If you know anything about golf and gaming in the south, the name “WinStar” comes to mind immediately. That means the WinStar World Casino and Resort, set in southern Oklahoma just north of the Red River on I-35 as one travels from Texas.
WinStar, owned and operated by the Chickasaw Nation of Oklahoma, is in Thackerville, about 80 miles from the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. It’s billed as the “World’s Biggest Casino” and is the home of two hotels, 24/7 gaming including more than 100 table games and 55 poker tables, 19 restaurants, 12 bars, a theater for road shows and – for our purposes – two wonderful golf courses and a state-of-the-art golf academy.
Southern Oklahoma is a bit of a mishmash, with its link to the Chisholm Trail and Great Plains Country to the west and the central Arbuckle Country — named after an ancient, eroded range traversing some 70 miles across the region, along with many rivers and lakes.
This is an area with plenty of oil and natural gas reserves, farms and ranches by the thousands, and nearly as many small towns. The varying topographies in the state create dramatic sites for great golf.
Both courses here – Redbud and Scissortail – were designed by D.A. Weibring and Steve Wolford. Between the two courses, there are some 20 acres of ponds and 54 acres of native area, including 13 acres that have been planted with milkweed in order to assist the Monarch butterfly, which makes heavy migration south through that area in the fall.
Neither course has all the bells and whistles you’ll find at the casino across the street, but both are solid and demanding tests, especially inside 100 yards and on the greens.
Opened in 2006 and built on 350 acres that was once a peanut farm and bordering woodlands, the daily-fee courses allow golfers to have fun and enjoy their rounds in a resort-type setting. The property expanded in 2017 to 36 holes. The East and West holes now form the Redbud Course and the newest nine-holes that make up the North course combined with the South (opened in 2011) to form the Scissortail Course.
WinStar’s courses boast generous fairways, silky smooth putting surfaces, and a fairway cut that extends around the perimeter of each green to present many recovery options. The attention to detail is evident at WinStar, from the minute you arrive to the time you head back to the tables.
Scissortail is the tougher course
Scissortail’s routing includes some relatively flat forested terrain, so much so that golfers may think they’ve been transported from the Texas-Oklahoma border to somewhere in North Carolina. Its back tees are a listed distance of 7,192 yards that is closer to 7,400 once you play the additional tees that have been added to several holes.
The greens are grassed with the Mini-Verde strain of ultra-dwarf Bermuda. Fairways and roughs are the hybrid TifSport Bermuda grass. The putting surfaces on the back nine are a bit larger with more contours than the front.
The round starts with a 557-yard, par-5 with trees lining both sides of the landing area. If you can get a good look at the green take a chance at getting home in two but stay right as water looms front-left.
The 190-yard par-3 fifth plays downwind, but your tee shot must carry the entire waste area front of the green. On No. 6, a 450-yard par-4, the fairway is pinched both sides by tall trees, making for a tough drive, particularly since it’s into the wind.
Scissortail’s front-nine ends with a chance at redemption at the 553-yard, par-5 18th. It plays downwind and, with a decent drive, lures you to go for this green in two. But beware as water starts down the right side about 125 yards out and wraps around the green and bunkers and collection areas around the putting surface. The green is fashioned with a huge mound on the left and rolls from left to right toward the lake.
The back nine features gently bending, tree-lined par-4s and par-5s with a wooded ridge visible in the background. Water features come into play on several holes, particularly the wooded chute on the par-3 17th.
It begins with a good birdie opportunity at the 365-yard par-4 10th and is followed by a 226-yard par-3. Golfers will have their hands full starting on 13, a 551-yard par-5 with water down the right side. After the 442-yard par-4 14th, the 15th is a 586-yard par-5, followed by the 410-yard par-4 16th.
The 17th is a favorite of the staff, and is the course’s signature hole, with water lurking on the left side of the green and measuring at 195 yards. The final hole is a 452-yard par-4 with multiple bunkers down the right side.
Scissortail is a classic design utilizing the natural topography of the property. Its variety of holes keeps the accomplished golfer on his toes, but also allows for the beginner to finish the round with some satisfaction.
It’s a very fun, very fair test of golf that aesthetically and visually is not something you would expect to see in this part of the country.
Scissortail is the more difficult of the two courses at WinStar and was ranked among the top 50 casino courses in the United States by Golfweek in 2021.
Redbud is WinStar’s “resort” course
Redbud has more of an open prairie feel, with a routing that winds its way through the Red River Valley. It’s a playable “resort” course that won’t beat you up and should be a good experience for the casual golfer.
Even though it’s carded at 7,116 yards from its back set of five tees, Redbud is a place you can go low. The course has gigantic fairways, some of the widest fairways we’ve golfed on in quite some time. But beware – if you find the rough, this course can be very penal.
Redbud has a links look to it, and it’s windswept, but there is real trouble on only a handful of holes. Five of the offerings have water in play, but those hazards can be avoided fairly easily.
The course is highlighted by the par-3s on the back nine. The 14th is a 159-yard tester with a waste area and a pine tree just in front of the tees. Those features seemed to frame the hole well. The closer is the other par-3 on the back nine and Redbud’s signature hole, with water covering the left side from tee to green and the bailout is right.
On this track, not every approach shot is through the air, and many bump-and-run options into the greens make for interesting play. It’s a well-balanced layout, with testing holes and others really getable.
Golf Academy is top-drawer
WinStar’s first-class golf academy offers video analysis that you might only find at some of the nation’s finest private clubs. Golfers can make use of this technology for instruction or club-fitting, which features SAM, a Science and Motion putter fitting and practice studio, as well as TrackMan for ball flight analysis. The golf academy is available to guests of the resort.
Guests can choose to stay in either the main casino hotel tower or the Inn at WinStar, which offers a smaller and quieter escape just a short shuttle ride to the casino, golf courses, and entertainment.
Weibring and Wolford’s goal was to create courses that are user-friendly for those who need them to be yet challenging enough for higher-level players. It’s hard to lose a ball here because there are no hidden shots or forced carries, and you can see where the ball lands.
But don’t take WinStar for granted. Each hole offers its own risk-reward challenge and there is plenty of room to play but both courses are very much about positioning your shots, especially on the approaches.