My friend and I finished our morning round quickly and were hoping to sit down for a nice lunch somewhere on Galveston Island. Unfortunately (for us) every place that interested us had a long wait! So we scrapped that plan and headed over to Moody Gardens Golf Course for our afternoon round.
It was a busy afternoon and while we weren’t able to tee off early we were able to relax some at the course before our round. We ended up teeing off about 2pm and finished up at 6pm so I was impressed with the pace – especially since it was a windy afternoon on what turned out to be a difficult golf course.
Moody Gardens originally opened in 1976 as Galveston Municipal Golf Course and has an interesting history. The course is still a municipal course but in 2008 it was renovated by Peter Jacobsen. I’ve managed to play a couple other Jacobsen courses and enjoyed his work. Also in 2008, the course was damaged by Hurricane Ike, but I’m not sure if that damage happened before or after the renovation.
Even though the course is a municipal course it has an upscale feel to it. The course is managed by Moody Gardens, Inc. which owns the nearby nature-themed tourist attractions. I would guess the course fits in well with the activities of vacationing families! The price at Moody Gardens can be upscale as well as the weekend morning rate pushes $90.
We paid $50 for a twilight round and for that price I’d have no hesitation recommending a round here. The conditions were soft/lush (a couple bare sections) and the grass had a nice shine to it, even on a gloomy afternoon. The bunkers had decent sand and the ball sat up in the fairways.
The greens rolled well, but were quicker than they looked. After the round I found out all the grass at Moody Gardens is paspalum. I was too busy hitting my golf ball into the water during the round to pay much attention then! Maybe that had something to do with that shine I mentioned.
My friend wanted to play the orange tees (the tips) so I joined him. The orange tees are 6,816 yards (rating of 73.3 and slope of 133) and looking back I should tried the 6,380 yard black tees. Moody Gardens is a big golf course – including five par-5’s – that played even longer thanks to the soft conditions and constant two club coastal breeze. Although difficult, I never found the course unfair.
The fairways and greens are large, but that is the only relief at Moody Gardens! Everything else is quite the challenge. There are long golf holes, including a stretch on the front nine from the 5th through 7th. The 5th and 7th are par-5’s that play 570 and 584 yards, respectively while the 6th is a 232 yard par-3. Oh, and those holes have plenty of water lurking.
The back nine has a 575 yard par-5 (the 14th) and the 18th is a 472 yard par-4 where you’ll need to carry more water. The back nine loops out next to a bayou and if your miss is a slice then be careful or it could be a long back nine. There is an airport adjacent to the back nine and we were treated to what looked like restored World War II airplanes taking off and landing.
There is a lot to like about Moody Gardens, including the course’s tropical presentation with palm trees, sand and colorful landscaping. I’m not sure it is a $90 course, but if you are in Galveston or live in Houston then you’ll want to put Moody Gardens on your list.
Course Pictures (click any picture to scroll through the gallery):