If you golf in North Texas, more often than not you are going to be golfing amongst houses and creeks. Some courses are more imaginative utilizing those two elements than others and Westridge throws in a few twists, namely by adding Scottish links elements to the proceedings and also having several holes bordered by a major street. Another unique feature of Westridge is that it has 6 par 5's, 6 par 4's and 6 par 3's and I really found myself enjoying that mixing of holes.
What this all adds up to is a rather interesting North Texas experience where you have to have your ground game intact in order to score well here. For example, there was a hole that was protected by two huge mounds (stand-ins for dunes) which is something right out of the West of Ireland.
The course also uses a creek or two to penalize shots but in an interesting twist, the course usually presents these hazards off the tee in a psychological way rather than in a place that your tee shot might actually find.
This isn't to say the water is entirely illusory on this course, push a ball too much and your are praying to the Rough Gods to hold up your ball. Luckily they did for me several times during the day and I came out with a really nice round here.
My only gripe comes from holes 8 and 9 which have great mounding and interesting bunkering yet the experience is significantly degraded by Custer Blvd forming the defacto OB on the left hand side.
As with several North Texas tracks, the back side becomes much more interesting especially the 18th hole which is an ultimate risk reward. The 18th is a dogleg right with a tree blocking the right side and a creek starting at 215 with a 240 carry. I laid up, hit a 3 iron for a lifetime and jusssssst missed the birdie putt and I felt good putting the screws to a tough hole.
If you are interested in national coaches, Hank Haney has a golf school here and the practice facilities do look top notch.
Overall, while the course is firmly in the North Texas tradition of houses and creeks, offers interesting twists to make me want to come back here on future Texas visits. If you see Hank, make sure to say hello!
For more information on Westridge, check out the following link: http://www.westridgegolfcourse.com/
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