What a great course! Trey Ranch, from Saloon to baskets, is a great destination. The holes are various, full of elevation, and occupy a sprawling area. The holes are mainly long with a few short technical challenges thrown in, but some good 4's and a couple 5's. There's a good mix of left/right holes as well, some dog legs and some creeks.

The elevation changes on this course are spectacular. They aren't dauntingly steep, there are a couple gentle downhills over long open fairways and fields.

I particularly enjoyed the couple dogleg holes that were not as "thread the needle" as some dogleg holes I've played before.

The tee signs are of course wonderful, and the pads are plenty big, but you can see the pictures and know that.

Houck courses seem to really excel at challenge vs choice, and this one is great at it. I often go for the "throw as far as you can" gambit and often it comes back to bite me. But hey, go big or go home, right?

The course gets off to a slow (but still pretty) start. Just some open field holes with a tree or two, and a pond that's just big enough to affect your shot, but not enough to really appreciate the beauty.

This place wasn't just muddy, it was under water when I was there. I was traveling through from New Orleans area, so I wasn't going to NOT play it. But it was probably the worst conditions ever, until I played Texas Twist later that afternoon (when it turned from slightly raining to slightly hailing).

As stated before, the distances on the tee's may be a little off. I've seen this on a lot of Houck courses. I think they measure the holes and then eventually put the signs in afterwards, and don't really put them in the same place they planned on it.

Trey Ranch is a great destination for a day of disc golfin'. The two courses compliment each other very well. Sign the release at the saloon and leave some money in the jar, and you're good to go.

Is it better than Selah? Not particularly, but I may go back here anyway because it's cheaper, and you're less likely to lose discs given the less water.

I played the two Trey Texas Ranch courses along with the Selah courses during a two-day swing through the area. I place this course second (after Selah Lakeside) of the four.

What stood out for me was the variety of hole lengths, lines, and obstacles on this course. There are long open holes, short very tight holes, and everything in between. A small pond is in play on the first two holes, and a winding creek impacts several later ones.

Good sequence of long, Par 4/5 holes interspersed with shorter, technical Par 3's. Fantastic to go from drivers off the tee to putters, and BH to FH. Certainly not a "one trick pony" course.

Part of the course plays in a tree farm, with perfect, parallel rows of trees. Sure enough, Holes 8 and 9 play though the rows of trees. Reminded me of some holes at Shawshank.

Most holes offer two or more distinct lines to the basket, giving solid FH/BH or hyzer/anhyzer choices.

The par 4 and 5 holes require precise drives to specific landing zones. One nice touch was a white PVC stake in the ground near the "bend" or transition in many of the fairways. For first time players looking at several different lanes it was useful to know about where to land the drive.

Two perfect concrete teepads for each hole. The red tees were appropriate for this 57 year old, 850 ish rated player. I played the red for my first round. When I get back I'll give the blue a try.

Top notch Houck tee signs give clear hole diagrams, suggested lines, distances, par, etc. Plenty of next tee signs make navigation straightforward. Several substantial bridges make creek crossings easy.

The pond was small and didn't really add a lot to the challenge of the course.

A couple of open holes seemed mundane.

The provided scorecard includes a terrible, smudgy map which is virtually useless. Some of the stated distances seem inaccurate. For instance, the difference between the two tees on Hole 5 is 189' based on the scorecard. I paced off only 80' in the field.

My check-in was very different than described in other reviews. I called ahead and was told just to show up and play. I called again once at the saloon and was told to sign the release and put my money in the jar. I never met anyone or saw an owner. No complaint, just no special hospitality.

This is a long course with some elevation. I played on a perfect fall afternoon with temps around 70 degrees. I was tired at the end but not exhausted. I wouldn't try to play the course on a summer afternoon!

