Spotlight

Palmilla Beach Golf Club

Don't get lost in the sand dunes at windy Palmilla Beach Golf Club in Port Aransas

The sand dunes are dramatic at Palmilla Beach Golf Club -- natural, wind-blown and rugged here next to the Gulf of Mexico. David R. Holland has more from Port Aransas.
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Tapatio Springs golf course - no. 2

Hill Country beauty: Tapatio Springs resort near San Antonio

The golf course at Tapatio Springs Hill Country Resort & Spa in Boerne boasts a fresh new look in what was already one of the best settings in the state: the Texas Hill Country about a half hour northwest of the Alamo City. With a mixture of short and long holes, lots of twists and turns and plenty of water hazards and some elevation change, accuracy and being able to work the ball is a must.
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Palmilla Beach Golf Club - 6th

Palmilla Beach G.C. in Port Aransas: A rare Texas seaside course

Arnold Palmer Design's Palmilla Beach Golf Club in Port Aransas offers something rare in Texas: ocean views. The course isn't right next to the water but there are several vantage points where you can see the Gulf, and you can certainly feel its effects. Wind is almost always a factor and there's plenty of gorse to gobble up golf balls.
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Texas Golf Destinations

  • San Antonio

    More than 26 million people visit San Antonio each year. And while most of them know that the Alamo City is indeed famous for its nickname mission that has inspired several movies, San Antonio offers so much more when it comes to tourism, not the least of which is its golf. With several first-rate golf resorts in and around the city, San Antonio just might be Texas' best golf destination, especially when you consider all the other things to do.

    Located inside the Rockin' J Ranch community deep in the heart of the Texas Hill Country, Vaaler Creek Golf Club is a Michael Lowry/J.R. Newman design that features breath-taking vistas of the rolling countryside and live oaks. Golfers who book tee times at Vaaler Creek G.C. can expect beautiful water features and expertly placed bunkers.
    Known as one of the best golf values in the San Antonio area, the Alsatian Golf Club offers an outstanding golf experience for a town of 2,700. This well-designed links-style track takes full advantage of the terrain, making use of every possible variation in elevation.
    A piece of San Antonio was beautified in the early 1990s when Keith Foster drew the assignment to convert the old Alamo Cement plant from an abandoned eyesore into one of the most unique courses in Texas.
  • West Texas

    As the old saying goes, the harder you have to work for something, the more you appreciate it. This is applicable to West Texas' golf scene. Although miles outside of many of Texas' metropolitan areas, West Texas offers some incredibly attractive golf courses that many casual visitors may overlook.

    Horizon Golf Club (formerly Emerald Springs) is the place where Lee Trevino honed his trade in the big-money El Paso games of the 1960s. The layout winds through a housing community and features wide fairways and large, well-maintained greens.
    Western Texas has been the municipal course of Snyder since the late 1970s. This 9-hole course, located on the grounds of Western Texas College, allows you to take full advantage of the West Texas winds, as most holes seem to play downwind.
    Utopia Golf Course is tucked away in the scenic Sabinal Canyon. It is a popular nine-hole course in an idyllic location that served as the inspiration for a book, which then became the movie "Seven Days in Utopia," starring Robert Duvall.
  • Austin

    Austin is known for its legendary music scene and beautiful Hill Country terrain and natural resources, like the Colorado River and the lakes that were spawned from it. The topography makes for a great golf canvas, and the city and surrounding area certainly have great places to play, whether it's resort golf, muni or quality daily-fee plays.

    Hidden Falls Golf Club is a Leon Howard design that opened in 1974. The course cuts through a pecan grove on the front and what seems like an ocean of water on the back, creating two totally different golf experiences. Howard uncharacteristically left out water on the tight, pecan-lined front, with the wet stuff in play on only one hole.
    Falconhead Golf Club sits just west of Austin in the midst of the scenic Hill Country, tumbling across a rolling landscape covered with knobby cedars and towering oaks. The challenging layout was designed to PGA standards, making it one of the most popular public golf courses in the area.
    Built along Lake Travis in 1971, Point Venture was the first course in Leander, but has been overshadowed since the opening of Crystal Falls. The course has 9 holes that meander through a residential development and is loaded with dogleg holes and mature trees.
  • Houston

    There's no denying the nation's fourth largest city has plenty to offer in terms of entertainment, restaurants and golf. In addition to three pro sports teams, thriving downtown theater and museum districts, loads of shopping and warm weather year-round, the Houston area boasts about 150 courses, the majority of which are public.

    The 18-hole Tournament Course at Golf Club of Houston in Humble, TX is a public golf course that opened in 2005. Designed by Rees Jones, Greg Muirhead and David Toms Tournament Course at Golf Club of Houston measures 7425 yards from the longest tees. Greens and fairways are bermuda grass.
    The Carlton Gipson-redesigned Moody Gardens Golf Course is one of the most difficult tracks in Texas, universally considered one of the top five municipals in the state. The Gulf winds pound the course and water comes into play on every hole.
    Nestled along Lake Conroe in Montgomery, Texas, The Golf Club at Margaritaville Lake Resort is a self-contained retreat that offers outstanding golf, a variety of lake activities, and lodging in its 21-story hotel complex overlooking the lake. The Dave Marr-designed golf course at Margaritaville Lake Resort plays around 7,100 yards from the back tees. Pines and oaks line the fairways and the bunker-laden track is spiced up with waterfalls, fountains, lakes, and even an island tee box.
  • The Dallas Metroplex

    The Dallas Metroplex area has never had a problem with attractiveness. The Oil Boom brought great wealth here and Yankees by the multitudes continue to move to Texas to escape the cold winters of the North. The Dallas area is now an amalgamation of classic Texas scenery and attitude with lavish consumerism.

    Riverside Golf Club is appropriately named. The course sits in a floodplain along the Trinity River with water in play on seemingly every hole. This is a combination links-style/traditional layout that is surprisingly difficult for a municipal course. Great holes abound on the Roger Packard layout, which requires the rare combination of length and accuracy when playing from the tips.
    Coyote Ridge, opened in 1999, features some unusual holes that traverse a variety of unique terrain. Each nine is strikingly different–the front plays through a burgeoning residential community, is generally wide open and void of trees, and takes on the characteristics of a links-style course.
    Long and susceptible to the wind, White Stone Golf Club rolls through an impressive Hill Country-like setting with huge oak trees, lots of rocks, and loads of native oaks, cacti, yucca, and wildflowers.