Destination Selah Ranch: Talco, TX

Greetings from the Road Warrior. It’s been a while since I’ve checked in with the Flight Farm fam, you know life and work, adulting and all, LOL. 9/3/22 We packed the bags and headed south to the Selah Ranch. Here’s how it transpired:

Went on a quick turn around trip down to Talco TX to play 2 bucket list courses designed by John Houck, Houck Design at the Selah Ranch. I’ve always had these 2 on my radar of must play courses, but either the weather or the timing, etc just never worked out. Well we HAD TO MAKE IT work out this time as sadly on 9/6/22 these courses will no longer be playable. Very sad that fans of this awesome property and disc golfers that haven’t played here will never get the opportunity but the property has sold. The new owners have other plans for the land and it just isn’t in the cards anymore. If you can get down there this weekend do yourself a favor and go play here. You WONT be disappointed!!

925-Selah Ranch Lakeside in Talco TX-18 holes.

Great course that has everything you would want in a course. 2 sets of pads, on most holes. Some holes have been tweaked due to construction of a new house by the new owners, and some out buildings etc. That however did not take away from the excellent golf here. I played a mix of short and long pads to get a good feel for what was offered. The first 4 holes are fairly open but there were gaps to hit off the box or guarded pins upon approach. Water threat was present but if you placed your shots well you could still stay dry and score well. Holes 5 and 6 were nice and wooded but not overly tight. Hole 7 had a pond on the left and woods on the right. You had to set up your second shot to get in position to approach the island green. My drive landed a little shorter and right of where I wanted to be and that left me about 325-350’ out from the green. I decided to go for it instead of laying up, and came up about 15 short of the island! Donated a LucidX Escape in the process. Took a 6(because I can’t putt) and moved on. Great hole and would go for it again! Back into the woods for most of the remainder of the holes. Hole 14 was a tight shot off the box with a narrow gap down either side. A valley in the middle of the hole and the pin was on top of the hill and well protected. After a putrid tee shot I was able to scramble for par and about threw in my suspect from about 100+ out!

Hole 15 from the long pad was a beast! From an elevated pad you threw down the wooded low ceiling fairway with a creek on the right hand side. The trees were in just the right spots making a clean shot that much more difficult I struggled on this hole carding a 6. Still a great hole! 17 from the long pad is a 315’+ hyzer shot to a well protected pin. I got a nice skip off the hard pan dirt and was about 20 ft out and short but got the birdie.

Hole 18 is a true pucker factor hole if you don’t have a forehand(which I don’t…at least one that is trust worthy enough to carry the water!) I chose to play the short pad becuse I felt like my margin for error was less. I threw an Escape on a turnover shot and was about 250’ out from the basket. The basket was well guarded upon approach and I got through the gap but was short. Went for the putt and wiffed but made the come back putt to save par.

Overall I throughly enjoyed this course. I shot a 68 and felt really good about that considering the 2 6’s I took on holes 7 and 14 respectively.

I wished I could have the opportunity to play this course again sometime in my career but as stated earlier sadly that isn’t in the cards. I’m extremely grateful that I got to experience this awesome course and kudos to John R Houck for his vision and designing such a gem. This course challenges you in every aspect and it truly defines placement golf. You have to place your shots in a spot to make your next shot effective.

926-Selah Ranch Creekside in Talco TX-18 holes.

My review of this course will seem a little odd but bear with me. After finishing hole 18 at Lakeside you drive down the paved road and there is a sign for hole 14 on the Creekside course. We decided to play holes 14-18, eat lunch, then play 1-13.

14 was a nice wooded hole with a low ceiling. 15 the play was probably a FH off the box but I threw a hyzer and got lucky. I was able to chip up and make my par. Hole 16…looking back I should’ve thrown a different disc but I chose what I chose and it was what it was. 777 ft from the long pad you have to carry about 320’ of water to clear the pond and that puts you about at the short tee. I chose to go for it and as soon as I saw my Escape turn I knew it didn’t have enough lead in its shorts to make it. Sadly she sank to a watery grave. Meh we had a good 7 year run. So I had to re tee because I was never in bounds. This time I made it to the bank(thankfully the water was down!) another hyzer shot that if thrown too long would’ve been wet, I didn’t get much on it because I couldn’t get a run up in the mud. I still had to clear the pond to the green. I was stuck right by a tree, and had to arm only throw another shot that skipped off the water safe. Took a 7 on the 777 hole. Irony? Read the book and you decide.

