Depending on the day of the week, a round of golf at Fields Ranch East, Avidgolfer’s No. 1-ranked public course in North Texas, can cost you $331. If that’s the way you roll, then I encourage you and your buddies to book a weekend at the Omni PGA Frisco. Gorge yourself at Trick Rider, the hotel’s steakhouse. (Get the crispy artichoke.) Drink too much red wine. Wake up early, and walk the course. (You can’t ride.) Make friends with your caddie. (You have to bring a caddie.) That’s what I did (at the hotel’s expense), and I had a wonderfully horrible time.
I’m a 12 handicap. I played with Paul Earnest, the director of golf and operations there. Paul is not a 12 handicap. I did things with a club in front of Paul that I am not proud of. I won’t soon forget what happened on No. 15, a short uphill par 4 with a green guarded by so much sand that it looks like a set from Dune. Paul and I both found bunkers off the tee. I approached my ball expecting to see Timothée Chalamet holding the rake. I was probably 60 yards from the hole and so far below it that I couldn’t see the flag.
“Derek,” I said to our caddie, “this isn’t a shot I practice.”
“No one does,” Derek said helpfully.
Paul was away and swung first. He chunked his shot, hitting it 20 yards into another bunker. I chuckled silently and thought about the river of Willamette Pinot that I’d braved the night before. But despite all the elements working against me—the sand, the wine, the lack of skill—I got out with one manful swing of my wedge. I caught the ball thin and sent it screaming over the green, into a backstop hill, leaving myself a 40-foot putt from off the green that went uphill before it went down. I carded a double bogey; Paul parred.
So by all means, test yourself on either or both of the Omni’s two formidable 18-hole courses. It’s a great stay-and-play. You’d best be able to hit it long. But here’s the secret: the joint has a 10-hole par-3 course called The Swing designed by Gil Hanse and Beau Welling, the same architects who built the big courses. It’s a blast. It’s real golf and costs just $45 for most of us, $25 for Frisco residents. You can play barefoot, if you want. No tee time needed. On the weekends, it’s lit and flooded with country music till midnight. Just show up and grab a beer at the Ice House. While you wait (if need be), there’s a free, 2-acre putting course where you can wager with your friends. At the halfway of The Swing, there’s an old truck with Casamigos tequila on tap—again, if need be. 3255 PGA Pkwy, Frisco 469-305-4500
This story originally appeared in the April issue of D Magazine. Write to [email protected].
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