As is the case with almost every Houck course, the design is just excellent. There's great use of the land, the creeks, the elevations, the forestry- they all come into play in intriguing ways that force thoughtful throwing. One of the most challenging holes in this way is one early on, where you have to decide when to cut the corner of a pond that is up an embankment. Very tempting

Another staple on Houck courses: full size tee pads, multiple tees, great signage, and discatcher baskets. All top notch.

The beauty of this course is great. There's a creek in the middle that isn't huge but seems to just be big enough to lose a disc in sometimes. But I do feel like the beauty comes and goes, as it makes its way across the cow pasture.

Speaking, of I've never had to play a course where a herd of cows watched me intently the whole time! I'm putting this in the pros section because I like cows and I thought they were cute, even if a bit intimidating.

One of two great courses on the property, and near by Selah Ranch make this a fantastic destination.

Well the cow patties everywhere aren't exactly the most welcome hazard, especially on the teepads. Also the slight feeling of danger when you stumble upon a herd, or have to throw towards them. I insisted I was an avid Chic-fil-a guy, and they left me alone.

Some holes are pretty open, like, "play through this field and there's a tree there." And some are really tight in the woods, in an unfair-fairway challenge. Some of these holes really through off your rhythm of the round (at least from an emotional, enjoyment aspect)

Finding the course can be a little challenging. You have to go through a goat pen. It's a little off the road.

Out of all the Trey Ranch/Selah courses, this one and Selah Creekside were about on par for me in terms of enjoyment. All were about equal in terms of challenge (*high*) but this one had less "wow" factor. But still worth a visit, worth leaving a few bucks at the saloon where you also need to sign the waiver.

This is another great Houck designed course in this Texas hotspot.

Texas Twist offers an interesting combination of longer, open pasture holes and shorter, technical woods holes. Distances are all over the place with sub-200' holes and over 800' holes. As expected, the longer holes are more open and the shorter holes more guarded, but there are interesting combinations of distance and obstacles throughout the course.

Most holes have at least two routes to the basket, so having both FH and BH skills is a big plus. On the par 4 and 5 holes the second or third shot are as important as the initial drive in scoring well, though this course has a couple of exceptions (noted in Cons).

Two excellent concrete tee pads for each holes, along with top-quality signs providing an accurate hole diagram, possible routes to the basket, distances, pars, next tee arrows and even the course logo.

Innova DisCatchers work well in the shaded creek holes. The rest of the course infrastructure is solid as well, with numerous sturdy bridges over the (many) creek crossings.

This course had a few "cow pasture" holes that didn't tickle my fancy. Holes 6, 16, and 17 play mostly over open grass, with little penalty for missing your line. Now if you throw 450' there would be a great deal more challenge here, but for my 300' arm it was really just drive, drive, drive to the basket.

Hole 9 is a tricky little woods hole with the creekside basket on a tiny landing area. Whether you are in the creek or not on your drive seems to be equal parts skill and luck.

For a destination P2P course, the provided map and scorecard are dreadful. The map is tiny and grainy and not very useful. The scorecard has distances for only 9 of the short tee, and many of the distances were inaccurate. I understand using up old stock, but the scorecards could use an update.

I found this course to rank #4 among the Selah Ranch/Trey Texas quartet. Still an excellent course, but not my favorite. I have to consider that this was my 4th long 18 hole course in 24 hours, so I may have just been a little out of gas. Next time I'll switch up the order of play and see how I rank it.

I will start by saying I appreciate the family for agreeing to have these courses on their property and embracing the game of disc golf. Diane met us at the Saloon on her way to work just to meet us , tell us about the courses, and show us where to go to get to #1 tee- very important since Twist is actually down the road 1/3 mile. I felt very welcome as we were turned loose on our own playing on private property. If you like to play DG in isolation- Twist has it. There is almost no sign of human existence here other than the DG stuff and some brides and fences- primarily nature. Twist offers a nice chance to just get away from everyday life.

Like Deuce and Selah, the detailed color tee signs, pro and am concrete tees, and Discatchers are in excellent shape. Basket locations are very well-placed. There are 2 primary types of holes, longer field holes and shorter wooded holes, that contrast and complement each other. The long stretch of technical wooded holes along the creek stand out as a strong feature. I also really liked hole 3 which felt like playing 2 different holes- first a drive uphill through some trees, then a challenging 2nd shot sharply to the right over a pond- the entire hole requires thought and careful planning and placement on multiple shots. Hole 10 also has this quality (just be sure to know where the basket is, I will know better for next time.)

Though there is a good percentage of each hole type overall, all the shorter technical wooded holes were all together back-to-back. You start with some longer more open holes to get to the woods/creek area, then you play through it, and then you finish like you started with 3 longer open holes to get back. This is pretty much what had to be done, but not an ideal constantly changing mix (at least for me) from open to moderately wooded to heavily wooded and long to short.

