I took off Friday as I planned on it being a travel day for the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday. I haven’t golfed in about a month, but I was hoping to use my iDealGolfer certificate at Waterview Golf Club before it expired. So, it made sense to book an early morning tee time (7am) and then hit the road for Florida.

I’m not much of an early morning golfer, however I certainly see its perks! I hustled around in 2 hours 45 minutes and that included waiting some on a twosome. I thought about trying to skip around and get in front of them, but the routing isn’t great for that and I just waited my turn. Ultimately, it worked out well as it allowed me to get out of town at a reasonable hour.

I think my quick round at Waterview probably isn’t too common. The course is well priced – $35 to $50 with a cart – and seems to be popular with the locals. The tee times here always go quickly! My certificate was $22 and for that price Waterview offers a super value. That value was my favorite thing about playing Waterview and I don’t mean that in a bad way.

Even as we enter the winter months, Waterview was in great shape. The course went through a renovation in the summer of 2019 and received new greens and some cosmetic updates. So, everything had a fresh and clean look to it.

The fairways were full/tight and the greens were pure. The greens had the characteristics of newer surfaces, as they were slower than they looked and not as receptive as I’d prefer. The sand was fluffy and looked new. Hopefully North Texas gets some rain soon to soften things up as all the tight lies and dry ground made it difficult to hit the ball solid.

While the conditions at Waterview were impressive the course’s layout leaves a lot to be desired. The course is a Gary Panks and David Graham design and while I normally enjoy their work, I felt that Waterview was overshadowed by the flat land it occupies and all the homes surrounding the course. Every hole has homes lining the fairways and many holes have homes on both sides. Thankfully, the homes are set back from play.

I played the blue tees which are 72.4/127/6762 and thought the design was functional and playable – the fairways and greens are large. There is mounding, some contour on the greens, a bit of water (which is hidden in spots) and trees lining the fairways to keep you interested with the driver.

The course mixes the yardages well and includes three long par-4’s and three short par-4’s. Even though there isn’t a signature hole the short par-4’s are likely Waterview’s best holes (the par-3 2nd is another good one). Longer hitters can drive it up by the greens or laying up can work as well. The 10th has water to the left of the green that you cannot see until you get about 50 yards away from the green.

All things considered Waterview isn’t bad and worth checking out if you enjoy a good value. However, I keep thinking that the course could have been much better if there were a couple signature holes or if more of a natural barrier was left between the homes and the holes.

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