The Best Golf Courses in Texas
Texas golf is bigger and better than its reputation outside the state suggests, from ultra private masterpieces and historic PGA Tour venues to a municipal course good enough to host the Tour. Here are the ten best courses in Texas, ranked with our verdicts and an honest read on which ones you can actually play.
Photograph: Whispering Pines Golf Club, via Google
How we chose
We ranked these courses on the quality of the golf itself, their design pedigree and tournament history, and the experience of playing them, then we weighed access honestly, because a list that ignores whether you can get on is no use to a travelling golfer. The very best courses in Texas are private or invitation only, so we have flagged each one clearly, and where two courses are close we have given the nod to the one a visitor can realistically book.
The result is a mix: aspirational private clubs that define the ceiling of Texas golf, marquee resort and public courses you can plan a trip around, and a couple of historic munis that punch far above their green fee. For what it actually costs to play here, see our companion guide to Texas green fees, and wherever you land, book the headline tee times early.
The 10 best golf courses in Texas
Whispering Pines Golf Club
Texas's most decorated course sits on a 400 acre estate of pines, lakes and creeks near Trinity, a long, immaculately conditioned par 72 stretching past 7,400 yards that tops state rankings year after year. It is also one of the hardest tee times in American golf: an invitation only club with no public access. If you can wangle a game, take it; for everyone else it is the aspirational summit of Texas golf.
Colonial Country Club
Known as Hogan's Alley for Ben Hogan's mastery of it, Colonial in Fort Worth is the most historic tournament venue in the state, host of the same PGA Tour event continuously since 1946. The 1936 layout, refined over the decades, is a tight, tree lined, shotmaker's course where position trumps power. It is private, but its history and its place in the professional game make it the spiritual home of Texas golf.
Trinity Forest Golf Club
Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw built this wide open, links inspired course on a reclaimed landfill south of downtown Dallas, and it opened in 2016 to acclaim and a stint hosting the AT&T Byron Nelson. Treeless and firm, with vast shared greens and a ground game rarely seen in Texas, it is the most architecturally interesting modern course in the state. It is a private club, played by guest or invitation.
TPC San Antonio (Oaks Course)
The Greg Norman designed Oaks, with Sergio Garcia consulting, has hosted the PGA Tour's Valero Texas Open since 2010, and it is the best big course Texas visitors can simply book. Played through the dry oak country north of the city, it is strategic and demanding off the tee, with bold bunkering and clever short par 4s. As a JW Marriott resort course it is the headline playable round in south Texas.
Memorial Park Golf Course
The feel good story of Texas golf: a 1936 city muni reimagined by Tom Doak and reopened in 2019 as a PGA Tour host, the Houston Open's home, at municipal prices. Wide fairways, big bold greens and minimal rough make it fun and fair for everyone while still testing the best, and verified Houston residents play for a fraction of the visitor rate. The most accessible great course in the state, and our pick for value.
Wolf Point Ranch
A cult favourite on the Gulf coastal plain near Port Lavaca, Wolf Point was built by the architect Mike Nuzzo as a private course that famously hosts only one group at a time, by arrangement. The result is golf in its purest, most solitary form, a beautifully routed, wind swept layout with no crowds, no tee sheet pressure and no clubhouse bustle. Getting on takes a connection, but those who do rank it among the most memorable rounds in America.
Austin Country Club
Pete Dye's course on the banks of the Colorado River in Austin, the long time home of Harvey Penick and his pupils Ben Crenshaw and Tom Kite, hosted the WGC Dell Technologies Match Play and is one of the most respected private clubs in the state. The back nine, tumbling down to the water under the Pennybacker Bridge, is as good as inland Texas golf gets. Members and their guests only.
La Cantera Resort Course
Carved into a former limestone quarry in the San Antonio Hill Country, the Tom Weiskopf and Jay Morrish resort course is dramatic and playable, with big elevation changes, quarry walls and a former Texas Open pedigree. As a resort course it is open to visitors and pairs naturally with a Hill Country trip, making it one of the most enjoyable public big course rounds in the region.
Wolfdancer Golf Club
Twenty miles east of Austin at the Hyatt Regency Lost Pines, Arthur Hills routed a course of real variety, opening across rolling prairie hills before dropping into the pines and the Colorado River bottomland for a dramatic finish. It is a resort course open to the public and an easy, scenic add to an Austin trip, with the spa and lodge of the resort to round out a weekend.
Brackenridge Park Golf Course
The first public golf course in Texas, this A.W. Tillinghast design along the San Antonio River hosted the 1922 Texas Open, the first PGA Tour event played in the state. Restored and beloved, Brackenridge is short by modern standards but rich in history and character, a walkable, affordable civic treasure that belongs on any Texas golf itinerary for its place in the game's American story.
Designers, tournament history and access verified June 2026 from course and tour sources; access policies and green fees change, so always confirm current rates and how to play directly before booking. Check tee time availability.
Plan your Texas golf trip
Tell us which of these appeals and roughly when and who is travelling, and one concierge matches the courses to your group, secures the playable tee times at TPC San Antonio, Memorial Park, La Cantera and beyond, and costs the trip to the head, with no obligation.
Texas golf questions
What is the best golf course in Texas?
By reputation and ranking, Whispering Pines Golf Club near Trinity is the most decorated course in Texas, a long, beautifully conditioned par 72 that sits at or near the top of most state lists. The catch is access: it is an ultra exclusive, invitation only club, so for the travelling golfer the best playable courses are the resort and public options like TPC San Antonio's Oaks, the Tom Doak reimagined Memorial Park muni in Houston and La Cantera's resort course in the Hill Country.
Can you play the best Texas courses without a membership?
Some of them. Memorial Park in Houston is a municipal course open to all, TPC San Antonio's Oaks and La Cantera's resort course welcome resort and public play, Wolfdancer at Lost Pines is a resort course, and Brackenridge Park is a historic public muni. The very top of the list, including Whispering Pines, Colonial, Trinity Forest, Austin Country Club and Wolf Point, are private or effectively private and need a member, a guest invitation or a tournament connection.
What is the most affordable great course in Texas?
Memorial Park Golf Course in Houston is the standout value. A Depression era municipal course reimagined by the architect Tom Doak and reopened in 2019, it hosts a PGA Tour event yet charges municipal green fees, with a far lower rate for verified Houston residents than for visitors. Brackenridge Park in San Antonio, the state's first public course, is another historic, accessible and affordable round.
When is the best time to play golf in Texas?
Spring, roughly March to May, and fall, October to November, are the prime seasons across most of Texas, with comfortable temperatures and good conditioning. Summer is hot and humid, especially in Houston and the coastal plain, so early tee times and a cart are advisable, while winters are mild and very playable in the south and the Hill Country. Always confirm seasonal rates and tee times directly before booking.
Related
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Researched and written by the GolfForKings editorial desk. Designers, tournament history and access verified June 2026. Rankings are our editorial judgement. Last reviewed June 2026.