Sand Valley and Cabot. Here (as it would be if they developed a resort near me) you can enjoy multiple golf courses by top designers, stay on property but could now get an Uber or shuttle into the city to enjoy the dining and sports scenes and could take the spouse and wouldn’t have to bury them in the room or resort bar while you play. Hey Kaiser, drop me a line if you want to build the Evansburg State Park Golf Resort outside Philly!
Anyways, if you plan a trip to Frisco to stay at the Omni and play the courses, here are a few recommendations.
- Bring your wallet. These fucking courses are expensive as shit. At East, you need to take a single-bag caddie and if you rent clubs, you’re north of $700 +/-. Here you can take a cart but the greens/cart fee is $295. Plus rentals, you’re damn near five Franklins after your first Bloody Mary (which are pretty good). Either course shouldn’t charge that in the off-season (with the dormant grass) and as such a new resort (lots of construction around and course still needs some maturing).
- I talk up the Omni Resort in the East review – it was nice but I didn’t try the on-property steakhouse. If you’re here one overnight, by all means try it but if you have multiple nights, go ahead and try some great spots in the city. Golf-wise, I talk about the area in my Colonial review, Dallas National, and a little in my East review which I already linked above. Right around the area, I played American (which is now part of the Golf Clubs at the Tribute which has another state-ranked public course on property pretty close by). Stewart Penninsula is close (which I never played and has a four-star rating, but be careful as they also had this review): This might be one of the most tragic courses around. First of all it’s two 9s which are are identical (except they just have two different tee boxes and pin locations for the front and back 9). The course is basically completely underwater, not really playable, I know it’s not their fault but still sucks. The worst part of all might be their food. I don’t know how to describe it; some sort of weird dystopian hot dog. I’ve had some bad food in my life but it’s really hard to create food this bad. Oh and their burrito, it is not “homemade”. It’s worse than freezer Walmart burrito, maybe toxic waste. I rarely leave google reviews, but I cannot in good faith allow people to go here without being properly warned of this abysmal situation at Stewart peninsula. Ouchie. there are a couple of privates in the area that I haven’t played so cannot rate. You’re about 25-30 minutes from Las Colinas area which sports some nice clubs (both public and private). Also ate at High Eight BBQ in Coppell this trip. Awesome down-and-dirty BBQ joint. Highly recommended. Bottom-line, the Fields Ranch resort has helped me come around on the DFW area as a golf trip. You may want to wait it out a bit until the courses mature some and the area is more complete, but a good city-golf trip destination.
- Fields Ranch West. The course is a Beau Welling design. Greens are definitely crazier than East but I enjoyed it. I played some rental clubs and didn’t strike the ball poorly – just lost a lot of shots around the greens. Pretty open course but it seems the creek and hazard areas are a bit more of a concern here than at East. We had a pretty chilly day when we played but lost the pull over before the turn so wasn’t too bad. Shape was what you would expect from a new course early in the season. I think this will definitely creep up the TX public course rankings and may even make it to the best-in-state GD rankings. We’ll see.
West is a par 37, par 35 with the back having three par threes and back-to-back par fives. There are two short (driveable holes) on each nine: a little funky of a routing but an enjoyable play.
First hole is a 542-yard par five from the III tees (70.1/129). Fairly wide open but some traps off the drive to the right. This is where I was sitting two. About 130 out. My eight was just short but rolled off the front and down, down, down. Then a chip up and over. Told you these were like glass table tops. A two putt later and started with a seven after three good shots.
The second, here from my drive, is the number three handicap but just 360 yards from the III tees. Learned from the first about the greens and didn’t leave this one short. On and just missed a birdie for par.
The first of the par threes, Three is 185 yards from the III tees and my hybrid was just left and into the bunker where I would leave it after two shots before on and a one putt five. Two feet different and would’ve had a nice easy par. Ugh.
Four. 389 yards. Number one handicap. Don’t know what I did but another double and looking pretty much like a 100+ round (three doubles in four holes). But things would improve. Nice quarter-way house and loaded up on a screwy.
Five is a short, 104-yard par three from an elevated tee. This time I just missed the bunker unlike three and the coulda/shoulda par there was a nice easy par here by simply missing the bunker.
Six, it’s a good-sized par five that measures 572 yards. I believe I snapped a second one below from my approach.
I would just miss a par here after getting on in four.
Seven is an example of what in golf architectural parlance is an eye-fuck. Ok not really but the tee sets you up to drive over the waste area or if you aim right of it and push it at all, you are no bueno. That’s where I ended up, in the tall grass and had to burn a shot getting out. Only 344 yards but the #5 handicap. On in three after burning the shot and a three putt double.
Eight is the first of two very driveable holes. This is a cape hole over a waste area. Here, from my drive, I’m only 60 yards in. Hole played just 250 yards so don’t be impressed. Nice chip and two putt par.
Nine is a par five, 513 yards. You see the pop-up greens. Very tough approach for me but only the 15th handicap. Not sure how I played the hole but a bogey six for a front nine 47 that was looking worse than that after four holes. Par 37 though.
The back features three par threes and the 10th is the first of those, 178 yards and 12th handicap. Again I forget how I fucked it up but I did indeed fuck it up and started the back with a double.
The 11th features a blind approach. Drove the ball well and crushed a hybrid onto the green completely blind. Fourth handicap, 400 yards and par!
I missed the 12th, a 143-yard par three (which is a shame I missed because it was my second par in a row) and this is the super tough 13th. Great golf hole. Good drive but had to clear a creek on my approach and just missed. Double but not unhappy with how I hit it – just refused to lay up when I should have.
The Biarritz green on 13. After a tough approach you can still put it on the wrong side of the valley and add strokes on this hole.
Fourteen was missed (357 yards and a bogey) and here is the second driveable hole, Fifteen. 275 yards. Keep it right of the bunkers if not trying to drive the green and came the closest anyone came to a birdie all day.
The final par three is a 162 yards and I would bogey.
West ends with two consecutive par fives. So just when I thought I may get my first round in the 80’s, I would double both. Seventeen is a 476-yard short par five but obviously got into trouble somewhere.
The exact same distance as the 17th – a 476-yard par five. Another double. You can see by the pix that the course is not very green and lush. Not sure how much of that they are going for but certainly it will green up much more in the late Spring/Summer. As noted earlier, not really worth the freight to get on for now but a nice resort where you can check a “major venue” off the bucket list. Well at least you can on East then play the step-brother course the next day. Just make sure and bring your short game and hope the greenskeeper gets laid the night before you play.
Golf Scrapbook 