Sunday was a long day of golfing and driving! We played two rounds of golf outside Houston and then I drove back to Dallas (about 4 hours) after the second round. Our afternoon round was booked at Moody Gardens Golf Course and I searched all week for a good morning course.

Unfortunately, I never found anything that interested me and that was geographically close enough to Moody Gardens. I didn’t want to have to drive across town with the shorter amount of daylight and potentially risk our afternoon round! So, I booked a round at Bayou Golf Course, which appears to be one of the few public courses in the area.

And sadly, after playing a few holes at Bayou I was wishing I picked somewhere else. I knew that Bayou wasn’t going to be a destination course but the recent reviews looked fine. However, the conditioning here was quite poor and that turned out to be the reason I was disappointed with my pick to golf here. I thought the design palatable and the setting above average.

I’ll be the first to say that it didn’t cost much – $40 to ride – and that Bayou is a municipal course, so I’m factoring all that into my comments. Still, the fairways on the front nine were the worst that I’ve played on all year thanks to flooding (recent?) that affected the course. Everything was soggy on the front nine and multiple holes had large sections of mud/dead grass where there should have been fairway or rough. The bunkers looked neglected.

As the course’s name indicates it lies on a bayou (no homes around), the Moses Bayou to be exact. The front nine plays along the bayou, which can grab shots if you hit it to the left. The back nine is further inland and while it is more bland in terms of the design it was in better shape. The greens were the nicest part about the maintenance. They rolled well and had a surprising amount of speed on a damp morning.

If the course could find a way to control the flooding then I think the focus would shift to some interesting golf holes at Bayou! More on that in a moment though. Bayou was designed by Joe Finger (a Houston local) in the 1970’s and was re-worked by Michael Nuzzo in 2014. The 2014 work included new greens and I thought the greens were the most interesting part of the design. They have plenty of contour and required some thought.

Most of the design is open and caters to the recreational golfer with large driving areas and the ability to play sprayed tee shots. The design wouldn’t be bad to play with your buddies. We played the blue tees which are 72.5/123/6596.

A handful of holes along the bayou stand out and on a gloomy morning the wildlife was very active. We saw many pelicans dive into the water, fishing for their breakfast! I was never quick enough with the camera but ultimately, all the birds doing their thing will be what I’ll remember the most about my experience here.

The 3rd, 7th and 18th are likely the best holes at Bayou. The 3rd and 18th are 400(ish) yard par-4’s that play along the bayou. The 3rd doglegs left and really forces you to commit on the drive while the 18th has more water in play. My favorite hole was the 7th which is a 134 yard par-3. The tee box is built on a peninsula and water cuts in around the green.

For now I’d skip a round at Bayou due to the conditions. Hopefully Mother Nature treats the course better going forward! Still, even if things improve, I don’t see much reason to drive out from Houston just to golf here.

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