The Rawls Course at Texas Tech

[MarkT]

Thought these were pretty cool pictures of the course:

[Jason Topp]

Interesting contrast in the bottom picture between two holes that at first glance look very similar but after closer inspection, have precisely opposite preferred lines off the tee.

[A_Clay_Man]

Truely an amazing place. The berm on the perimeter of the course is so effective (and unique), that the only "undue" influence of an outside agency, is being able to see the hospital building, shown here near the top of 1st picture.

Another appealing aspect is the lack of any pretense.

[JESII]

Jason,

Just out of curiosity, what makes you say the preferred lines off the tee are opposite?

[George Pazin]

I think regular golfers on this course would tell you that the preferred lines change daily, depending on the wind, which can be quite strong. I know when we played it, I thought it was really windy, but the Texans in my group said it was fairly normal. One had played it the day before and the wind was blowing 180 degrees opposite of the day we played.

All in all, one of my favorite courses I've played, and one I'd likely never tire of playing, given the undulating fairways and greens.

[Matt_Ward]

The 13th (469 yds) and 14th (499 yds) picutres in the second phot are two (2) unique and demanding holes.

George P is right on target concerning the wind. In my visit to the layout the win was coming from the opposite direction -- the northeast so the holes just named were playing a bit downwind and therefore much easier.

Nonetheless, you need to hit solid drives on both holes. I am partial to the 14th because the first fairway bunker is well done and angled neatly to grab your attention.  

Playing The Rawls Course is indeed a fun time to be had and anyone in the Lubbock area needs to play.

[Lou_Duran]

I never hit the middle of the fairway when I am aiming at it, except for the time when I aimed at the bunker near the bottom of the second picture and bounced it right in.

Rawls is all about wind and the firmness of the ground, both factors that the locals aren't too excited about.  The 600+ yard 17th can be had with a driver-middle iron with a 30 mile wind, and take three solid metal wood shots into the same wind.

It will be interesting to see how the course matures.  If the evergreens shown in the pictures thrive, I wonder if the course won't be the lesser for it.  I am also curious regarding how it is received locally and in the state.  To date, I understand that the reaction has not been uniform.  

[Mike Nuzzo]

I'm not sure what the preferred line of play on 13 was, but I hit a very solid drive down the left side and was left with a blind dell like approach.  To which I threw a high lofting shot over the mound and wound up near the hole.
Which I believe is the purpose of the mound, from the left side it is hard to miss the green.

The fairways are great.
I laughed out loud walking on the first fairway - in pleasure.  In part I visited the course to learn how Tom maximized the drainage while minimizing the catch basins on a flat property.

The answer was rather blatant.

The course was excellent - and would be better with any kind of setting.

The pictures are great, and would like to see more.

Thank you.

[George Pazin]

It's always kind of sad to me to hear when people don't appreciate what they have. But, from the sounds of it, the course is receiving a lot of play, so I guess everything's copacetic.

Someday I'm going to buy 150 acres in flat Ohio, kidnap one of Tom's guys ala Misery, and build my own Rawls Course.

Mike, I know what you mean by your reaction - Adam and I had similar reactions when we stopped by for a peek the night before we teed it up.

[Matt_Ward]

One of the things to keep in mind with The Rawls Course is how the overall character of the course is not as balanced when a rare northeast wind does blow -- as it did when I played the layout.

The course features an array of long par-4's that play into the wind -- most notably the par-4 8th (476 yds) and the two that were pictured -- the 13th and 14th.

The course is still a definite play but I was hoping to see a bit more in terms of balancing inspite of whatever direction the wind blows. The course is set-up to handle the prevailing sw winds that are usually the norm.

One other note -- one of the more unique holes at the course is the par-4 7th -- at 386 yards this is one of the few holes that doesn't go in a predominantly north / south direction.

A unique and dynamic hole because of the way the two fairway bunkers are positioned. If you play down the right side the carry is just about 260 yards. If you decide to stay left of that fairway bunker you must also stay short of a second fairway bunker on the left side which cuts into the fairway at roughly 286 yds.

