Golf in Weatherford

The Joliet Park District sprawls across more than 1,000 acres, engaging visitors with everything from sports to nature. Guests can wander through the foliaged paths of the Pilcher Park Nature Center and the organic community garden, or treat their senses to the floral colors and aromas that fill the bird-haven greenhouse. The 10,000-seat Joliet Memorial Stadium hosts high-school and college sporting events, while a dozen athletic fields fill with recreational players hitting baseballs, catching softballs, and spiking soccer balls when the referee isn't looking. During the summer, inner tubes transport patrons down Joliet Splash Station's high-speed water slides and 865-foot lazy river, and the glittery strands of Fourth of July fireworks color the skies above the stadium.

The golfing gurus at Edwin Watts Golf Academy diagnose and correct their students' poor swing and putting habits in an effort to help them improve their shots and lower their scores. In one-on-one swing-analysis sessions, students learn a repeatable swing that eliminates tendencies they may have to slice, hook, push, or pull the ball. A special laser attaches to the end of the player's club and tracks the swing path while JC Video swing-analysis software records the session from two separate angles, lest analysis be thrown off by only looking at the golfer’s good side. Putting analysis employs Tomi technology to measure eight separate parameters of the putting stroke, from clubhead orientation at address to swing path and tempo. After swing and putting lessons, students may access the recordings on a password-protected website, so they can forward videos to friends or sports-documentary filmmakers.

In 1995, architect Jeffrey Brauer cast a series of 18 holes over the hilly, forested acres adjacent to Ash Creek inside Cross Timbers Golf Course. Mr. Brauer choreographed the layout’s turns and gyrations to take advantage of the site’s natural attributes, such as its numerous changes in elevation and absolute lack of active volcanoes. Today, players cruise over the meticulously kempt fairways en route to Champion bermuda greens. On the front nine, players must tackle the 484-yard, par 4 fifth hole and the course's signature ninth, where tee shots soar over a treacherous ravine onto a green teetering on the precipice of a cliff. At hole 18, a par 5 is reachable with calculated risk-taking and precise execution.

Course at a Glance:

• 18-hole, par 72 course
• Total length of 6,734 yards from the back tees