Where to play in the Dallas-Forth Worth area

• By Mike Bailey
• May 17, 2011 7:17 PM ET

Nicknamed Hogan's Alley, Colonial Country Club in Ft. Worth has always been one of the players' favorite stops on the PGA Tour. And although the average golfer doesn't have access to the site of the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial, there are some pretty fair options in the area that are easily accessible to the daily fee golfer throughout the year.

In fact, the nearby municipals are particularly strong, and they’re not far away from Colonial Country Club. In Euless, for example, you can play Texas Star, and if you didn't know it was a muni, you would never guess.

The same can be said for Grapevine Golf Course, which is one just eight golf courses in America that can claim Byron Nelson as its designer.

Located right next to Ft. Worth, Nelson's design was renovated in the late 1990s by D.A. Weibring, who not only enhanced his longtime friend's original 18 holes, but added another nine himself to bring the rolling parkland track to 27 holes. The new addition almost has a links-type feel to it, while Grapevine's original 18 has plenty of rolling fairways, mature oaks, streams and ponds. With excellent conditioning and customer service, golfers definitely don't feel like they are playing a muni, except when they pay their green fees.

Much of the same can be said for Arlington's municipal offering, Tierra Verde Golf Club. Since it's on the other side of Arlington, it's a little bit of a drive from Ft. Worth, but well worth it. This Audubon Sanctuary course, which opened in 1998, was designed by Gary Panks and David Graham. And while this wooded, wetlands setting won't disappoint, you might even be more impressed with the clubhouse grub, which is some of the best in Texas. The menu includes such items as gourmet tapas, stuffed peppers and chicken empanadas.

Some other venues worth considering are Cowboys Golf Club in Grapevine, a fun Jeff Brauer design with an over-the-top Dallas Cowboys theme; the 36 holes of Bear Creek Golf Club near the DFW International Airport; Tour 18 in Flower Mound, which, like its Houston predecessor features tributes to America's greatest holes such as Augusta National's Amen Corner; The Tribute Golf Club in The Colony, which pays homage to the great Scottish courses of the British Open; and Waterchase Golf Club in Ft. Worth, a 7,300-yard Steven Plumer design that once hosted the Texas Open. Waterchase has plenty of trees, hills, water and excellent conditions.