To Doak's considerable credit you can err to the far right but then you would have to do battle with a daunting greenside bunker that simply eats into the green on the right hand side.

The angles are everything when playing the hole. You can lay-up or hit driver depending upon the wind / pin location and if you've eaten you Wheaties.

The 7th played directly into the wind when I played it and even when straight downwind it's one of the few holes I can see at The Rawls Course that provides a stellar challenge without being utterly dependent upon wind velocity.

The 7th at The Rawls Course belongs in the same league with other stellar -400 yd holes I have played in the public arena such as the 9th and 11th at Greywalls, to name just two quick examples.

[Jim Nugent]

Didn't Doak start from scratch -- ground zero to speak -- and create every roll, every mound, every contour on the course?

If so, I nominate Rawls for The Next Fifty.  Both for the course itself, and how it got there.  Should use before and after pictures.  Tom might even be induced to give a few thoughts on the process he went through to create this course on such a blank canvass.    

[Mark_Guiniven]

The reason for the berm and perimeter screening was...?

[A_Clay_Man]

Jim, Yes, the site was literally, a flat cotton field.

As it turns out, I've been around. Lubbock Texas isn't what anyone would write home about, raving on the topography, aesthetic architecture, or anything that cllosely resembles spirtuality in nature. However, just outside of Lubbock is whats known as a caprock region. The course fits into this "look" more than it's natural setting in central Lubbock.

Mark, For me,The separation aspect, of the berm, is key to giving the feeling of entering another kingdom. Similar to walking across the road after teeing off the first at Cypress point. Yet different.

Lou Duran, I wonder who your local sources are?
Most west Texans I know, and have golfed plenty with, all know and are very good at the ground game. Given the propensity for natures wind to blow as they grow in intensity sliding down the leeward slope of the continental divide.

[Mike Nuzzo]

[Lou_Duran]

"The answer was rather blatant".  Mike Nuzzo.

Mike,

Can you please elaborate?

Adam,

My sources are confidential, covered under some confidentiality convention, I am sure.

While in Lubbock, I conducted my own "man in the street" surveys, possibly talking with in excess of 20 people.  I have also spoken to a few raters for the Dallas Morning News and a number of alumni who play golf regularly.   Not without some import, is the feedback passed on to me by someone who was intimiately involved in the development of the course.

My comments were not meant to slight the course.  I believe that it is among the best in Texas, and certainly the standard in that part of the state.  I am curious to see where it will place in the Morning News list this comig spring.  Hopefully it will be in the top 20.

Matt,

You picked-up on the balance issue.  However, going downwind sometimes makes a hole that more difficult.  The two long par 4s shown above do play much shorter, but stopping the ball on the green anywhere the hole even with a short iron is next to impossible.  Also, #17 plays vary hard, and the water on 18 comes in play from the tee.

I was fortunate to play with a 20-30+ mph south wind one day, and an equal wind coming from the north the next.  It was much colder with a north wind, perhaps adding to the difficulty, but I had a much easier time into the prevailing southwest wind.  The balance issue didn't jump out at me; it was just a totally different course.

BTW, I think that Lubbock gets quite a bit of wind from the north from now through the early spring.  As they say, not much to block those northerners but for a bit of barb-wire fence.

[Jim Nugent]

How big will those trees in the photos get, when they are full grown?  Will they change the lines or play much of the course?

[Tom_Doak]

The pine trees should get fairly large over the years to come, but I don't think they will come into play too much.  Just look at the bottom photo of 13 & 14 ... The pines on the right might get in the way if you hit it 60 yards to the right of the middle bunker on 13, but I don't think that is an excessive penalty.  And on 14, they'll only get into play if you hit it in the right rough, missing 75 yards of fairway.

Matt:  Was the course too easy the day you played?

[Mike Nuzzo]

"The answer was rather blatant".  Mike Nuzzo.

Mike,

Can you please elaborate?

