Pine Dunes

Getting To Know: Pine Dunes Resort and Golf Course

An Insightful Interview With Jessica Miller, Business Development/Marketing Manager

By Brian Weis

Whether you have played a course 20+ times a year or looking to play the course for the first time, insights from an insider can help enhance your golf experience. Below is an interview with Jessica Miller who shares some valuable tidbits about the course, memorable holes and must eats and treats at the 19th.

Give Our Readers An Overview of the Golf Course/Property
Pine Dunes is a spectacular, 4.5 Star Rated Championship Golf Course open year-round, designed by legendary & world-renowned architects Jay & Carter Morrish. Pine Dunes was built on the premise of being the best true golfing experience in Texas. Carved from an exceptional piece of land, the course has an exceptional layout with no trick holes, no forced carries, and water that rarely comes into play. It provides a traditional round of golf on a course designed for ANY level of player.

If Someone Was Looking To Golf In The Area, Why Should They Play Your Course?
Besides being voted #1 Public golf course in Texas by GolfWeek Magazine for the last 5 out of 6 years we also aim to make sure our hospitality is second to none. Over the past few months the Club House has been spruced up, the beverage cart is brand new, and our staff is the friendliest you will find anywhere. We want your entire experience from the second you drive up to the moment to the moment you leave to be one that you will want to come back for (no matter how you played!)

What Tips or Local Knowledge Would You Provide To Help Them Score Better At Your Course?
To be honest for the next few questions I asked the experts...the people that play our course. (Their advice comes from after playing 18 holes so depending on how the round went really contributed to the answers).
* No trick holes - so no trick shots needed (unless you decide to go sight seeing in the woods...don' t do that)
* There are some long par 3's and short par 5's....you may need every single club you have in your arsenal.
* The fairways are generous so stay on them as much as you can!
* Dunes is in the name for a reason...get comfortable being in the sand if you try to outsmart the course.

Recent Awards or What You Are Most Proud About The Course?
We have been voted #1 Public Golf Course by GolfWeek Magazine for 5 out of the last 6 years and even more recently was voted #2 Public Course in Texas by the Dallas Morning News and #20 overall! Considering the courses that are on that list we consider ourselves very lucky!

What Is The Signature, Most Talked About, or Most Photographed Hole?
It was a tie between a couple holes for the "Signature" Hole - each pretty different with strong opinions about both of them!
#6: 254 yard downhill par 3 w/the green surrounded by 6 bunkers or
#11: 605 yard par 5 has a large waste area that dissects the fairway and then when you get through the bunkers on either side of the fairway you still have to deal with grassy hills and bunkers that surround the green.
Both these holes can generate love/hate feelings depending on the sort of golf you are playing that day.

Must Have Dish or Drink after the round at the 19th Hole?
Grilled Chicken Sandwich and a Shiner Bock...nothing fancy just good food done really well.

Who Holds Course Record and What Was Their Score?
This is still up for debate...the story and the record changes depending on who you are talking to.

Back Tee Stats
Par: 72
Yardage: 7117
Slope: 131
Rating: 74.4

More Information
Pine Dunes Resort and Golf Course
Frankston, TX, 75763
903-876-4336
www.pinedunes.com

Revised: 06/11/2015 - Article Viewed 31,872 Times - View Course Profile

About: Brian Weis

Brian Weis is the mastermind behind GolfTrips.com, a vast network of golf travel and directory sites covering everything from the rolling fairways of Wisconsin to the sunbaked desert layouts of Arizona. If there’s a golf destination worth visiting, chances are, Brian has written about it, played it, or at the very least, found a way to justify a "business trip" there.

As a card-carrying member of the Golf Writers Association of America (GWAA), International Network of Golf (ING), Golf Travel Writers of America (GTWA), International Golf Travel Writers Association (IGTWA), and The Society of Hickory Golfers (SoHG), Brian has the credentials to prove that talking about golf is his full-time job. In 2016, his peers even handed him The Shaheen Cup, a prestigious award in golf travel writing—essentially the Masters green jacket for guys who don’t hit the range but still know where the best 19th holes are.

Brian’s love for golf goes way back. As a kid, he competed in junior and high school golf, only to realize that his dreams of a college golf scholarship had about the same odds as a 30-handicap making a hole-in-one. Instead, he took the more practical route—working on the West Bend Country Club grounds crew to fund his University of Wisconsin education. Little did he know that mowing greens and fixing divots would one day lead to a career writing about the best courses on the planet.

In 2004, Brian turned his golf passion into a business, launching GolfWisconsin.com. Three years later, he expanded his vision, and GolfTrips.com was born—a one-stop shop for golf travel junkies looking for their next tee time. Today, his empire spans all 50 states, and 20+ international destinations.

On the course, Brian is a weekend warrior who oscillates between a 5 and 9 handicap, depending on how much he's been traveling (or how generous he’s feeling with his scorecard). His signature move" A high, soft fade that his playing partners affectionately (or not-so-affectionately) call "The Weis Slice." But when he catches one clean, his 300+ yard drives remind everyone that while he may write about golf for a living, he can still send a ball into the next zip code with the best of them.

Whether he’s hunting down the best public courses, digging up hidden gems, or simply outdriving his buddies, Brian Weis is living proof that golf is more than a game—it’s a way of life.