Heading to the area this weekend with the family. I have a tee time for my son, my nephew and I on Saturday. After reading some reviews, I'm considering looking at a different option.

Has anyone played here recently? Worth it? If not, does anyone have another suggestion around the area to play? TIA.

I played there over 20 years ago, had the first tee time of the day, was able to get in 18 and get back to Schlitterbahn before it opened.

hth

Played there six months ago or so and it was not like it used to be. I'd put kissing tree above it these days imo

I've never played that course when it was in bad shape. Foresight usually does a great job with their courses. That being said, the last time I played it was last December. It was in great shape then. I can't imagine it going down hill since we had such a mild winter.

If you decide to go somewhere else, you might see if you can get a tee time at Starke Park in Seguin. It just went through a renovation and should be in primo shape.

Pace of play has become a big issue out there. They switched the two 9s about 2 years ago which actually made pace of play worse and they only space tee times by 8 minutes.

I can't remember the last round I played out there that was under 4:30 and most are approaching 5:00. But they don't care.

Bizarre to switch the 9s…

The old 10/new 1 is a tricky hole, both the tee shot and the approach, so it plays slow. Old 1/new 10 was a wide open tee shot and the green is accessible… much better starting hole.

To put old 18/new 9 where it is now is tough too. People get their ass kicked on that green so it takes forever, and to have that right in the middle of the round? Not ideal.

Played there a couple of times in the past few years with a benefit tournament.

It's really hot out there. No shade and a long round. I played a few years ago in July and stayed at the bar at the turn. No way was I going back out after a 3 hour front 9 in 105 degree temps.

Poot said:

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Bizarre to switch the 9s…

The old 10/new 1 is a tricky hole, both the tee shot and the approach, so it plays slow. Old 1/new 10 was a wide open tee shot and the green is accessible… much better starting hole.

To put old 18/new 9 where it is now is tough too. People get their ass kicked on that green so it takes forever, and to have that right in the middle of the round? Not ideal.

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Agree 100%.

You used to start with a straightforward par 4 with no trouble, a long par 3 but also no trouble, and a long par 5 not really reachable in two. Plenty of room to spread out.

Now you have a par 4 with all kinds of trouble left of a narrow green, a par 3, a par 4 with a somewhat blind tee shot, par 3 that's all carry over water, followed by another par 4 with a blind tee shot. You're just going to be backed up from the start.

The course people themselves told us pace of play was why they did it but we speculated they did it to try and drive up food/drink sales since you now have to drive by the concessions going from 9 to 10. It was more out of the way going from 9 to 10 under the old routing.

They switched 9's so they could see you out the Pro shop window. Now they don't have to pay a starter and yes it was better the original way, old 17 & 18 were good finishing holes. They are quite proud of themselves on the weekends, well over a hundred to play but apparently the green fee prices are not running folks off. The Buckhorn (another Foresight) is eighty on weekends now and while likeable it is a pedestrian layout and yet folks are still coming. But as said earlier, Foresight they generally take decent care of their courses. Hope you report back...playing Vaaler this weekend.

No one has really answered your question. I played there about 45 days ago and was extremely disappointed. They lost several greens and are working to try to get them back. They didn't disclose this at all and still charged over $100 for the round. When I complained it was on deaf ears and the blame was placed on the 2 day freeze in February. Fairways are in excellent condition and should continue to be due to the rains.

Kissing Tree is the same cost and is better due to greens. Landa is in decent shape but getting tee times is tough.

I played it back in April and disappointed is an understatement. I'm shocked they're getting away with $100+ green fees. I've played Bandit a handful of times over the last 10 years and this was by far the worst condition I've seen it. The pin locations cannot be moved because 2/3 of each green was unplayable.

The bandit is a decent course in a pretty prime location.

They charged 2x what it should cost.

It is maintained .5x of what it should



It is easy to hate on the course b/c of the money, but it is a decent place.

evestor1 said:

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The bandit is a decent course in a pretty prime location.

They charged 2x what it should cost.

It is maintained .5x of what it should



It is easy to hate on the course b/c of the money, but it is a decent place.

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It used to be great, then it was decent (lack of water), and now I would never recommend it to anyone.

I've never written a negative post about a golf course on any platform and I felt the need to do it here. I hope they can make a comeback because it was an awesome course and a great layout but we walked off 18 thinking that the course won't even be around come 2027.

I hope OP plays it this weekend and comes back with better news!

I'm playing tomorrow morning at 9am. Couldn't find any availability at Kissing Tree on short notice. We'll see!

I'll report back and let everyone know. Drove by the entrance on our way into town and it looks great from the road.

Poot said:

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Bizarre to switch the 9s…

The old 10/new 1 is a tricky hole, both the tee shot and the approach, so it plays slow. Old 1/new 10 was a wide open tee shot and the green is accessible… much better starting hole.

To put old 18/new 9 where it is now is tough too. People get their ass kicked on that green so it takes forever, and to have that right in the middle of the round? Not ideal.

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agree the switch was dumb. The old back/new front is more compact. You don't have a hole that can spread out groups until the old 15. The other side. Old 3 and old 7 were long par 5s that could get multiple groups and keep pace up. Loved the original course though.

Just played The Bandit. I'll try to keep it as objective as possible regarding the course conditions and not interject my opinions of the layout or the order of the 9's.

Front 9 - tee boxes were fairly rough. Patchy grass in places that is decent. Grass coverage on probably 60% of the tee boxes. Fairways are solid. Soft and grainy, but no real complaints. Greens were probably 65% covered with grass. Tons of areas with zero grass. The starter said they tried to kill of poannua (spelling) and are struggling to get new growth. He said they were "much better than 2 months ago"…that's a scary thought.

Back 9 - tee boxes have grass on about 25% of the surface. It honestly looked like newly sprigged grass, but it wasn't…fairways the same as the front. Solid, and no real complaints. Greens were better on the back 9 than the front, but VERY soft and still probably only 75% grass coverage with bare areas on most.

Bunkers were fine but heavily sanded. As long as you're ok playing super fluffy soft bunker shots (think Florida beach sand) you'd be fine with these.

Price and pace of play - we paid $110 each for the greens fee, plus another $22 for a large bucket of balls. Both of those are overpriced in my opinion. We teed off at 9am and finished in exactly 4.5 hours. If you can tee off earlier than that, you could likely play a little quicker, but not much.

-Would I play here again tomorrow? No.
-Is it a decent option if you are in the area and just want to get out of the house? Sure.
-is it worth $100? Probably not, but $75 would be ok. Range balls should be included at the price they charge.

Hope that helps whoever may be considering.

Thanks for the update.

It's sad to hear that The Bandit has gone that far downhill. It was my favorite course to play when I lived in New Braunfels.