After finishing up at Duncan Golf & Tennis Club I made my way over to the Territory Golf & Country Club. The Territory is also in Duncan, just on the outskirts of town.
If you follow my posts you’ll know that I’ve picked up a few iDealGolfer.com vouchers recently! The site runs some specials at various public and private clubs, including many DFW courses. I saw the Territory listed on iDealGolfer.com and scooped up the unlimited play voucher for $48. That was a complete steal, as the Territory is ranked among the top golf courses in Oklahoma! I believe the course is private but does allow some outside play.
I had a 1:20 tee time but got there closer to 12:30 and the proshop was nice enough to let me out early. I was able to play quickly, in about 3 hours. Because I enjoyed my round so much I ended up using the unlimited portion of the voucher and played 36 holes at the Territory! Apparently college football (and not golf) is on the locals’ minds this time of year.
The Territory is a Randy Heckenkemper design that shows off a quality piece of land. While I enjoyed everything about the Territory, I think the landscape is the course’s standout feature!
The Territory plays across some rolling terrain that reminded me of California’s foothills. For example, I drew parallels to the area where Greenhorn Creek Resort and Saddle Creek Resort are located. There are some nice elevation changes at the Territory and a blend of prairie-style, wetlands and tree-lined holes. Plus, there aren’t many homes to spoil the setting.
There is no shortage of solid holes at the Territory. My favorites were two of the par-3’s, the short 8th and the mid-length 13th! In fact, I think you’d struggle to find a bad hole here.
The 8th is a beautiful, downhill par-3 with water lurking to the left of the green. It is only 143 yards from the gold tees and played about a club downhill. However, the wind was gusting during my first round and I ended up trying to flight a shot under the wind. The green is large and has a collection area in the center of it.
The 13th is 174 yards and also has water in play. The green is cut into a hillside and a right-to-left shot is the best shape to fit the green’s angle. The green is in the shape of an hourglass and has a valley in the middle portion. Lots of pin locations here, for sure!
I played the gold tees which are 72.9/131/6673 and what you’ll find at the Territory is an open, friendly modern design. Oddly, the scorecard’s rating and slope are lower! While there isn’t a ton of lost ball trouble, the course is far from easy. There are tricky lines to pick, a couple strong par-3’s and large greens which require some deft touch.
The nice thing about the Territory is that there is ample space, including large driving areas and fescue if you get really wild. I hit it into the fescue a handful of times and had surprisingly good luck finding my ball. Generally speaking, the green complexes are framed by mounding and potentially, this mounding can feed shots towards certain pins. I found the greens interesting to putt, without being too challenging.
The conditions were borderline flawless and therefore I don’t have to say much about them. The bent grass greens were pure and rolled at a medium-fast pace. The rest of the turf was lush and very green. The sand in the bunkers was a bit thin, but nothing terrible.
I found the Territory to be a special course! I’d probably put the Territory somewhere in my personal top 40 courses. I thought it had a great balance of challenge and fun for all shots and the setting was a nice retreat from the hustle of Dallas. If you can find your way on I’d highly suggest a round here.
Course Pictures (click any picture to scroll through the gallery):