From a PGA Tour venue carved through Hill Country oaks to a Tillinghast classic that hosted the Texas Open for four decades, ranked with our verdicts and the reasons to play each one.
01
TPC San Antonio, AT&T Oaks Course
San Antonio · Greg Norman with Sergio Garcia · resort, par 72 · 7,438 yards
The undisputed number one in the city and one of the finest resort courses in Texas. Greg Norman and Sergio Garcia opened the Oaks Course in 2010 as part of the 36 hole TPC San Antonio complex at the JW Marriott Hill Country Resort, and it has hosted the PGA Tour Valero Texas Open every year since. Norman blasted through six feet of limestone to create the routing, threading 18 holes between stately live oaks and dramatic Hill Country terrain. The course plays up to 7,438 yards with 64 sand bunkers and a ferocious reputation among Tour players who consider it one of the tougher regular stops on schedule. For resort guests it is the defining round in San Antonio, full stop.
02
Briggs Ranch Golf Club
San Antonio · Tom Fazio · private, par 72 · 7,247 yards
The finest private course in the San Antonio area and a genuine Tom Fazio masterpiece, opened in 2001 at the edge of the Hill Country about 30 minutes from downtown. Fazio designed five sets of tees, wide fairways and dramatic bunkering on a site with natural limestone outcroppings and handsome rolling terrain. Now part of the Dormie Network, Briggs Ranch is reachable through a Dormie membership or a discovery visit, and it rewards that effort. The greens were resurfaced with TifEagle Bermuda as part of a major renovation in 2022. Serious golfers who manage to get on here rate it among the best courses in Texas, not just in San Antonio.
03
TPC San Antonio, AT&T Canyons Course
San Antonio · Pete Dye with Bruce Lietzke · resort, par 72 · 7,106 yards
Pete Dye teamed with player consultant Bruce Lietzke to design the Canyons Course alongside the Oaks at TPC San Antonio, both opening in 2010. Where the Oaks is a stern, tournament ready test, the Canyons is more generous off the tee and gives resort guests a more approachable Hill Country round. Elevation changes are considerable, the bunkers are plentiful, and the greens are characteristically Dye in their demand for precision. The Canyons previously hosted the PGA Tour Champions San Antonio Championship and holds its own as a serious 18 holes in its own right. Together the two TPC courses make San Antonio one of the strongest 36 hole resort destinations in the American South.
04
Cordillera Ranch Golf Club
Boerne · Jack Nicklaus · private, par 72 · 7,464 yards
Jack Nicklaus opened Cordillera Ranch in 2006 inside a sprawling 8,700 acre residential community in Boerne, about 30 minutes northwest of San Antonio in the Guadalupe River Valley. The course plays to 7,464 yards from the tips and exploits dramatic elevation changes throughout, with 25 mile views from several holes and six holes playing alongside or across natural water features. Canyon walls rise 40 feet on several holes and the limestone Hill Country landscape provides a backdrop that few Nicklaus courses in Texas can match. Private to residents and their guests, it is the pick of the outer San Antonio courses for anyone who can arrange an introduction.
05
La Cantera Golf Club
San Antonio · Jay Morrish and Tom Weiskopf · resort and public, par 72 · 7,021 yards
Jay Morrish and Tom Weiskopf built La Cantera in 1995 at what is now the Signia by Hilton San Antonio resort, designing it specifically to host the PGA Tour's Valero Texas Open, a role it fulfilled for 15 years from 1995 to 2009. The course threads through Hill Country terrain with an 80 foot drop from the seventh tee to the fairway, 75 white sand bunkers and limestone rock outcroppings that give every hole a strong visual identity. At around 120 dollars for a resort guest round, La Cantera offers the best public access Hill Country golf in San Antonio short of the TPC. Indicative 2026 fee; always confirm directly before booking.
06
Brackenridge Park Golf Course
San Antonio · A.W. Tillinghast · public muni, 1916
The most historically significant golf course in San Antonio and one of the most important munis in the United States. A.W. Tillinghast designed Brackenridge Park in 1916 as the first 18 hole public golf course in Texas, and it went on to host the Texas Open for most years between 1922 and 1959. Bob MacDonald won the inaugural Texas Open here in 1922, and the tournament returned repeatedly over the following decades, building the legacy of an institution that still charges a fraction of what comparable historic courses command elsewhere. The mature pecan and oak canopy, Tillinghast's signature diagonal bunkers and the long tournament history make this the most essential round in San Antonio for any golfer with a sense of the game's past.
07
The Quarry Golf Club
San Antonio · Keith Foster · public, par 71 · 6,740 yards
Keith Foster's 1993 design at The Quarry is one of the most distinctive golf settings in Texas. The front nine plays across a links style layout of rolling hills, native grasses and wide fairways in a more conventional mode, then the back nine descends into the walls of a 100 year old cement quarry pit, where limestone walls frame shots and the change in character is total. Green fees run from around 45 to 145 dollars depending on season and time of day, making it the best value round in the city for the quality and the memorability of the experience. Indicative 2026 range; always confirm directly before booking.
08
Canyon Springs Golf Club
San Antonio · Tom Walker · public, par 72 · 7,077 yards
Tom Walker's Canyon Springs opened in 1998 in the Texas Hill Country north of the city and was named America's Best New Public Golf Course by both Golf Digest and Golf Magazine on debut. The course plays 7,077 yards through canyons, native Texas vegetation and dramatic natural terrain, with enough elevation change to keep every hole interesting and enough width off the tee to welcome a broad range of handicaps. Green fees run from around 45 to 129 dollars. For groups visiting San Antonio on a budget, Canyon Springs is the course that gives the most Hill Country character for the money. Indicative 2026 range; always confirm directly before booking.
09
Hill Country Golf Club at Hyatt Regency
San Antonio · Arthur Hills · resort and public, 27 holes
Arthur Hills designed the original 18 holes at Hyatt Regency Hill Country in 1983 and then added a third nine in 2005, giving the resort 27 holes arranged as three distinct nines: The Oaks, The Creeks and The Lakes. The layout sprawls across 200 acres of rolling Hill Country terrain with a mix of links style meadows, tree lined plateaus and lake holes, and four sets of tees make it welcoming to all handicaps. Open to the public 20 minutes west of downtown, it has been named Texas Best Golf Course by the World Golf Awards and remains one of the most accessible resort rounds in the city. A solid second course day for groups basing on the northwest side of San Antonio.
10
Olympia Hills Golf and Event Center
Universal City · Baxter Spann (Finger, Dye and Spann) · public
Baxter Spann of the Finger, Dye and Spann firm designed Olympia Hills for the city of Universal City, opening in 2000 on the northeast side of the San Antonio metro. The course features dramatic elevation changes on nearly half its holes, dropping 50 feet or more at times with long views across the Hill Country. Operated as a municipally owned public course, it offers green fees at a fraction of the resort market, typically around 55 to 63 dollars, and rounds out our ranking as the best value public option on the east side of the city. Indicative 2026 range; always confirm directly before booking.
