PittsburghTodd

I like Lighthouse CC. I enjoy the course layout a lot and have a lot of fun playing there. The holes are interesting and while the conditions could be better, for the price, it's usually worth the drive.
Usually.
I was very disappointed when, after an hour and a half drive to the course, I discovered they had six greens closed due to weather damage from December.
I'm the first to admit I'm no turf grass specialist or course superintendent, but it's hard to believe you can't get grass to grow in Texas nearly 8 months after it died.
Setting that aside, why wouldn't you put that in your course description on GolfNow? Or put some sort of alert in the reservation system to let people know? (Yes, I have mentioned this to GolfNow, so I'm not only blaming the course.)
It was exceedingly frustrating to drive all the way out there only to discover a third of the greens were closed.
Beyond all that, the pace of play yesterday was atrocious. Where were the course marshals? My son and I walked the front nine and still had to wait on every tee shot and every approach for a two-some in a cart in front of us.
Honestly, I'm not entirely sure I'll be back since I'm moving even further away and driving two hours to discover I'm not playing the course as intended would be intolerable. It's a shame, though, because I genuinely do like the course.

I enjoyed playing here. The course layout is a lot of fun and the greens were superb.
We did have an issue with some slow play, but the group let us play through and we were on our way.
It would take a few round to get used to the subtlety of the breaks in the greens, but I will play here again.

When you read that a course is a country club, you expect a few more interesting holes.
For the most part, this course was boring and forgettable.
There are no holes that will make you want to come back repeatedly (except 18 if you're in a charitable mood).
The greens have a lot of hills and valleys making them interesting to putt, but that doesn't make up for the lack of character in the course overall.
In short, it's a flat, boring "plate of sausages."
I said I would recommend it to friends only because I have a lot of friends for whom this course would be an adequate challenge. If you're better than a 10-handicap, though, you're going to be unimpressed.

I'm played this course a handful of times now and I'm always disappointed.
The people there are nice and the pace of play is always pretty good (because there aren't that many people playing this course), but I simply can't play a course that is in such bad condition every time I play it.
I mentioned this to the staff the first time I played there 4 years ago. They told me work was being done to improve the conditions. It's been four years. I've made the hour drive out to play this course six or seven of times in those years, and not much has improved.
The course is patchy and bare. The bunkers fill with water. The greens are shaggy. So are the fairways.
I could go on.
Staff friendliness and a good pace of play can't make up for a poorly kept golf course.
The only reason I went to Colovista this time is my son is taking up the game and I didn't want to play a course where his play would hold up a lot of other prople behind us.
I very likely will not be back unless the price drops to under $25 (which is still probalby more than this course deserves), or I talk to at least 5 people who tell me the conditions are dramatically improved.
It's just not worth the drive.

I'll get the bad stuff out of the way first. The course has an unusual routing that makes it hard to follow the first time you play it. I got lost twice while making my round. Some more signage would be handy. The 13th and 18th play right next to each other. It is really easy to play down the wrong fairway. (Maybe plant a few trees between the two holes to delineate them better?)
Plus, the course is in the process of reversing the routing so if you use an app on your phone to follow the course, and it hasn't been updated, you could end up thinking you're playing the par-5 10th hole instead of the par-4 1st. And, if you pipe one down the 1st fairway too far, you could end up under the trees that guard the green where you'll have almost no shot at the green. (Want to guess how I know that?)
There are a couple of blind shots (which is a pet peeve of mine). Especially the approach on the 3rd hole if you don't get your tee shot in the right spot (which can be hard if you don't know the course).
As for the good stuff, the course routing is interesting. It's not an overly long course (just over 6200 yards from the tips) but you are expected to hit a variety of shots off the tee and on approaches. The tee shot on the 15th is a particular challenge if you cannot hit a fade off the tee.
The par-3s are of widely varying lengths, something you don't see at a lot of courses.
The par-5s are on the shorter side, but you still have to hit good shots to have a chance at making birdies or eagles.
The crown jewel of this course, though, is its collection of greens. They were some of the best I've putted on anywhere that wasn't a country club. I played in January! I don't know what the superintendent is doing out there, but whatever it is, I wish he were doing it at all the greens in 100 miles radius of Austin. The greens rolled very true and had just the right pace for the undulations. Putting at Llano River is a pleasure that is worth the drive from Austin.
My overall rating for this course is much higher than it would be if the greens were as bad as some places I've seen.
I'm looking forward to playing this course in the summer when the fairways are green and (hopefully) as well maintained as the greens.

