OK My biased review.
First, the golf club is fantastic and the members engaging and down to earth. Mr. Burke is a fantastic ambasador for the game and his book is an absolute must read for all golfers and those in the industry. (I am also a fan of The Future of Golf by GS).
I only played the Cypress Creek course and it was in very good shape and played pretty firm and fast. It rained for the practice round and I was surprised that the greens did seem just slightly "spongy".
It's a long course (7300 par 71) with wide fairways and enormous greens. A couple of very good holes were:
#4--famous 228 yarder across the creek to a huge green. It was as good as advertised.
#13--nice dogleg par five that allows you to play safe left or cut across the corner of the hazard and open up a shot to the green. Green is also tucked next to the cliff/hazard and with the prevailing wind blowing toward the hazard, it can be a scary shot if you are trying to go for it in two.
#17--I normally am not a fan of straightaway holes but this was pretty good. Into the prevailing wind with water left and OB right off the tee and a water hazard snaking around the left and behind the green for a long second shot. Green is interesting with its shaved banks and left/front fall away areas.
#18--nice strong finishing hole. One of the few holes with a fairway bunker that really helps pinch the fairway and defines the drive very nicely.
Overall, the course is very flat and while I liked that the fairways were wide I am not too sure I really enjoyed the constant slugging of driver to fairways that really were just kind of open. Few holes had fairway bunkers--you just kinda banged it out there. I think 8 holes are over 450 and the shortest par 4 was 415.
They have also planted alot of those stupid 8-12 foot high crepe myrtles and other ornamnetal trees that don't seem to belnd in with the larger more matuire trees.
Greens are huge and have a lot of movement. Unfortunately, they are so big they sometimes don't seem to have a distinctiveness to them. Just big and with mulitple "lobes"--Mickey Mouse ears on steroids!!
The green on #7 was 62 or 64 yards deep and on hole #15 I hit to the middle right side when the hole was cut back right and I had to chip over a bunker (from the green)! Same hole another competitor hit his second back left and had to putt through 20 feet of fringe!!
Last nitpick was the multiple ornamental plantings and fake water features. I understand what Mr. Burke is saying about the need for Houston to plant that kind of thing and some of the natural areas looked great. But, there were a couple of thse silly looking 5 foot tall fountains in 2 or 3 of the lakes that looked like they should go in an office park lake and there was a perfectly conical "volcano" like rock feature on #10 that water cascades down from right next to the green. I almost wanted to throw my coin in the hazard and make a wish
Overall though, it is a great golf club and a very straightfoward test of ones' game--I think just what Mr. Burke had in mind when he created Champions.