Fall In Love With Amarillo's Fascinating Golf Courses
One thing is for sure, the city of Amarillo knows how to take care of its golfers. With a pair of 36-hole complexes owned by the city and open to the public, some of the finest golf in all of the state can be found in the heart of the Texas Panhandle. Combined the Comanche Trail Golf Complex and the Ross Rogers Golf Complex offers players 72 holes of well-groomed fairways and rolling greens to provide a challenge to all levels of golfers.
All the courses in Amarillo are open for play, following the city’s Public Health Department guidelines. Rules and restrictions for golfing can be found on their website.
Comanche Trail Golf Complex
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The original Tomahawk Course at Comanche Trail was designed by Charles Howard of Austin, Texas, and opened in July of 1990, while Cupp Design of Atlanta, Georgia designed the Arrowhead Course that was opened in May of 1999.
The Tomahawk Course
The original course in the Comanche Trail complex, the Tomahawk Course features a drainage ditch that traverses through most of the holes on the front nine. With a lack of trees on the course, the North Texas winds can wreak havoc on players year-round, but the fairways are wide and generous, and the large greens provide ample targets when the crosswinds blow. But with water impacting 14 holes on the course, be sure to compensate for the drift.
The signature hole at Tomahawk is the dogleg-left 5th hole. With a ditch spanning the entire left side of the fairway, the smart play is to drive it to the right which leaves a long iron approach to hit the green. But if for those bold enough to try to carry the ditch, a short wedge is all that’ll be left for an approach. The 445 yard 9th hole also poses a challenge, with a tight, narrow fairway needing the driver and long irons to reach.
The Arrowhead Course
Featuring long rough and plenty of sand and water, the Arrowhead Course is a Robert Cupp design that measures just shy of 7000 yards. While not overly long, the signature 9th holes is a tricky par 5 with water lurking along the left of the fairway the entire 484 yards, leading to a well-bunkered green. The top handicap hole is the par 4, 427-yard 4th hole, requiring some accuracy with a driver as the tee shot needs to carry a small pond into the dogleg-left fairway.
Ross Rogers Golf Complex
The other 36 hole complex owned by the City of Amarillo is the Ross Rogers Golf Complex. The original 18 holes were constructed in 1939 and opened in 1940 and were named after Ross D. Rogers, who served as Amarillo’s Mayor from 1932 to 1941. Expanding to 27 holes in 1959, the final 9 holes were constructed in 1978 to complete the 36 hole complex and comprise the two existing courses, the Mustang Course and the WildHorse Course.
The Mustang Course
Originally a 9-hole course, the Mustang Course was expanded to 18 holes in 1981 and features flat, speedy greens and generously wide fairways. Three small lakes are also scattered throughout the course. The par 3 6th hole is a challenge with an elevated green sitting beyond a water-facing tee shot, while the 12th hole requires a cut of the lake into the fairway, needing a 200 yard plus drive to carry the hazard. Closing out the round, holes 15-17 are a pair of long par 4’s and a tricky par 3, but the finishing hole is a chance to birdie with a relatively short, 483-yard par 5 with a dogleg right that can cut a few yards off the total.
The WildHorse Course
Shorter than the Mustang Course, the WildHorse Course is very similar in layout and design. Little water comes into play, and the parallel fairways are a bit confining but is no less a challenge. Two of the better holes in the complex can be found on the back nine, with the long, 201-yard, par 3 on the 11th hole, and the difficult 425-yard, par 4, 14th hole.
Whichever course you choose, or if you opt to give them all a try, Amarillo’s golf courses are sure to provide a challenge, while making a trip through the Texas Panhandle a memorable one.