This course suffers from several unavoidable problems. It's in Houston, so it is very flat. The holes across the Bayou bring some terrain into play, but mostly it's just flat, like many Houston courses. The designers here had a long skinny piece of land to work with, so the general down and back flow on the near side of bayou is somewhat set in stone as a result. That being said, they use distance on this course to overcome a general lack of terrain, and only scattered trees, which gets a little stale for me by hole 21. The designers are limited by the canvas they had to work with(ie not solid forest) , but it feels like they overcompensate with distance to much and too often, and it makes the last several holes boring for me.
This course doesn't do a lot to keep big arms honest, and distance really helps on course. The difference in length from long to short tees seems minute in some cases, even the short tees are going to be long from someone throwing less than 300ft.
The dirt tee pads and colored posts are functional, but basic. Considering that most will need their max distance on many holes, some kind of more permanent, level tee pads (rubber or concrete) would be nice.
Flow is also an issue on this course, as it can be hard to navigate the bayou crossing, and back, without a course map. Also, hole 12 is hard to find from 11 (its towards the practice basket)
One of the biggest issues I have with this course is so many of the holes are long for the sake of being long, and seemingly stretched out to utilize as much of the park as possible. Many of the holes are in that gray area of distance, 350-500 where it's a tough par 3, but they probably didn't want to make it par 4 because they aren't very technical holes and big arms will still bomb them for 3s. Many courses will have easier and harder par 3s, but the setup here gets old. If they wanted a tough course, make several of the holes a little longer and call more of them par 4s. Otherwise, make the short tees shorter so the course is more fun for more players. As it stands now, on holes 14-21 it gets repetitive. The holes are challenging just because they are long, but they are not memorable and not that fun IMO.
The earlier holes on this course have better protected baskets with more trees, and reforestation areas to make them more interesting, or throwing off the top of amphitheater. The bayou holes have water in play and some technical shots and terrain. The holes after you walk past the dog park are forgettable.
There are several things that could make the back end of this course better. Intentionally letting some reforestation areas grow in strategic spots (right side of hole 17) would be environmentally friendly would restrict lines and improve the holes. Planting a few smaller trees, with protective tubing around them, would instantly change several of the holes (16 & 21). Putting one basket on ad terrace, or throwing a pile of fill on a fairway or two to create some terrain would also help spice up existing holes.
Across the bayou has the most interesting holes, and there is a long walk through the woods from hole 5 to hole 6 that has tons of terrain. Every time I play here, I can't help but wonder why the walk when the could create some very interesting holes here. Especially if you kept them short and technical, it would give this course more variety and a balance to the steady diet of bomber holes that the course is full of.
I could see this course being rounded out to 27 holes, with more diverse shot types. Put two holes in the woods between 5 and 6, then another wooded hole between 6 and 7.
The low spot by the pool fence is an interesting area, why not put a short hole there after 13?
With a little reshuffling, 3 more holes could be found on this land (even if they are short) and this would be a 27 hole course in town with challenging long holes, but also birdie opportunities and some technical and memorable line.
It seems like the course overall fills the area allotted for it, but some of the most interesting pockets sit idle, and instead players walk through them. The layout of this park, and the bayou, force some of the walks between holes, but some are avoidable and could be holes instead.
This course is fun if you have a big arm and don't like lots of trees, but its short on very interesting holes, and for how long is it, just isn't than fun. I'd rather drive 15min further and play 2 quick rounds at Moffit rather than 1 long round here with all the walks btw forgettable holes. Some players love this course, and the location is hard to beat. I like parts of this course, but overall its not a course that I rush out to play, and not one I would take new players to. Its too hard for newbs, and not interesting enough for advanced players. I dont understand what level of player this course is catered to, make a shorter set of tees, make it more technical, or both.