Austin, Texas, has a variety of public and private golf courses for golf enthusiasts. There are options for everyone, from local municipal courses to the rolling hills of Texas Hill Country, whether you choose to hit some balls with a couple of friends or plan a golf retreat at a luxurious resort. Take your bag rat and run off to the carpet — maybe you’ll get that elusive hole-in-one — at one of Austin’s best golf courses.
Fazio Foothills at Omni Barton Creek
Fazio Foothills is the ultimate Texas Hill Country Resort Course, where the architect gives the guests what they want: Hill Country scenery, elevated tee shots, and waterfalls galore. It’s older than Fazio Canyons, and the homes are somewhat closer to the fairways in some spots. Still, the routing is more interesting, and the shot variety is a little better, with holes that play along high ground overlooking the namesake creek.
Their par 5s are a strength, particularly the daring shots into the 14th and 8th greens. And, before you think Fazio is always resort-friendly, try the 18th, which has a little cave that eats mishits and a severely elevated green. Tree management and a recent renovation as a phase of Omni Barton Creek’s vast expansion helped resurrect this showy layout.
Hyatt Regency Lost Pines– Wolfdancer Golf Club
This public golf course is located in Texas Hill, just 20 miles east of Austin. Players can tee off and spend an afternoon swinging along the Colorado River and through densely wooded ridgelines dotted with native pecan trees, thanks to three different membership options. Relax and ease off after a round of golf at the award-winning on-site spa.
Golf Club at Star Ranch
Star Ranch is the most popular of the town’s semi-private/public golf courses, thanks to a fun but not overly penal course design by Carter Morrish and Roy Bechtol and a residential component generally less intrusive than its north suburb neighbors. The club’s “all-inclusive” rate was extremely popular, which included lunch, range balls, and space-available replays.
Teravista Golf Club
Terravista is a semi-private golf course with excellent service and amenities. The 18-hole golf course has a challenging 7,200-yard layout and five different tees to accommodate golfers of varying abilities. If you join the players club, you will have unlimited access to weekly clinics in the practice area.
Omni Barton Creek: Crenshaw Cliffside
You must play a Crenshaw design if you are in Austin. Crenshaw-Cliffside is an early work by Coore-Crenshaw that was recently renovated. Cliffside’s routing and shaping feel very different from the resort’s other two Fazio designs. The greens are spectacular: gentle and massive but difficult to read.
Back-to-back par 5s on Nos. 15 and 16 provide great excitement with a delicate par 3 and drivable par 4. As the C&C firm is known for, their design brings as much classic routing to a very difficult piece of Hill Country terrain as humanly possible, and it’s even pedestrian-friendly, not to mention significantly less expensive than the resort’s two Fazio courses.
Lion’s Municipal Golf Course
Lion’s is an iconic Austin golf course that has hosted golf legends like Ben Crenshaw, Ben Hogan, Byron Nelson, and Sandra Hayes. This golf course was among Austin’s first, opening in 1924. Today, the course provides a low-cost option for golfers of all skill levels to get out and play.
Falconhead Golf Club
Lakeway, located west of town near Lake Travis, is a popular golf destination thanks to its private club: the Clubs of Lakeway’s 72-hole. Falconhead, the local public course, was designed by PGA Tour Design and opened in 2003. It is a challenging course that is kept in upscale condition.
The man-made, hovering 8th hole green, including the strange, rectangular grass formations in a few bunkers, are eye-catching. However, it is a rolling piece of land with beautiful scenery and exciting shots.
Roy Kizer Municipal Golf Course
Roy Kizer Golf Course is a 200-acre links-style layout in Southeast Austin. The golf course has 22 acres of wetlands and 35 acres of lakes and provides a home for migratory waterfowl. It is a beautiful track for golfers of all skill levels.
Roy Kizer, a long-time Lions Municipal Golf Course superintendent from 1937 until his retirement in 1973, inspired the course’s name. Mr. Roy Kizer has gained the respect of the Austin golf community for his dedication to the course and support of junior golf in the city.
Kissing Tree Golf Club
Kissing Tree, the newest course in the area, is situated in San Marcos, another college town around 35 minutes south of downtown on I-35. It’s part of a brand new 55+ community, but the Troon-managed golf course is open to the public.
You should do it because it’s a lot of fun, with some beautiful holes, particularly on the back nine and three short par 4s. Scratch golfers may be put off by the back-tee yardage of fewer than 6,600 yards, but Kissing Tree is lots of golf with several fun birdie holes for the vast majority.
Avery Ranch Golf Club
Avery Ranch is among Central Texas’ best luxury courses. Andy Raugust designed the 18-hole course, emphasizing limestone caverns, live oak trees, and stunning water features. If you’re a golf enthusiast, the course has collaborated with Falconhead and Terravista to offer a Tri Club Membership option.
Jimmy Clay Golf Course
This peaceful parkland course, which dates back to the 1960s, borders McKinney Falls State Park and has just the appropriate amount of roll and trees. It got new greens several years ago and will get new irrigation in the spring of 2021. The par 5s are spectacular, with the 16th being a gorgeous risk-reward hole with a tee shot over and up a small crest.
You notice a small green shielded by a tree on the right and a pond on the left as you walk over it. The 18th, narrow with trees and ponds, is the scariest finish in town, so go for birdie here.
Grey Rock Golf Club
The city of Austin purchased Grey Rock Club, which combines the advantages of a public course with the amenities of a private golf club. The course, also known as the Circle C golf course, was developed by Jay Morrish and Associates and was recognized in golf magazines for its low fees.
Grab your clubs, kiss your golf widow, and head to one of these incredible golf courses. There are no Mickey Mouse courses here. These are the best golf courses in Austin because they only have clubhouses, high-quality greens, and pro shops.
