Golf in Sherman

Experienced golfing professionals and computers who’ve sworn allegiance to argyle socks fill each of GolfTEC's locations with more expert swings than a playground at recess. Motion sensors and high-speed cameras monitor your swing and break down your form on a high-definition video display. GolfTEC’s PGA specialists point out your flaws and strengths, and coach you on how to permanently improve your game from tee to green. Sensors chirp with approval when you’ve executed a perfect stroke or cracked an especially witty golfing joke.

After becoming an all-American at the University of Houston, qualifying for the U.S. Open twice, and making the cut at The Masters during his professional career, seasoned golf instructor Jim McLean has added one more accomplishment to his resumé: Jim McLean Golf Schools was touted as one of the country's top 25 golf schools in 2008 by Golf magazine.

Following Jim's innovative philosophy of biomechanics, a team of instructors—with levels ranging from certified, master, and lead master—teach the components of a successful golf swing, focusing on each player's physical capabilities and limitations and developing a tailored lesson plan. In order to become a Jim McLean golf instructor, pupils must pass a rigorous certification process that includes one to three years of teaching at the club, conducting their own extensive golf-swing-research projects, and learning to grow natural spikes out of their feet. During private lessons and clinics, golf gurus use 3-D graphical imaging and data analysis to provide instant feedback.

At Jim McLean Golf Schools, players hone their games with indoor and outdoor practice facilities that include a 50,000-square-foot short-game range, a lit driving range, and a practice bunker. The complex is also home to the Legends Scoring Nine course, which, along with the practice facilities, has been a training ground and putter-jousting arena for rising PGA star Jason Day, who tied for 2nd in the 2011 Masters and placed 2nd in the 2011 U.S. Open.

Commended for its preservation of the natural Texas landscape, Twin Creeks Golf Club features an 18-hole course that seamlessly integrates native trees and two flowing creeks into a pristine, 6,840-yard layout. All of the picturesque par 72’s difficulties are brought to bear on the par 4 13th hole, where a strong headwind may nudge rightward drives into a rippling creek and an immense green makes any two-putt a tricky proposition. Golf carts glide across the immaculate meadows, occasionally spinning their wheels and wailing their reverse alert in distress as passengers approach the hidden lake of the 17th hole, called the “Devil’s Elbow.” Golfers can calibrate their swings at the course's practice center, which includes a driving range, bunker, chipping area, and putting green, an ideal spot to covertly test any remote-controlled balls. After a day spent making sand angels in every bunker, guests can recess to the rustic confines of the Elkhorn Bar & Grill, where Southwestern fare sates diners resting at patio tables or under the 50-inch flat-screen TV located indoors.

Course architect Tripp Davis drew inspiration from both classic Scottish links and California’s famous Monterey Peninsula courses when crafting Stewart Peninsula Golf Course, an 18-hole layout touched on all sides by the waters of Lake Lewisville. Much like the conditions found at Stewart Peninsula’s high-profile muses, ever-shifting winds play a large factor in course play, challenging golfers who struggle to keep balls low or prefer to steer their carts with massive sails. The course also features two terraced par 5s—holes 9 and 18—that recall seaside holes at Harbour Town and Pebble Beach and end both 9s in dramatic fashion. Before taking to the first tee, clubbers can head to the driving range, where warm-up sessions will help prevent them from losing their balls in the abyss of Lake Lewisville or the neighboring ruptures in the fabric of space time.

The Austin BagTag serves as a VIP pass for golfcionados who wish to muster extra value out of their swinging season. BagTag holders can waltz into any of five participating courses and, with the purchase of a cart rental, can putt and wedge their way through some of the area’s finest golf terrain. Golfers may play one round of golf anytime on Mondays and Thursdays, as well as another on Fridays and Sundays after 1 p.m., for a total of two rounds per course. As you sample the lush courses, you'll have plenty of opportunities to practice using a 7 iron as a machete in thick foliage, “accidentally” cast a crocodile shadow puppet on putting lines, and peruse the latest issue of Golfweek to entertain your eyeballs during especially long cart rides. Embark on a bevy of memorable golf adventures with today’s Groupon, or gift your golf-lovin' pa a birthday present that'll get more use than last year's misshapen ashtray necktie.

The emerald easements of Hidden Valley's 18-hole miniature golf course encompass more than an acre of topsy-turvy terrain lined with rocky outcrops and windmills. Putt-putt posses engage in rapidly escalating one-upmanship as they traverse the scenic circuit, rolling colorful golf balls over multitiered greens that create breaking putts more difficult to read than ancient hieroglyphs projected onto a fun-house mirror. A central lighthouse prevents putters from losing their sense of direction and expounds on a nautical theme established by streams, waterfalls, and fountains that mist throughout the course. Hidden Valley also offers a game room and picnic area, along with refreshments to slake parched putters or create impromptu water hazards in front of their opponents' orbs.