Crown Colony

Robert von Hagge has designed over a dozen courses in Texas, the best of which is probably his early 1970s creation, Walden on Lake Conroe in Montgomery. Later that same decade, he laid out Crown Colony in Lufkin and it too has become a permanent fixture in the Texan “Best in State” rankings.

A number of factors combine to make Crown Colony Country Club a pretty tough track to play. Water is in play at 13 of the holes, fairways are tight, bunkers are intimidating and elevated greens offer only a small target area to aim for. In essence, you must think your way around here, not blast away from the tee with little regard for the next shot.

The 183-yard, par three, 4th is a feature hole on the front nine, played over water all the way to the green, and it follows a long par five that veers left round a lake to a little green by the edge of the water.

Another short-long combination of note arrives at the last two holes on the card. The 17th is not so short though, at just over 200 yards from the back tees and it’s followed by one of the toughest holes in the Lone Star State, a 582-yard, tree-lined monster where the fairway narrows to only 20 yards wide in front of a heavily bunkered green.

Visitors are recommended to take great care on this pair of closing holes as together they can absolutely destroy a hard-earned score made up to that point in the round.