Generally a 3-4% slope is needed to get water to sheet flow from a fairway.  But the further the water travels the wetter the ground gets towards the bottom.  So you can have adaquate slope, and still not enough basins.

The blatant and funny part...  the slopes were no where near 3-4%.  More like 10-20%  

I laughed, not because it was the obvious solution, but a really f***ing good one.  

My first round was the anti-prevailing wind and I could just about drive half the par fours... well it felt that way.
The next day was another story.

I did hit some approaches over a few greens on the "easy" day, but funny I didn't score any better....

I could see why you would call it an imbalance, but for me it was twice the fun.

Cheers

[Matt_Ward]

Tom D:

Frankly, the answer is yes. I would say no less than two  / three shots easier than what a SW wind can do.

The premise of the design is to feature the dominant southwest wind which is the norm when playing the course. I played the course from the tips and the northeast wind direction is clearly not calculated in a prominent way to provide design balance.

Give you an example -- my tee shot on the par-4 8th actually crossed the road that cuts-in front of the green about 100 yards out. Ditto the 9th hole -- which nonetheless is a superb green because it is so small -- was a simply 9-iron approach home. Flip the wind around and the holes encountered would be much more demanding. Of course -- the opening holes at #1 and #2 were in my face -- turn the wind around and it's likely a lower score is possible.

Of the holes that played tough into the northeast wind -- were the 10th (a full five-iron) and the 11th -- a superb par-4 in either wind direction. The other two long par-4's played much shorter (#13 & #14). And although the 15th did have some bite into the wind it wasn't that demanding overall. With a helping wind the par-3 16th also becomes a good bit easier.

I reached #17 into the wind with a solid drive and two-iron and followed that with a drive & 7-iron into the 18th with the wind helping.

Tom -- I'd like to play the course again to see the effects of a SW wind. But there's little doubt the long holes, as they are situated now -- including the par-3 16th -- are routed so that you would face a souwthwesterly breeze.

I still like the course immensely and believe there are a number of underrated holes -- like the par-4 7th which I previously mentioned. For you and your crew to take a site that was completely and utterly flat and nondescript and get the finished product one sees now is indeed a well done effort.

[A_Clay_Man]

I thought someone requested more photos.




Here's the second green, in foreground, with third green in back. When approaching the second, while walking, and having the group in front playing the third, is a fine example of intamcy, with little chance of danger.

[les_claytor]

I drove up to Lubbock from Dallas a year and a half ago to play the Rawls Course.  I played 36 holes over a Sat. and Sun., and found it fun, handsome, and thought they created some instant character and complicated strategies.

The green complexes dictated play from the tee.  It was fairly still ( 10 - 20 mph) so I didn't get to play it with full blast.  

The par three third hole was my favorite, but was one of many memorable holes.

I've recommended making the trip to others and hope to make it back sometime soon.

[Peter Galea]

How many acres is the course?

[A_Clay_Man]

That's funny Pete, My friend Jimmy, here, asked me that exact question yesterday, when I showed him this thread.
I took a total guess (just from that great aerial photo above). My guess was that the total of the square, visible in the pic, was somewhere near 200 acres. Then I guessed the course to be on somewhere between 120-150 acres. I suspect I'm over.

I will interested to see how far off I am. For a city boy.

[Tom_Doak]

You are way off, city boy!

The total "block" of land is 320 acres.  The golf course including the range takes up about 260.

In hindsight, we could have saved some money if we'd figured out how to place the holes closer together [and had to irrigate less land outside the lines of play].  I think we were a little too concerned with the safety margins for stray balls reaching the cart path for another hole.

I'm guessing the course would have taken up 30 less acres if we hadn't been required to put in continuous cart paths, so that the carts could have driven down the middle of the fairways.  That's a big cost of golf carts that no one ever talks about.  On the other hand, we put in the paths so that the fairways could be left dormant for the winter months.

[MarkT]

More pictures? I don't remember who sent me these but it was from someone on here.