Golf in Texas

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There are enough golf courses in Texas to cater for every golfing taste, from trees to deserts. Mike McIlvain talks us through rattlesnake roundups and superb Texan hospitality.

If pure choice is your lead on playing golf, with no constraints on time, travel, or green fees, then Texas comes very close to offering a full world of differences. There is a vast array of golf courses scattered throughout the state. You can tee off in the pine trees of East Texas, the winds of North Texas, the dust of South Texas, or the sand of West Texas. The courses vary from cheap, small nine-hole possibilities to luxurious, professional-level courses in the larger cities of Houston, Dallas, San Antonio, or Austin. Several televised professional tournaments have been played in Texas, lending to the state’s rising visibility as a place to tee off.

Come to Texas for the love of the sport, and play for anything from a few dollars to several thousand, depending on your preferences, confidence, and available funds. If you want to play, getting out on the course is the most important thing, and Texas offers enough courses to overwhelm even the most eager linkster.

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Which golf course is best in Texas is likely to be debated as long as people play the game, and with more people continuing to play the argument will not die anytime soon. Most Texas visitors are likely to attempt the big city courses before venturing out into the country where lower green fees, more accessible parking, restaurants and fairways that are free of crowds encourage many to hit the road to hit the links.

San Antonio’s dual-course La Cantera gets plenty of acclaim, heading several good offerings in that area, including newcomer The Bandit in nearby New Braunfels. Both are located close to major highways and various hotels and motels. The Tribute, Cowboys and the Grapevine Golf Course lead the Dallas-Forth Worth pack. Hearthstone, Willow Fork and Champions appear most popular among Houston’s long list of private courses, with BlackHorse, Longwood and Augusta Pines the slightly more public offerings. Morris Williams, Roy Kizer and Crystal Falls are, generally, the Austin-area’s favourite courses.

Once you’re out there, if you find yourself foraging in the rough be careful of snakes. Snake bites are rare but they do happen. Texan golf-course ground crews have developed keen eyes and ears for such dangers and usually check for wayward rattlers each morning. The cities of Sweetwater and Freer annually host festivals, called rattlesnake roundups, but Texas golf courses, and the grounds of former golf courses, are never the chosen sites for these events.

Chatting with the locals is always a good idea when any different, unusual or new conditions might be approached. Texas' varying courses, regions and tendencies make for plenty of talk between locals and they're more than happy to share a few words of Texan golfing wisdom with tourists. There is an old saying that if you don't like the weather in Texas just wait five minutes - it will change. Usually that means wearing a sweater at morning tee off, only to strip down to a T-shirt by the second nine. Texas golfers are expert weather watchers!

Summertime heat waves and some high spring temperatures are unavoidable in Texas, with the summer heat hitting over 37°C (100°F) for weeks on end almost every year. It is a warm-climate state, but the temperatures come hand in hand with some choice options. Humid East Texas golf courses are the most likely to be surrounded by trees. South Texas courses, where conditions can make grass growing a bit harder, experience a mix of humid and dry heat with a major determining jet stream affecting the weather around Cotulla, some 130km (80 miles) south of San Antonio. North Texas has a more standard type of heat, but begs for record recognition with some serious highs in the summer. Golf courses in West Texas generally experience the driest heat of all. Northwest Texas courses frequently offer some wind-aided relief from the heat, which adds variations to one's game, requiring a little more ball-flight consideration when lining up a shot. Usually that doesn't include putting, but some exceptionally windy days can make more work out of walking uphill to a green than the eye believes.

Texan summers make that cool rush of beer in the clubhouse very tempting, and a few golfers do not know what water is, thinking of sports drinks as something for people in contact sports. If you play golf partly for the reward of a refreshing drink afterwards, Texas is the place for you, with excellent clubhouses accompanying the state's numerous golf courses. Golfers in Texas, wherever they come from, are regularly treated to a very high level of care. The courses benefit from dedicated and professional attention and clubhouse managers train their staff to be customer oriented. Texas golf courses and country clubs are not known for turning anyone away.

Anyone anticipating playing golf in Texas can consult several online sources for course particulars and contact information. Texasoutside.com has a course-locator function and maps, and they are still adding older and newer courses to their lists.

Read more about Texas golf.

01 April 2009