I have never been a fan over throwing in a wide open field, which is the case for several shots here (#6, #16 for example.) Of the 4 destination courses in the area, this one had more shots where it really did not matter where you landed, and there was lots of room to recover from errant throws on these holes. (Great for those with uncontrolled distance I guess).

There are several blind holes, which are fine, but walking long holes to scout and find the basket is taxing when playing your first round here. The real negative is I felt that on occasion some of the tee signs were a little inaccurate or deceptive or just unclear as to exactly where the basket was (#10 for example).

We were told by Diane to park just inside the first gate (close it) then walk--- and it is a Long walk to #1, add on a very long walk to play, and then finally a long walk uphill from #18 to car, walking is fine, just know there is extra walking tacked on to physically demanding set of courses. And understand the course comes nowhere close to anything during play (not the car, no water, no restrooms, no people, nothing). If playing in the TX summer heat, bring lots and lots and lots of water (more than you think), carry less discs and more to drink. And just be extra careful to not get injured as it will be a ways to get help. Having been spoiled by the carts at Selah the day before, we wished we could have had carts for holes 1-6 and 16-18 (not needed for the stretch of flatter shaded shorter wooded holes).

1/3 mile drive down the road from the saloon.

$10 to play all day is a very fair price (though 1 round at each is probably enough for anybody in 1 day).

This was probably my least favorite of the 4 courses, though I admit it was the hottest and the last one I played so I was getting tired. Next time I visit the area (and believe I will be back) I would plan to play the Trey courses first for a day, then go to Selah for 2-3 days and play there.

Recommendation- Though not the top level of courses I have played, the Trey courses are still of a high quality overall. Do understand these courses are meant to challenge even pros. Definitely not suited for beginners or those not in good physical condition.

Question- Maybe the heat affected my memory, as I thought there were two tees for most every hole, but now I am questioning that fact looking at the map and hole info. I know at least some holes had a rec tee and a pro tee, but I am fairly certain most, if not all, the holes did. If so, somebody needs to update the info on DGCR.

Texas Twist starts with a series of 6 holes that mix some open areas with areas along a wooded creek. Holes 7-15 are in mostly wooded bottomland further up the creek and then 16-18 bring you back out in the open again, mixing in the same more open topography encountered in the first six holes. The course terrain is low, rolling hills although elevation plays little role in this course.

Like Deuce, Texas Twist has some brilliant holes. Even some of the longer holes mix open and wooded areas in unique ways. Hole 3 is the best example of this starting in a long wooded tunnel and ending out in the open with a water carry. Another good example is Hole 10, starting with a long tunnel shot leading out into the open for a shot through a gap between another row of large trees toward the basket guarded by smaller trees.

The shorter, par 3, holes are laid out very well and are a lot of fun to play. Most of these holes are below 300' even from the pro tees with the exception of holes 13, which also shares the limited ceiling of all of the bottomland holes along the creek, and 3 which is a downhill throw through a gap and across a small creek. A few of the holes along the creek are a bit repetitive, but still fun.

Twist, like Deuce, has a high difficulty level and will greatly reward accuracy, especially in the middle section of holes in the wooded creek bottom. Unlike Deuce, however, most of the rough contains more mature trees and less punishing rough than the holes on Deuce in the area of newer pine plantings.

Navigation (once you've found the course) is pretty straightforward. The tee signs are excellent, there are plenty of bridges for crossing the creek.

For $10 you can play both courses. This is as good a bargain as anyone should ask for.

This course is a long way from the Saloon where you will have to check in, sign a release and pay the fee. There is also no indication at the Saloon of where Twist starts. You won't find it by just looking around either. See below for directions.

At about 9,000 feet from the long tees, this is a long course that has long holes that are long for the sake of being long. When the Northeast Texas temperatures start hitting 100+, this course is a chore to walk. There are no bathrooms or water on either of these courses and you will need to bring your water with you and bring plenty of it if it's really hot. I have never carried a stool with me, but I might if I ever play this course again.

There is less elevation on this course than on Deuce and what elevation there is has largely been negated when it might have helped to add distance to a tee shot. Hole 4 is a good example where the pro tee is set back over the crest of the hill that has the basket at the bottom, barring a downhill throw. There's even a small, apparently manmade ridge, to help block downward throws. Perhaps the most elevation comes into play is on the uphill hole 18, which also has a somewhat low ceiling off the tee, again negating the elevation somewhat on the tee shot because you can't throw uphill.

The best holes on Twist mix open and wooded areas. Those with less luster, in my opinion, are the very long holes that are either wide open, like 6 and 17, or so treed that they are just a chore to play, like 12, with very narrow gaps to hit between many trees. There are no truly bad holes, but there do appear to be a few holes whose purpose seems to be only to move you a long way to the next hole.

