Tour 18 Dallas (Flower Mound, TX on 06/19/20)

I belong to a few different golf forums and on Friday I met up with another forum member and a couple of his friends. As a fellow course collector he suggested Tour 18 Dallas for our round, as I hadn’t played here yet.

The selection of Tour 18 worked out really well actually! I play much of my golf booking as a single. And, when I’ve looked to book a time here in the past the course only accepts tee times for 2, 3, or 4 golfers, no singles – even when a twosome takes a slot. Ridiculous! That gripe aside I’ve been excited to play Tour 18 since I moved to Dallas.

Over the last year I had read many online comments about how the conditions were lacking here. While the conditioning isn’t worth the $83 rack rate and didn’t match the caliber of the design, things were far from terrible. We paid $40 and for that price I don’t have any complaints.

There were a few roped-off areas that the crew was working on but most of the fairways, tees and greens were full. I didn’t have one poor lie. The greens rolled well and were super quick – a bit too fast for amateur play considering the slope, in my opinion. The bunkers were a disappointment and it looked like many bunkers were being re-done. The non-ground-under-repair bunkers had water in them along with thin sand.

The 9th is modeled after the 17th at TPC Sawgrass.

Tour 18’s design is unique and the reason you’ll want to play it. Each hole is a replica hole and modeled after a famous golf hole in the United States. Many courses in America are represented here, including everything from Riviera to Augusta National. I’ve played a handful of replica “themed” courses and always enjoyed them. Tour 18 Dallas was no exception!

Our group played the white tees which are 70.6/128/6202 and from tee to green I thought the course was a blast to play. On the front nine I most enjoyed the 9th hole, which replicates the 17th at TPC Sawgrass, complete with similar tiers on the green.

To me, the back nine had a better look to it as I didn’t need to use my imagination as much to picture myself at each hole’s famous course. The 12th is a copy of Riviera’s 6th, with the bunker in the middle of the green. The final three holes at Tour 18 were my favorites. They are copies of Augusta’s Amen Corner, the 11th, 12th and 13th holes, which are some of the most famous holes in golf!

Tour 18’s 17th hole – “Golden Bell”.

Not only do the holes have the look to them with the yardages, doglegs and water hazards you also walk a similar path on each hole. By that I mean you exit the 16th green, walk back and to the right then play over a hazard on the signature 17th. Next, you cross the unofficial Hogan Bridge to a green with some landscaping and pine trees behind it and then the 18th tee is tucked back behind the 17th green. Of course it isn’t the real thing, but it was still fun!

My main criticism about Tour 18 is that the greens have entirely too much slope. Our group hit some decent lag putts and chips that just continued to roll, and roll, and roll. We joked a couple greens just needed a clown’s mouth and windmill!

As it stands now I don’t think Tour 18 Dallas is a “must play” in DFW due to the bunker renovation that is ongoing. Once that gets sorted out then I think you can start talking about the course as one of the top public courses in the area. Like most replica courses, you’ll have to use your imagination and if you do I think you’ll have a great time (besides all the three putts).

Course Pictures (click any picture to scroll through the gallery):

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