I played The Wilderness on Tuesday, 3/27/18, at 11am on a cool, cloudy day with a threat of rain and occasional blustery breezes. We are visiting family in the Galveston area and I was looking for a c... Continue »

I played The Wilderness on Tuesday, 3/27/18, at 11am on a cool, cloudy day with a threat of rain and occasional blustery breezes. We are visiting family in the Galveston area and I was looking for a course I hadn’t played before. I saw some good reviews in local media and on GolfAdvisor, and played with my BIL and we enjoyed the round. The course was not crowded – we paid a senior rate of $35 (a steal with range balls and a yardage book) and finished as a twosome in ~3.5 hr, never catching the group in front or seeing the group behind.

This municipal course is cut out of a surrounding nature preserve and is isolated and quiet. Facilities include a rustic clubhouse with little equipment or clothing offered. There is a small grill that prepares sandwiches, etc., and a separate building to accommodate larger golfing parties. A grass driving range, a chipping area/sand trap, and two putting greens are offered. Carts are basic with no GPS. The holes are fairly wide open –only well-offline shots can get out into serious tree/brush trouble. There are relatively few sand traps, divided fairly equally between fairways and greens. Scattered large trees separate most holes. There is water in play on several holes, but forced carries are generally only off the tees, mainly on some par-3s. Otherwise ponds lurk to the side along a couple greens and fairways.

The course got a lot of water damage during last fall’s hurricane in the area and spent two weeks underwater. But a very proactive maintenance/regrowth program after the waters receded resulted in paths-only play only 6 weeks (!) after the hurricane. Greens and turf are fully recovered from that episode. Greens are generally elevated, with some having substantial internal movement, although there is no significant tiering (however, the 16th is a Biarritz-style green). They are large (up to 70 yards deep!) and were firm with thin cover, but we saw no bare spots and they rolled well at medium speed, with few ballmarks. Fairways were just coming out of dormancy and were thin and balls sat tight, but there were no bare areas. Rough was cut short and was very playable, but was very dry and with scattered bare areas. Rough around greens could be deeper in swales and areas that concentrate water. Sand looked adequate - I wasn’t in any. Tees were level and gave good footing – even par-3 tees showed few divots. Unfortunately, the Green tees we played (6,151/68.4/115) were frequently pushed well forward, so we likely played at quite a bit less than 6,000 yards.

Lots of drinking water available. We saw the cart girl a few times. There was a temporary green on the 14th hole (not really even cut as a green – just a hole and flag in the fairway!) as the course is rebuilding that green to reduce the severe slopes on the green that made it much different from any other green on the course. That was too bad for us, as the hole is one of the more interesting on the back nine – a dogleg right with sand left of the elbow and a pond right, with a potential forced carry uphill to the green on the second shot.

The course has a relaxed, friendly “locals” vibe and is a fun, relaxing play in good condition. Recommended.