The bad news first.
I don't know what's going on in the clubhouse but there is a noxious odor (it smells like a sewage overflow) that permeates the entire building. If this is a chronic problem, I would imagine you are losing business. If it's not a continuing problem, I hope it is not present the next time I'm there.
The only other complaint I have is that the course has a lot of hidden quirks that you would only know about after you have played the course a few times. For example, the fact that there is a penalty area that crosses the 17th fairway is shown on a GPS, but what is not shown is the anything within 20 yards of the hazard will slide down the slope into the penalty area.
This isn't something I would expect the course could or would change, and could be overcome by playing the course more often, but it was something I encountered.
The range was not to the level of the course. I would like to see similar conditions to the course on the range.
The practice green was very good, the speed roughly the same as the course itself.
On the upside, the course conditions were excellent. The greens were some of the best I have played in years. They were fast, true, and smooth, just the way greens should be.
The course is interesting and has a variety of shots.
There were very few people on the course, which might have been because I played on a Tuesday afternoon, but I was surprised how few people there were for such a good course in such good condition.
I think if I were living closer to the course (and they did something about the smell in the clubhouse) I would probably seek a membership to this course.
I'm looking forward to playing here again.

I played this course 2 years ago for the first time. I liked the layout, but the course conditions were less than ideal.
I played it again today (Aug. 6, 2021) and was very impressed with the conditions of the course.
The fairways were a consistent height and while the rough wasn't very deep, it was deep enough to make you have to focus on your shots if you had to play from out of it.
The greens really got my attention. They were a good speed and very true. If you get your putt online with the right speed, you'll make a ton of putts.
I will definitely make the hour drive out to Kingsland to play this course again.
I'd like to see the driving range improved and some more sand in the bunkers, but those are my only real complaints.
To the course superintendent, nice work!

It gives me no pleasure to say this, but The Hills at Cove was not worth the drive I made from South Austin nor the $33 greens fee.
The layout of the course is, frankly, boring. There are maybe five interesting holes (if I'm being generous), four of which occur on the back nine. The first real dogleg doesn't occur until the 11th hole.
There are several blind shots which is fine if you've played the course and know the lines, but playing the course for the first time, it was tough to know where to put my shots.
The conditions were not good. Many of the greens had large areas where there was no grass. If you take a good look at the photo I've attached, you can see the dirt in the middle of the 10th green.
Three of the greens were closed completely requiring play to temporary greens, a fact that was not disclosed on GolfNow. This is a huge problem for me. If some of the greens are closed, people should be informed before they book on GolfNow, Tee Off, or anywhere else. (There was also no indication anywhere on the course - nor did anyone bother to tell us - that we were playing to temporary greens.)
The greens that were open for play were shaggy and slow on the front nine, but strangely less shaggy and a bit faster on the back nine leading to a frustrating putting day. To me, this is completely unacceptable. Fast or slow, all the greens on a course should be the same.
The fairways looked like they hadn't been mown in a couple of days. This seemed strange to me as I was playing on a Saturday, when a course should be putting on its best face since Saturdays are some of the busiest days for any course.
Several of the tee boxes were just dirt. This idoesn't affect the play of the course, per se, but it is very bad look.
The range was fine. It was reasonably well marked, but it was nothing to write home about, either. The balls were an assortment of range balls and balls that I assume were found on the course.
The practice green was abysmal, which is usually a bad sign about a course. The practice green is the first chance anyone coming to play the course will have to see what your course is all about. A poorly maintained practice green is a billboard-sized red flag about your course. .A large portion of the practice green was dirt, making any kind of practice or warmup nearly impossible.
The pace of play was fine as there were few people playing, but there seemed to be a lot of people just driving around the course with no bags on their carts. I thought they might be course marshalls or other employees, but they never stopped to say anything to me or inquire about my round, so I'll never know what they were doing.
Basically, if you're just learning the game and live near Copperas Cove, playing here might not be so bad, but once you've gotten your handicap down under 18 and have played other, better courses, you will want to avoid the Hills at Cove.

