After about a month away from the game I purchased a couple iDealGolfer.com vouchers to use this fall. One of the vouchers was for Oeste Ranch Golf Course which is located close to the I-20, west of Fort Worth. I made a stop along the way, but the drive time wasn’t bad (around an hour).

So far this year I’ve played Canyon West Golf Club and Sugar Tree Golf Club, which are in the same general area. Naturally, I was curious how Oeste Ranch compares. Even after my round at Oeste Ranch, there are still a couple courses left around these parts that I’d like to check out!

I teed off a few minutes before 2pm and the normal rate that time of day is about $45. I wouldn’t say that is an awful price, but I was excited to use my certificate, for which I only paid $19! It turned out to be a great deal on a comfortable fall day.

For $19 the conditions were solid, spoiled some only by the large number of crabgrass patches in the rough. Besides the crabgrass all the playing surfaces were in great shape. The tees were full and cut down. The fairways were short and I had plenty of good lies. The greens were smooth and super fast. I’m not sure the recent rain situation in Weatherford, but the ground was firm and shots released.

Oeste Ranch was designed by Steve Mrak and opened in 2002. Mrak appears to have designed two courses, this one and a place near San Antonio. From what I could find Oeste Ranch was designed for the community and I think there were aspirations of taking the course private. However, I’m not sure if that is still in the plans.

Oeste Ranch is on the shorter side when compared to many courses built within the last forty years. From the back tees (the “1’s”) the course is only 6,590 yards. The rating is 72.2 (par-71) and the slope is 129. Besides a couple holes I found Oeste Ranch friendly to play, thanks to the large fairways here. The biggest challenges will come from the hazards and forced carries.

I found the front nine rather bland, except for back-to-back par-5’s (the 4th and 5th) which offer a chance to recover after three tricky opening par-4’s. Both the 4th and 5th are reachable and the 5th is only 461 yards. The front nine also has back-to-back par-3’s, so that sequence of pars on a par-36 is something you don’t find often!

The back nine is a par-35 and has the more engaging holes. I thought the back nine had a more natural feel – compared to the bulldozed feeling of the front. For example, the 10th is a fun short par-4 that plays into the trees and the 15th is a long par-4 that goes over a creek. And, the 16th is a pretty 150 yard par-3 that is framed by more trees.

Like Canyon West and Sugar Tree, Oeste Ranch could use some TLC and as things stand now it is a budget course. For example, the carts here are worn out, the hazards look nasty and one of the cart bridges is falling apart. That said, I still think Oeste Ranch is worth playing if you live in Fort Worth. You can find a lot of shots here and it is a good value.

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