-beautiful and spacious property w/ plenty of trees, fields, a creek, and some gentle elevation changes (thanks to Trey and family for allowing us into their paradise)
-Houck signs, as always, are attractive and informative; placed at both long (Blue) and short (Red) tees
-only $10 daily fee when we played
-it was easy to make contact with Trey and get the waiver/fee out of the way at the "saloon"
-nice course flow

I normally list some favorite holes, but it's hard to say any were "favorites." All were challenging or memorable in some way, especially from Blue tees. Here are some notes:
2) nice pond shot with water on the right side and a significant down slope on the left (goodbye, Buzzz!)
3) mild downhill across an open field, then a fun approach across the creek through a window in the trees
4) short and straight; this fairway seemed a little "raw" still
5) long dogleg that crossed the creek and had enough tree cover to prevent big "over the top" lines
7) I really liked this one and like it even more looking back. It seems to favor a RHFH, but does have an interesting left side line with a good approach. The Blue tee adds substantial distance with a tight gap.
8) I have mixed feelings on this one (not sure what the design is going for). It goes through a grove of evergreen trees that doesn't leave a real clear line. This is probably because I'm used to designers making overly easy par 4s, but that grove makes for some awkward spots.
11) hit the gaps and cross the creek; my play from Blue was just to lay up
15) short but extremely tight; seemed fair but downright hard
18) as others have mentioned, this is a really tough one. I'm glad they haven't been overly zealous in removing trees, but this probably could use some help opening lines in the fairway. Overall, I really like this kind of uphill treed fairway as well as the final creek crossing before the green. But it's an extremely difficult par using Blue's intended fairway.

-still seems a little "raw" in spots, especially some narrower fairways (e.g. 4 had some evidence of recent trimming, and 10 had some need for trimming right off the tee)
-the slope near the creek's edge (holes 3-5, 10-11) was quite muddy and slippery when we were there; I shouldn't have had to deal with it, but stuff happens...
-we had some friendly dogs following us for one round here, which would have been fine except that they eventually started to like us so much that they fetched our discs on several holes; given Trey and family's hospitality, I imagine it would be easy to ask for the dogs to be kept inside

First of all, having a selection of four spacious, well-designed, and well-maintained courses in such close proximity is any disc golfer's dream. It's been said many times, but two days in the area (with a motel or camping at Selah) are the bare minimum to enjoy the experience. Of the four, Trey Deuce was my least favorite, but that speaks more to the others' excellence (and to my poor play) than to major deficits here. Several holes here at Deuce (12-13, 17) were not "forgettable," per se, but were just solid golf holes outshone by their peers. In the middle of a tough round, those easier holes made for a nice respite.

I'm not too proud to admit that the Blue tees sent me home bruised and humbled. In the course of calling someone about their disc (found on Texas Twist), he described his experience as "annihilation." He and some friends spent a long weekend at Selah and Trey Ranch, and they also started from Blue tees at Trey Deuce. Like me, they found that annihilation enjoyable. Maybe I was off my game, but the challenge from Blue exposed many weaknesses in my game and made me pay for many mistakes. Hole 10 (the par 5) might be the best example, as I took a quintuple bogey after getting into the rough on my first shot. The shot to the first layup zone is manageable but tight, and I paid the price for missing it. Even if I had reached the layup zone, the shot down the fairway was no gimme. I'm no 1000-rated pro, but I don't expect this is a soft par 5 for anyone. I could see birdies here but have a hard time imagining eagles due to the tightness of the lines both horizontally and vertically. Overall, my better shots managed simply to save par, and I finished at least 20 over par from longs.

I played the shorter Red tees later in the trip, and it was a different story. There were birdies aplenty and no more disaster holes. This clearly reflects my intermediate level, but the Reds were a little too easy while the Blues seemed too tough; I guess I need to ask Mr. Houck to design me a Goldilocks course! As Deuce stands, however, I'd love to see some pros get out here to see how well the course separates the disc golf elite.

Overall, I thought there was a great selection of relatively open distance (1, 3, 13), some nice use of water (2, 3-5, 11), some tight shorties (4, 15) and not-so-shorts (6, 9, 14, 18), and a lot of longer wooded fairways (7-8, 10, 16). Very good mix of holes from an acclaimed designer.

Summary and Rating: I'd say this falls between 4.5 and 4.75, but I'll go for 4.5 right now: a beautiful course with plenty of fun but challenging holes. It's the kind of physical and technical challenge that I wish I could find at more courses nationwide. I only expect it to keep improving with time, and I'm still waiting for a National Tour event at these four elite courses.