I had an iDealGolfer.com certificate to use before mid-December here at Thorntree Golf Club. Today looked like a great weather day to use it (65, sunny and no wind) and the weather turned out just perfect!

Thorntree Golf Club is on the south side of Dallas and it took me approximately 30 minutes to get there from where I live. The course was built in the mid-1980’s and works its way through a community.

Originally, Thorntree opened as a private country club but at some point they went public. Not sure how recently that happened, though. Still, you cannot escape the older country club vibe with the large circle drive in front of the clubhouse and all the tennis courts. I’m sure this was the place to be years ago!

The cost of my voucher was $25 and for that price Thorntree cannot be beat. Overall, the conditions were nice – not pristine, but palatable for the normal $50ish green fee.

Things are dormant right now, however the tee boxes had a light overseed, some with more coverage than others. The greens and fringes were painted so those two things took the edge off the winter look!

The greens were the highlight of the maintenance as they were awesome surfaces. They were super fast and pure. The fairways mostly had some cushion, but there were enough bare spots to notice. The bunkers were mixed. I was in two and had a soft, fluffy lie and a thin lie. 

There are a couple things that stood out to me about Thorntree. First, it seems the course got plenty of good land. Second, the short par-3’s really added some fun to the round!

The course plays around two creeks and has just enough up and down to keep things interesting. Homes don’t crowd the course (except maybe on the 9th) and there aren’t many funky doglegs or layup areas. The routing is efficient and effective, especially when you consider that the course wasn’t created by a mainstream designer. In fact, it was built by a family from Kansas who was in the oil industry.

I played the blue tees which are 71.9/140/6454. The bulk of the yardage is in the par-4’s and par-5’s, leaving the par-3’s playing between 108 and 160 yards. No doubt, the par-3’s at Thorntree were my favorites! There are four par-3’s and the 2nd, 14th and 16th holes stood out. 

The 2nd is only 108 yards and has a two-tiered green. Of course, hitting the proper tier makes getting a par lots easier. I think every course should have a short par-3 with a tricky green!

The 14th and 16th could both be signature holes, just for different reasons. They play 152 and 160 yards, respectively and both are about a club downhill. The 14th has a cool natural rock feature between the tees and green while the 16th plays over a hazard and a man-made rock wall.

My only criticism of Thorntree is the crazy high slope. The greens have plenty of contour and many of the tee shots on the front nine play through gaps in the trees. There is a decent amount of space to play from, just getting out to that space is the trouble. I think a tree removal project on the front would encourage golfers for more return rounds at the course.

Overall, I liked Thorntree more than I thought I would, given the course’s difficulty! In a way it reminded of Berkleigh Golf Club in Pennsylvania – a course with great bones that is a little tired. Still, it is a solid course that is worth a play.

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