For our Wednesday afternoon round we played out at the Wilderness Golf Course, which is about an hour south of Houston. It took us a little longer than that to get there in traffic, so it isn’t very convenient to downtown. Lake Jackson is basically out near the Gulf of Mexico!

Things were quiet when we checked in and paid our $45 green fee. That is quite the bargain and makes Wilderness a great value. While checking in, the proshop told me about how the course was in great shape, potentially rivaling some private clubs up near Houston. I’ll have to let the locals speak to that comparison, but I’ll say the conditions were fantastic!

After putting on sanded greens on the first two rounds of the trip it was nice to putt on some super pure surfaces! The greens were quick and rolled smoothly. Everything else was cut tight and the turf had a nice balance between not being burned out and not being over-watered. The bunkers had quality sand and the rough was gnarly, a place to avoid!

Wilderness was designed by Jeff Brauer in 2004 and Brauer has quickly become one of my favorite Texas architects! We played the maroon tees which are 72.5/130/6720 and from there I thought the course had a little bit of everything. I’d say the greens (with lots of contour) are responsible for much of the course’s toughness.

To me, the course’s layout was parkland style with a modern twist to it. In many ways the layout reminded of TPC Lousiana. The front at Wilderness is longer than the back, with some parallel holes separated by trees, while the back is shorter and has a more natural feel to it. There were some cool-looking palm bushes on the back nine.

I found Wilderness to be a comfortable course to play with wider fairways, beautiful bunkering, water hazards that create risk/reward lines and interesting greens. The bunkers are large but seemed to be placed in spots to help catch poor shots, rather than penalize good ones.

The par-5 2nd is an example of a hole where you have all sorts of lines and shot shapes to pick. The 2nd is 536 yards and if you hit a big drive then the wide portion of fairway the runs out into a hazard. My drive didn’t make it to the hazard and I had about 240 yards to the green, so I might have been able to reach in two! That is a big carry for me, even downwind, so I played out to the right, around the hazard.

While there isn’t a bad hole at Wilderness, the par-3’s stood out to me as good ones. There are two short and two long par-3’s here. The 13th is 144 yards and plays to a green complex surrounded by some steep mounding. Potentially, you could get a nice bounce towards the hole here! The 16th has a biarritz green that adds some interest.

We went out of our way to golf at Wilderness, but my friend and I were happy we did! It is probably a bit far from Houston to consistently play, however the trip out here is well worth it. In my opinion, the course deserves that “hidden gem” status and I think it is safe to say that it will end up among my personal public favorites in the Houston area.

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