A friend of mine has been working in Beaumont for the last six weeks and we decided on this weekend to catch up. We played three rounds on three different courses around Houston and kicked things off at Eagle Pointe Golf Club on Saturday.

Eagle Pointe (a Rick Forester course) is in Mont Belvieu, which is located between Beaumont and Houston. I was headed to the course via the I-45 south and from that direction Eagle Pointe isn’t the most convenient “Houston” course. I loosely use that term because Eagle Pointe is about a half hour east of downtown. However, it isn’t far from the I-10 and was easy for my friend to get to.

Okay, enough with the geography discussion! Eagle Pointe exceeded my expectations in every way and if you are willing to travel then I’d call it a borderline must-play Houston course, at least among the public options. I ended up liking many things about the course, including the setting, its playability and the mint conditioning.

Eagle Pointe lies in a natural area and its presentation is probably its best quality. When I first got to the course it was overcast, however the clouds broke for most of the round and that allowed the course to pop in the sunlight. Almost every hole is lined by pine trees and those same pines frame many green complexes. A creek cuts through the course and everything at Eagle Pointe gives off a coastal Carolina vibe.

We played the blue tees which are 72.1/126/6502 and I thought Eagle Pointe had a great blend of playability and challenge. It was easy to make a par or a bogey, depending on how sharp (or not sharp!) I was on any specific hole. The driving areas are generous (but the fairways aren’t all that large) and the tee shot on the 18th is the only one you really need to worry about. If you get too far offline then there is enough lost-ball trouble to keep the round interesting.

I found Eagle Pointe sneaky difficult to play and would have guessed that the rating and slope would have been higher. The green complexes here require precise shots in order to score and the back nine has water lurking. Some greens are small while others are larger with different tiers. Once on the greens, every putt had minor movement to it. Finally, many holes turned left and the course seemed to favor a draw.

I don’t think there is a signature hole at Eagle Pointe, however there aren’t any weak ones either. The holes that played next to/across the creek (the 1st, 9th, 10th and 16th) were my favorites. The 16th is a long par-4 – 469 yards from the back tees – with a rock waterfall short of the green. The waterfall wasn’t running when we played, but it requires two strong shots (over the creek and a pond) to find the temporary-sized green.

The conditions at Eagle Pointe were phenomenal! The turf was lush and had a beautiful shine to it, especially the tee boxes. Everything was cut tight and allowed for a good divot. The greens were firm and fast so the strokes added up when chipping and putting on them.

I would highly suggest a round at Eagle Pointe and ultimately think it falls into that hidden gem category! We paid $55 and your green fee buys a lot here. My only frustration is that there was no starter and seven golf carts (including us) were stacked up on the first tee to begin the round. Still, we finished in under four hours.

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