17 had a pond on the right hand side and was a 275’ shot or so. Leaving us with hole 18.

18 was a 320’ hole from the long pad to a pennisula green. A big hyzer was the play and I really wanted to go for it. But remembering what had happened just 2 hole previous, and what my distance maxes out at, I knew I’d be donating another disc and at best taking a 4. After watching the group in front of me donate some plastic to the pond gods, I decided to play it safe and threw over by the short pad then set up my next shot. There was a strip of land in between the long pad and the green but that land was OB?? Anyways I threw my second shot and hit the green about 30’ out. Another whiff of a putt left me with a 4 on the scorecard. Meh.

We headed to the club house and plugged in the golf cart and had some chopped beef samitches! Pretty tasty and it hit the spot. Mike at the clubhouse took great care of us and everyone else that came out to play these courses today! The hospitality didn’t go unnoticed and was much appreciated for sure.

On to hole 1. I played the short pad and this hole had some length. Good lines to hit upon approach. Hole 2 was a low ceiling shot and your drive needs to get through clean. Hole 3 from the long pad was a nice pond carry to a guarded approach. A fun hole. Hole 4 from the short pad was a nice ace run with the pond to the left of the basket. Hole 5 another pucker shot as the pond is on the left and the basket is really close to the water, I decided to throw a turnover shot with my Fuse and as soon as I let it go it looked like it was headed straight for the pond! Luckily it didn’t fade and came very close to acing…what a story that would’ve been. Alas it was just a 2.

Holes 6-9 were slightly wooded and Reminiscent of park style golf. This brings us to hole 10. Placement golf in every essence! I played the long tee on this one and man what a hole! A gap shot off the box

Another tree lined shot with a snaking creek on the left and behind the basket then a hard 90* dog leg to the pin. I executed the first 2 shots but my landing on the second throw left me with not much to work with. I tried to throw my Warship up and over a slight gap high in the trees and made the gap but got a tree kick across the creek and OB. I pitched up and took my 5. This hole was an outstanding hole. And a tough get for par. 11 was a low ceiling skip shot from the long tee. I actually had a look for a 2 but again my putting decided to take the day off I suppose.

Hole 12 from the short pad was an uphill hyzer shot of about 315’ or so. My drive was less than spectacular leaving me in a hay bale next to a tree with about nothing to throw. I decided I’d just throw whatever and did a Pat pending shot with my Fuse blindly and by the grace of the sky gods it landed right under the basket? Treesus must’ve felt generous today. 13 from the short pad was another ace run hole with a pond on the left hand side. I gave it the old college try with my Gatekeeper and came up just short of acing. Knocked down the birdie to end my round on a positive note.

I was able to shoot a 68 on Creekside despite getting tired down the stretch. Another excellent test of skill and this course is more open and longer at times than it’s sister Lakeside. Thanks to my 1000 rated caddy Stacey Fischer for keeping me company on this trip and letting me check off a pair of must play courses off of my list!

All in all a great trip that was well worth the $25 green fee to play all day. $50 for the cart rental seems steep at first but I don’t know if I could’ve walked and played and enjoyed my rounds without it. If you go just spend the money and get the cart.

I wished there was a way for these 2 courses to stay in the ground and be playable to disc golfers again, but I understand why it is. It’s such a beautiful place with a clubhouse, golf carts, restrooms and showers, a meeting/reception hall, and ranch houses to be rented out. A true disc golf destination and a true experience that I’ve not come across so far. Disc golfers that dream of having their own course, myself included, would love to have this set up to be able to share and host events for their guests. Maybe in the future one super stellar course can be salvaged to keep the Selah Ranch legacy alive. If that doesn’t happen I’m just grateful for the opportunity that I was fortunate to play this pair of dream courses.

Shout out to my sponsors Chad Nech of Flight Farm and Chris Smith of Hyzernauts for allowing me to rep their brands on these excursions.

I’ve played 926 courses to date and I have to say without a doubt that Creekside, Lakeside, Trey Deuce, and Texas Twist courses all rank very highly on my favorites list. I wished there were more courses of this caliber closer to home, but I will go wherever the road takes me.

Well that’s it for this one, until the next one, Road Warrior signing off.

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