Review of the Month April 2019 – Bluejack National

Awesome, creative, transformative.

For those of you who have read my reviews, I do not think I am prone to hyperbole, but Bluejack National is amazing.

Bluejack National is on the site of a former golf course called Blaketree. Its claim to fame was that you could rent the cabin and hunt the feral hogs. I played there about 11 years ago and my only memory was that the 9th hole was very difficult, long and with a big water carry on the approach.

The name Bluejack refers to a type of oak tree. I was informed that when the new owners bought the place they were told there were hundreds of bluejacks on the property. The owners commissioned Texas A&M to do an inventory so that they could be marked and retained. The aggies came back and reported they had found none. As with many engagements where the answer does not meet the sponsors’ expectations, they were told to do it again. This time A&M met with success as they found one bluejack. It is located on the right side of the par 5 11th about 180 yards out.

Upon arriving at Bluejack you will be overwhelmed with friendly faces and helping hands. There is no parking lot the valet will take care of your clubs and abscond with your keys. You will be given a quick overview of the lay of the land. Note well, Bluejack is expensive and everything is included, no tipping (except caddy). They only allow a few unaccompanied 4somes per week. Prior to booking you will be required to fill out a fact sheet with credit card info and you will be provided a list of all the fees that will be charged. When my head pro showed me this we both agreed that it was interesting concept and we hoped that I would be overwhelmed and I was. The fees include all drink and food and it will be pushed on you. My advice, show up hungry. I did get a cup of coffee and I headed over to “The Playgrounds”. This is a lighted ten-hole venue with holes ranging from approx. 50-100 yards. Next door is the range, one feature I loved was the large bulls-eye target about 150 yards out. I would liken this area to a party. Even though it was early in the AM, with the music hoppin’, you could see where this was a happenin’ place. Bluejack is NOT a stiff upper lip kind of club. No pretensions, yet very upscale…

Another superb design feature are the Tiger tees. Typically, when you hear Tiger tees, you think way back. This is the exact opposite. What they did was calculate what the average driving distance was for an adult male and set up tees at that distance in the fairway. The concept is, dad can tee off and then the kids can hit in from approx. where his tee shot lands.

1st hole photo courtesy of Bluejack National

The first hole is a dogleg left with a bunker on the outside elbow and water on the inside. The 2nd hole is a reachable dogleg left par 5. To have a chance to get home in 3 favor the left side. I was in great shape and inexplicably I rolled my fairway wood. I was able to recover and get on in reg. The green is shaped similar to a three leaf clover and with deep bunkers protecting the right and left front. In another sign of the apocalypse I rolled in the birdie putt. This of course led my PBFU double bogey on the par 3 4th.

As I was chunking my ball around I noticed how trampled the pine straw and waste area was. Lucas explained this was caused by the feral hogs. Bluejack’s fairways are zoysia and in a fortuitous outcome, evidently zoysia blades are sharp and bother the snout of the hogs. Hence, they do not tear up the course itself…

6th hole photo courtesy of Bluejack National

Favor the left side of the fairway on the par 4 6th to avoid the ravenous fairway bunker on the right. After your tee shot the first halfway house is on the right, which I respectfully suggest should be a called a third way house. As we were boot scooting along it was not open when we went by. My hosts wanted to call to have someone open it and I assured them that I was fine and was here to play golf. As you walk towards the 6th green look to your right to scope out the short par 4 8th. There is sharp drop-off on the right side, called the green wall, which will push your tee shot further right and create a challenging approach…

The backside starts off with a dogleg left that challenges your appetite. With three staggered bunkers on the inside elbow how much do you want to chew off? The par 5 11th (home of the aforementioned Bluejack) like the state of Texas is big with a huge fairway. However, it does slope significantly right to left, favor the right and I would suggest playing it as a 3-shot hole. The greenside bunker right is especially tricky as the green also slopes away from you.

12th hole photo courtesy of Bluejack National

After 11 you are at the next third-way house where the specialty is jerky. The grill here is designed for the carnivore in you, tips, sausage, brisket etc. Due to our meteoric pace, it was not open when we zipped through. Behind the grill is the tee box for the signature hole par 3 12th. Downhill over a water hazard this picturesque par 3 had an Augusta-like feel with a redan green and bunkers behind it. I was fortunate as the azaleas were in bloom behind the green…

From 16 we ambled on over to the third-way house. The grill had been fired up but alas the jerky machine was down. Perhaps next time…

This is an awesome course. I would have spent all day there, but alas I had a meeting. Expensive, but I strongly encourage golf aficionados to make the trek and savor the day.

Colin Braithwate

Review of the Month April 2019 selected by Editor-in-Chief, Keith Baxter and sponsored by TaylorMade – click to read Colin's full review and more about Bluejack National.