Had the opportunity to visit The Territory in the remote location of Duncan, OK, 90 minutes south-west of Oklahoma City. Though I am unfamiliar with the architect, Randy Heckenkemper, it seems he is making a name for himself working in Oklahoma and Texas.
The Territory has opened to some acclaim, including being top-30 residential by GolfWeek and top. 5 in OK by Golf Digest (
http://www.territorygolf.com/awards).
In brief, The Territory is a very good golf course. Tremendous variety in the greens -- very large and very contoured.
Excellent terrain for golf, very naturally rolling and I'm told Heckenkemper moved very little dirt in building the golf course. The routing is just barely walkable, but for those that don't mind hopping in a cart The Territory is a perfect place to spend an afternoon.
All pictures are from the second from back Gold Tees.
Hole 1: Par 4, 377 Yards - Out-of-character with the rest of the golf course, a narrow hole surrounded by trees. Downhill and with the prevailing wind this hole plays very short and is less than driver from the tee. Green gives a good indication of the extreme contouring to come.
Hole 2: Par 5, 539 Yards - Like the 1st the second plays downhill and downwind and is easily reachable in two. The LZ is blind from the tee and again is less than driver for most.
Hole 3: Par 4, 401 Yards - Great use of width here. Bold line is near/over the bunker on the left, but the best angle is from the right. Green has a huge spine splitting left and right sides.
Hole 4: Par 3, 206 Yards - Really tough par-3 into the wind with small fingers making for interesting pin positions. Ground game welcomed.
Hole 5: Par 4, 360 Yards - A lay-up for most. A sliver of fairway can be played to down the right. Difficult approach with a cross-wind but plenty of room to miss right.
Hole 6: Par 4, 357 Yards - Another hole where most will hit less than driver. All about positioning the tee shot in the fairway past the corner of the dogleg to leave a simple approach to this small but very contoured green.
Hole 7: Par 5, 480 Yards - The start of a very good 3-hole stretch. An uphill and semi-blind tee shot. Golfers can play over/right of the centreline bunker if they wish to go for the green in two. Playing left will make this a 3-shot hole for most. Golfers going for the green in two will face a very intimidating 2nd, which is all-carry over a deep gully (lost ball) to a shallow green.
Hole 8: Par 3, 143 Yards - A really fun little par-3. Water guards the entire left-side of this short, downhill hole with a massive (nearly 10,000 sq. ft.) green. The elevation change + wind + water + green contouring means that a hole that should be very simple can very quickly turn into a big number.
Hole 9: Par 4, 414 Yards - The ideal line is much farther right than is obvious. Very difficult hole, uphill all the way, to a semi-blind green.
