Introduction
Horseshoe Bay Resort, located outside Austin, Texas, is a stellar golf destination. With four total courses, including the “Texas Triangle,” it can keep the avid golfer happy for days. Our first HSB course review is focused on Apple Rock Golf Course, the happy medium of the resort’s three Robert Trent Jones Sr designs.
Practice Facilities
Apple Rock Golf Course shares a site and practice facilities with another RTJ design, Ram Rock [review HERE]. The practice facilities are extensive, easily large enough to occupy the dozens of golfers that play the two courses.
Steps from the clubhouse and the starter’s hut is the expansive driving range. It features two enormous tiers of grass hitting areas and a strip of artificial turf for warming up when the grass is unplayable. This all looks down on numerous target greens. I typically prefer a flatter driving range to accurately gauge my distances, but, given the extreme elevation changes on these courses, a downhill range makes sense here. At the other end of the range, you can see the Golf Academy at Horseshoe Bay.
If you need to warm up your short game, that’s covered, too. There are two putting greens – one on either side of the clubhouse – and both are large enough for at least half a dozen golfers. Additionally, there’s a short game area with two target greens and a bunker. This area features the elevation changes you’ll see on the course, which is very helpful.
Customer Service & Amenities
The most critical amenity at Apple Rock Golf Course is the excellent on-cart GPS system. Given the amount of elevation and doglegs, you need to be able to “see” around the corners and know your distances if you’re going to score well. These systems also have green maps so you can putt like a local.
In the pro shop, you’ll find a heaping selection of soft goods bearing the Horseshoe Bay Resort logo. On the course, a beverage cart will keep you hydrated, but save your appetite for a post-round stop at Cap Rock Cabana. Situated in a massive rock outcropping with elevated views of a pool and the courses, this is a beautiful spot to sit and recap your round with a drink and a sandwich.
The staff at Horseshoe Bay Resort is warm and helpful, living up to the reputation of southern hospitality. Every starter we encountered gave us an enthusiastic scouting report on the course ahead. Staff throughout the resort were happy to answer our questions and accommodate any request.
Horseshoe Bay Resort has a host of non-golf amenities, and I will cover them in detail in a travel feature, coming soon.
Beauty & Scenery
Texas Hill Country is an aptly named region. That constant up and down is what gives Apple Rock Golf Course much of its visual interest and appeal. When the course gets particularly high or open, you get views that stretch for miles.
Apple Rock is built in a housing development, but the moderately heavy tree line keeps that largely out of view. Robert Trent Jones Sr did a good job inserting enough eye-catching elements that your focus stays on the course. Water comes into play on five holes – most notably on #12 – providing a pleasant visual change of pace.
Tee Shots
Every tee shot at Apple Rock Golf Course gives you something to think about. There are very few straight holes. The ones that don’t curve have some significant feature to add challenge to the drive. Almost every drive has a focal point – typically a bunker – that you must carry, stay short of, or play away from. If you pick the right tees, you’ll have opportunities to hit different clubs, shape shots, and take on varying amounts of risk.
Speaking of tees and options, Apple Rock Golf Course gives golfers plenty. There are five physical sets of tees, ranging from 6,999 yards to 4,490 yards. The course smartly turns those five tee boxes into nine different course lengths by offering combination tees. No matter which tees you pick, you’ll encounter difficulty. Choosing the “right” set for your length puts you in range of the hazards. Playing forward brings in the potential of driving the ball through the numerous doglegs.
Two other elements that must be considered off the tee are the elevation and the wind. Texas golfers are known for their ability to play in the wind, and Apple Rock Golf Course shows us why. When the wind is at your back, you can feel like Superman. When it turns against you, even a well struck shot can look weak. Most tee shots are hit from an elevated position, which can add to your distance, but it can also add uncertainty if you’re used to flatter courses.
Finally, the fairways at Apple Rock Golf Course are average in width and hitting them is a must is you intend to score well. The sides of the fairways are mixed – some safe, some dangerous, and some deadly – but the ball has so much life on the ground that a seemingly safe side of the fairway can turn troublesome. If you keep your drives in the short grass, all that roll out will accrue only to your benefit.
Approach Shots
Golfers who are accustomed to flat lies and level approach shots will find themselves in a whole new world at Apple Rock Golf Course. There are virtually no flat fairways here, which means that every lie has some degree of challenge. The ball may be above your feet, or you might have an uphill stance. You need to be able to control your body and your golf ball in these conditions to score well.
The elevation challenges golfers not only with their stance but by asking them to hit to an elevated target on many holes. This removes the possibility of running the ball onto the green and demands a precise control of your carry distance. Given the aforementioned wind, this requires not only skill but a little luck.
Find more birdies at Slick Rock Golf Course HERE
While the Texas Hill Country provides some natural defenses for the greens at Apple Rock, Robert Trent Jones supplies his signature bunkering. This is not a course that’s littered with sand traps, but each one feels intentional and impactful. Even if you’re a skilled bunker player, the placement of each hazard will have you steering toward the other side of the green.
One thing that works to the golfer’s advantage is the lack of rough. Assuming you can find your tee shot, it will be playable. With the exception of the occasional thick patch, the rough is negligible.
Greens & Surrounds
After navigating the tee shot and approach, the greens at Apple Rock Golf Course offer golfers a chance to be aggressive. Though they are no more than average in size, these greens are soft, receptive, and not terribly quick. This means that most approach shots that hit the putting surface will remain there.
Apple Rock’s greens feature a tremendous variety of shapes. There are tiered greens, undulating greens, and greens that tilt. What they all share in common is that they roll straighter than golfers will expect. Give each putt a firm rap, and don’t give up the hole except on the most dramatic breaks.
The elevation of the greens provides much of the interest in the surrounds at Apple Rock Golf Course. Small mounds and hollows are scattered around, but you’ll never have trouble seeing the putting surface. The rough is very light, so you’ll have no trouble making good contact and putting spin on the ball.
Favorite Holes
#7 – Par 5 – 505 yards
Have fun bombing your drive from a dramatically elevated tee box because your second and third shots won’t be as much fun. The green is at the top of a steep hill, protected by some of Apple Rock Golf Course’s deepest bunkers. You can run your approach onto this green, but it needs to be precise and have a lot of power to make it to the top of the hill.
#11 – Par 5 – 509 Yards
Off the tee, you can take advantage of one of the wider fairways on the course, or you can try to carry the sand trap and give yourself a chance to get home in two. The second shot – whether it’s a long one or a short one – forces you to contend with a nearly-hidden piece of water and a couple well-placed sand traps.
#12 – Par 3 – 179 Yards
Apple Rock Golf Course’s signature hole plays across a portion of Lake LBJ. It’s a fairly straightforward par 3, but, as every golfer knows, the addition of water makes every hole a bigger challenge. The green has two tiers, so if you want to make a good score, you can’t play “too safe” by bombing it to the back edge. Distance control is the key to making birdie.
Conclusion
The middle child is easy to overlook. Apple Rock Golf Course is not the hardest of Horseshoe Bay Resort’s three Robert Trent Jones designs – that’s Ram Rock. It’s not the easiest – that’s Slick Rock. It is, however, a course that has a great sense of place in the Texas Hill Country and all the hallmarks of its architect. If you want to enjoy heroic golf in a beautiful setting with the opportunity to makes some birdies, you will love Apple Rock Golf Course.
Visit Apple Rock Golf Course at Horseshoe Bay Resort HERE
He founded Plugged In Golf in 2013 with the goal of helping all golfers play better and enjoy the game more.
Matt lives in the northwest suburbs of Chicago with his wife and two daughters.
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