Tour 18 Texas Golf Review

My ultimate golf holiday experience occurred back in 1996 when I stayed on for a short golf break, after attending a Marketing Conference in Dallas, USA. It occurred at Tour 18, which is marketed as “America’s 18 Greatest Holes”, as it comprises replicas of 18 famous holes in one course.

The holiday came about when I got a phone call from a total stranger, who introduced himself as Stuart, enquiring if I was a golfer? We were both attending a Marketing Conference in Dallas and he was looking to pull together a four ball to stay on for a few days and take in some golf. At that time I had never played in the States, so it was a no brainer, especially when he said he would take care of all the arrangements.

Three weeks later, I found myself in a limo with three strangers (Stuart and two other Brits who had been attending the conference) heading into the Texan countryside. As I am not a fan of hired clubs, I had decided to take my favourite putter with me for the trip; a hickory shafted Callaway Little Poison II. It doubled nicely as a walking stick and at the time was acceptable to take through customs.

We were dropped off at the course and were advised the Tour 18 had now been open for a grand total of 6 days! As such it was far from the finished article. This required most drives to be launched whilst teams of workmen were laying fairway turf. They ether had no sense of self preservation or felt they were out of range from the corporate golfers sharing their space. I found it intimidating, particularly with the popularity of litigation in this country, but we had no choice and had to play through this hazard. I am pleased to report no injuries resulted from our play, but it only had to be a matter of time before someone nailed a drive.

The format for the day was a morning shotgun start and we were sent of in two buggies to the 6th hole, a replica of the 10th at Medinah. We then progressed through a series of picturesque holes, which included my EA Sports favourite, the island greened 17th at Marriott Sawgrass.

My ultimate moment occurred at the replica of the 170yd Par 3 6th at Riviera in California. From the tee, it appeared I had pushed my shot in to the rough to the right of the green. However, as we approached the hole, we were greeted with one of the strangest golfing sites I have encountered, a 60 yd wide / 40 yd deep green, with a bunker in the middle of it.

The good news was that my ball had landed on the green, but the bad news was that it was on the far side of the bunker to where the pin was located that day. I was therefore delighted to comply with the local ruling that allowed a free line of sight drop. Due to the size of the green, I was left with a monstrous “30+ yd hit and hope” over the shoulder of the bunker, with a three putt looking favourite.

So I lined up my putt (you can just make out my marker on the left hand side of the green), gave it generous whack with my trusty Callaway.

I now know what Terry Wogan must have felt when he sank his monster putt many years ago, despite many undulations, my ball just kept on tracking towards the hole.

My golf holiday partners were so far away I had to shout to warn them of my approaching putt which was gathering speed having cleared the ridge 10 yd’s in front of the pin. The slope of the green was such that they only just managed to remove the pin in time for by ball to sail straight into the cup!

I was still buzzing from my birdie and sinking my longest ever putt, when Stuart announced we were approaching Amen Corner. Bring it on! Holding the green with my tee shot at the 12th at Augusta National, scene of the US Masters, it gave me a warm feeling, having watched so many pro’s fall victim to such a simple, yet brilliant hole.

All too soon our round was over and we were heading to the 19th for some well earned beers and relive a most unique experience.

Tour 18 is a unique and slightly surreal experience and well worth the trip if you are golfing in Texas.