The creek must be crossed many times and comes into play in ways that isn't always obvious from the tee box, but it's not OB on every hole and where it is, it is indicated as such on the tee sign.

HOW TO FIND THIS COURSE: Realistically, you need to call. One of the course owners will meet you and show you around when you get there. But, once you are at the saloon, go back out to the road and head south about ¼ mile, until you see the sign for Texas Twist on the left. Turn there, open the gate (and close it behind you, this is a working farm) go to the next gate, open it (and close it behind you) and then head off to the left where you should be able to see the course sign near the first tee. It's okay to drive to it.

People traveling to this area for disc golf are probably going to play both the Trey Texas Ranch courses and the Selah Ranch courses. My friend and I played Selah on Saturday and Trey on Sunday before heading home. It was around 100° both days. We played 54 holes at Selah and 36 at Trey, and were barely able to finish on Texas Twist. The difference was the carts at Selah.

Ultimately, from the pro tees, Texas Twist isn't so different from Lakeside other than a comparative lack of water hazards. Though a high quality course, it has its share of less than stellar holes. If you are only going to play two courses, it makes no sense to play one at Trey and one at Selah. If you are looking for high degree of difficulty, play Deuce and Twist (despite the higher estimated SSE's for Selah, I found these courses to be more difficult). If time is a factor, play Selah.

Your best bet is to come at a time when you can play all the courses over two days. There are some nice places to stay, eat and drink in Mt. Pleasant and Mt. Vernon. Texas BBQ Corral in Mt. Vernon is a must. Just don't eat there before your round.

This is one of the most expansive courses I have played. By the time you get several holes in, you are all alone. As a native of the Midwest, I enjoyed the quiet wilderness of the plains. There are even cows! On one of the holes there were cows hanging out right in the fairway (the owner said future fencing will keep them off the course). But they moved on quickly and are too stupid to do any harm, anyway.

There is a good mix of holes here. The course begins and ends with pretty open holes that usually involve one tree line or so. The elevation of the property, while mild, is on these holes. One of the best of these is hole 17. It's actually not that great a hole for an intermediate like me, but I love the design for what top players could do (this is used in the doubles championships). It is a par five that requires a couple long throws to get around the trees that line the fairway's right side along a creek. But there is an intriguing eagle route across an OB peninsula that requires a long accurate drive, a pinpoint approach across the creek twice (and through two gaps) and then a putt

The course's best part, though, is the wooded area from holes 7-15. They are technical and show off the best of Houck design with multiple routes on many holes with varying levels of risk. The best hole on the course is #10. It is a long drive through the woods across the creek to an open prairie where the hole bends left about 60 degrees. There is a wide gap in a tree line to hit with the basket on the other side. Great multi-throw hole.

There are two concrete tees on every hole. I played the long tees.The Houck signs are among the best in the game, making it very evident how you can approach the hole. This is great for destination courses like this since most people aren't going to get to play dozens of times.

I played here when conditions were really awful. It's tough to completely separate a temporarily poor condition from your overall experience. The fairway were sopping wet. On some holes there was ankle-deep water on much of the fairway; other places it was "only" squishy. One hole (maybe 13 or 14) had a lake on half of the fairway. It wasn't on the tee sign, and I assume it's not usually there. Every course has a rainy season unless you're in Arizona, and I tried not to let that color my review. But it was the worst water retention I've seen on a course.

Aside from the conditions, I got kind of bored with the repetitive creek crossing holes. The creek is a prominent feature and deserved to be used, but when you are crossing over it on every hole (sometimes .twice) for seven or eight straight holes, it gets old. Also, there aren't nearly enough bridges given how these holes are designed. There was one bridge of quality craftsmanship, several that were logs across the ravine (I'm fine with this), but in many areas there were no bridges at all. I had to do a running jump to get across too many times. I wonder if some crossings got washed away?

The open holes, while enjoyable, aren't very memorable. I saw some young trees has been planted, and in several years they will probably shape these fairways a little more.

Lastly, this course is a long way from the parking area at Trey Deuce, about a 10-15 minute walk.

Given the proximity to Selah Ranch and the same designer, this will draw inevitable comparisons. If you're in the area, you should play all four courses. They're all good. But just know this isn't on the level of Selah. Lakeside has far more distinguished holes with more features to work with, and it's more fun as well. I felt like Texas Twist was on the level of Creekside. It's tough for me to compare since the conditions were gorgeous when I played Creekside and pretty poor here. Also, I would have loved to have use of a golf cart. Or maybe an ATV, given the mud.

I'll get to the hospitality of this place in my Trey Deuce review (unbelievably nice people), but in spite of the rough conditions, I'd still highly recommend a visit. I want another crack at it for sure.