I had two $10 coupons to use on a hot deal, so when I saw Delaware Springs available, I decided to make the hour drive there from Oak Hill (near Austin).
The staff is very friendly, knowledgeable about their course, and proud of their facility. I got some advice from one gentleman in the pro shop about the course in general ("Stay out of the long rough") and from the starter about the first hole ("The further right you go off the tee, the more you will be able to see the green on your second shot.")
The practice facility features a chipping/putting green with a variety of hills and breaks to challenge your short game.
The range is...well, it's a field with a few flags at varying distances. Aside from that, it's not much to look at. I was hitting off mats for my warmup, but that's to be expected in Texas in the summer.
The course itself has some interesting holes and will provide you with a variety of shot demands.
The greens were in great shape and while I seemed to have trouble reading the subtle breaks, they were rolling pretty true.
There are some holes where you can find the fairway and still have no real shot at the hole. You would have to play here a few times to identify those spots so you can play away from them. (The 17th comes immediately to mind. If you are too far left on the fairway, a tree will limit your ability to get to any hole cut on the left side of the green.)
The guy in the pro shop proved to have sage advice. There is some rough (which really isn't all that rough), but if you stray too far off the fairway, you will be severely punished by calf-high grass that has never felt the touch of a lawnmower blade in which you'll be lucky to even find your ball.
One criticism I had was there was some confusion about where the first and tenth tees were located. They could use some more prominent signage.
My only other real complaint (and I admit it is a nitpicky complaint) is that the fairways were mown a little too high for my taste. I know this is done on purpose to keep the grass alive in the heat in Texas and out of the desire to help the average player get the ball in the air. It does present a unique challenge for a more accomplished player to compress the ball and put spin on the ball, though.
Overall, this is an excellent municipal course, well worth the price and the drive. I look forward to playing here again.
(I shot 77 that could have easily been a 72 if I could have made some putts. Again, that is not a criticism of the course. It's an indictment of my putting stroke on the day I played.)

Do not, DO NOT, waste your money on the drive out here. The course is in terrible condition. The sad part is the routing is interesting and has a lot of great views. What a shame there is absolutely no maintenance going on here.
I played the course last summer it was marginal then. It has gotten worse.
If you don't care about good tees, fairways, greens, bunkers, or rough, give it a go. Otherwise, avoid Lake Travis CC at all costs.

The bad: The greens were in very bad shape and were not consistent. There were massive dead spots on every green (Do not hit one of those spots with a chip) Some of the greens were very slow while others were much faster.
The fairway grass was too long. Basically, every lie in the fairway was a flier lie meaning you couldn't spin the ball to stop it on the greens.

The good: The layout is good if a bit short. There are a lot of interesting holes and you will be called upon to hit a variety of shots. There are some truly magnificent views around the course.

Other stuff: I was encouraged to not walk the course, but I definitely could have. There are some holes (15) that will tax you if you walk, but it wouldn't have been too bad.

Overall, for only paying $20 it wasn't a terrible course, but I did find myself getting frustrated at hitting what I thought were good putts and watching them come up several feet short or blast past the hole because the greens were different speeds.