Canyon West Golf Club

Canyon West Golf Club is a Semi-Private 18 hole golf course located in Weatherford, Texas, just 28 minutes west of Fort Worth.

Canyon West golf course first opened for play in 1997. The course was designed by Wes Mickle.

The Canyon West Golf course design features elevated tee boxes with soaring views of four counties, eight lakes, a deep canyon wildlife preserve, and a waterfall formed from a half million tons of native limestone rock.

Par for the course is 72. From the back tees the course plays to 6653 yards. From the forward tees the course measures 5433 yards. The longest hole on the course is # 18, a par-5 that plays to 550 yards. The shortest hole on the course is # 12, a par-3 that plays to 134 yards from the back tees.

Watch out for # 3, a 360 yard par-4 challenge and the #1 handicap hole on the course. The easiest hole at Canyon West Golf Club is # 12, a 134 yard par-3.

Watch out for hole #13...special hazard...read below.

---------And now for the intersting gossip.

11:53 AM CDT on Thursday, March 12, 2009, By DAN X. McGRAW / The Dallas Morning News, dmcgraw@dallasnews.com

Criminal charges are pending against the owners of Canyon West Golf Course golf course after authorities found a bulldozer that was reported stolen more than 10 years ago buried under a fairway.

Wes Mickle and his son, Stan Mickle, could both face felony charges of insurance fraud, said Tyler Farrell, a detective with the Tarrant Regional Auto Crimes Task Force.

Investigators searched Canyon West Golf Course after a former employee contacted the Department of Public Safety about seeing part of the bulldozer while fertilizing the course’s 13th fairway, Farrell said.

He said the Mickles used the bulldozer and a tractor to build the golf course, which they began in 1996. Both pieces of equipment were later reported to their insurance company as stolen.

Authorities have not located the tractor. The bulldozer is valued at more than $40,000, Farrell said.

"Honestly, what better place to hide a bulldozer?" the detective said. "You wouldn't think it would be there, but it was."

The Mickles spoke with investigators about the bulldozer, he said. They had not been arrested by this morning, but investigators do expect the men to be criminally charged.

Neither Stan nor Wes Mickle could be reached this morning.

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Follow up: I called the course today (May 22, 2010) and asked regarding the tractor. I talked with a well placed, but anonymous souce who said that no charges were ever filed. Apparently there was no Insuance claim ever filed. The allegations that the tractor was stolen were not pursued because of statute of limitations. Accordingly, Wes Mickle and his son, Stan Mickle must be presumed innocent unless proven guilty, and that looks like it will never happen.

In the meantime...it's a great course.