I had a great time on my first trip to the Rawls Course. Both myself and my playing partner that
day agreed that the course is just plain fun to play. It played very short the day we were there
due to the dormant fairways and a west wind that blows directly in your face on only a few holes.
If you like firm and fast then golf in Lubbock in February is not a bad option. Pitch marks were
difficult to find on the greens ansd it was refreshing to see balls roll 40 or 50 yards after
a well struck drive, even if they were rolling into trouble
. On # 8 my drive was at one
point on the right side of the fairway with a level shot to the green but then proceeded to
roll down nearly the entire width of the massive fairway, leaving the approach in the
picture above. I was very impressed with the need to control both distance and direction
off the tee when hitting to these fairways even though they are almost all at least 40-50
yards wide.
The real fun at the Rawls Course comes around the greens. With a gusty 20 mph wind, not
many approaches find their way close to the hole. As a result, the dips and hollows
around the large greens got plenty of action. As I remember, most holes had a side to bail
out on (away from bunkers or water) but this usually resulted in a pitch or putt through a swale
or over a ridge to a green running away.
I thought the long stretch of par 4's on the back nine (11-15) were particularly strong and
varied with 11 and 14 being particular favorites. On the front the par 3 6th caught my
attention. The play to just about any hole location seems to be playing the ball to the back
of the green and letting it feed back down off the slope. It's not very visible in the picture,
but the ball will come back 15-20 feet. This also allows a miss right or left that clears
the bunkers and while it is a tough downhill chip, the contours can help funnel a ball to the
front hole location. I was also a big fan of the green on the short par 4 7th with a deep
swale running front to back and the previously mentioned 8th.
The joy in playing the Rawls course is in the details. You won't miss many fairways but
often stand on the green looking back and wishing you had found a different part of the
fairway off the tee. I can see where at too high of a speed the greens could be absolutely
maddening but was very impressed by the speed and conditioning in February.
It would be very easy to spend hours chipping and putting around any one of the 18 greens
out there. In the end, it's wonderful to see a golf course that doesn't blow your socks off at
first glance or provide an overload of visual stimulation, yet makes you think twice or three
times about most shots, makes you feel both smart and stupid on a hole by hole
basis, and is a good amount of fun to play.
Daryn