Mckayii

I played the Island Oaks course.

The gentleman working the counter wasn’t very welcoming or friendly. Maybe it’s because I was a Golfnow customer and not a regular or member. However, my group stayed for dinner after our round and the staff working the bar and restaurant were very friendly and professional. Service was great as was the food.

The course itself was in great shape with exceptions. The tees, fairways and rough were well maintained. The greens were in excellent condition. However, the majority of the bunkers were in very poor condition. In addition, the cart paths are in dire need of repair and the carts themselves need to be upgraded. This could very well be a 5 star facility if those things were addressed.

I used to play Blackhorse fairly often when I lived in the area but as I moved a couple years ago this was the first time in over a year. The staff was great, friendly and helpful. Unfortunately the course, I played the south, has deteriorated in condition from my last visit. The first tee and many other tee boxes were in terrible shape, uneven with little grass. I played from the blue tees. Some of the fairways had patches of dirt or browned out areas. Most were Ok however. The bunkers at Blackhorse used to be excellent now many were pretty rough. They hadn’t seemed to be raked in awhile, with very inconsistent depth of sand. Perhaps this is a result of Harvey. Crews were working in the bunkers on hole #3 so maybe they are redoing all of them? Greens were ok. Again, they used to be much better, condition wise.

Overall, the round was disappointing as it used to be one of the best courses in greater Houston.

The course was excellent with the exception of one aggravating item, the pin placement guide was wrong.
Both the starter and the sign on the first tee said pin placement was #3. However on approximately 6-8 holes the pin wasn't in position #3. On several holes the pin was the exact opposite of where it was supposed to be, eg #3 should have been front but the hole was actually in the far back of the green.

The south course has many raised or elevated greens with undulations or ridges. Not necessarily a big deal if you're close enough to see where the whole is but if your hitting from a ways out it made it hard to select the right club.