We're based in Austin, and a lot of our golf trips start with somebody saying "we could just drive." Texas makes that easy. The state holds lake courses, piney-woods layouts, desert canyons and a future major championship venue, and most of them are a tank of gas away.
Here are the best golf trips in Texas, the golf destinations we'd send a foursome to without leaving the state, from a weekend golf getaway to a full golf vacation, plus the packages and timing that make each one easier. Consider it our short list of golf courses in Texas worth building a trip around.
When to go
Spring and fall. Golfbreaks points Texas golfers to March through May and October through November, with March the best month for value and April and October the busiest. Summer golf works here too if you grab the first tee time of the day and you're done by lunch.
The Texas Hill Country
Horseshoe Bay Resort
About an hour west of Austin, Horseshoe Bay Resort sits on Lake LBJ, one of the Highland Lakes on the Colorado River. It's the closest thing Texas has to a one-stop golf vacation, built around three Robert Trent Jones Sr. courses the resort calls the Texas Triangle.
Ram Rock is the one locals warn you about. It opened in 1981, and from the tips it carries a 75.6 rating and a 137 slope, with 62 bunkers and 10 water hazards carved into Hill Country rock.
Slick Rock runs along the shore of Lake LBJ and is home to the "Million Dollar Hole," with a 35-foot waterfall.
Apple Rock overlooks Horseshoe Bay and the lake, and its par-3 12th plays over the water.
Summit Rock, a Jack Nicklaus course, is members-only. Everybody gets the Whitewater Putting Course, 18 holes of putting with waterfalls and palm trees, which is where the evening bets get settled.
The resort's Unlimited RTJ Golf package is exactly what it sounds like: unlimited golf on all three Jones courses, plus a nightly food and beverage credit. A free shuttle runs from the hotel to every course, so nobody has to be the driver.
Austin
Omni Barton Creek Resort & Spa on Austin's west side has four courses: Fazio Foothills, Fazio Canyons, a Coore Crenshaw course from Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw, and Palmer Lakeside, an Arnold Palmer design on a hilltop above Lake Travis, a drive out from the main resort. Fazio Foothills was the first Tom Fazio course in Texas when it opened in 1986.
Falconhead Golf Club, about 30 minutes west of downtown, is the public round we'd add. Its par-3 8th has a green on a limestone ledge about 30 feet above a creek, with three waterfalls around it.
San Antonio
TPC San Antonio opened in 2010 at the JW Marriott San Antonio Hill Country Resort & Spa, about 20 minutes from downtown. It has two courses: the Oaks, a Greg Norman design with Sergio Garcia consulting, and the Canyons, by Pete Dye. Play is limited to members, their guests and resort guests, so booking the room is how you get the tee time.
The Oaks hosts the Valero Texas Open, which dates to 1922 and is the oldest PGA Tour event held in the same city for its whole history. Arnold Palmer won it three years running, from 1960 to 1962. The 2027 edition is set for March 29 to April 4.
Save an afternoon for the city. The Alamo and the River Walk are downtown, close enough for a walk and a long dinner the night before your round.
North Texas: Omni PGA Frisco Resort
Omni PGA Frisco Resort opened in 2023 north of Dallas with two championship courses. Fields Ranch East, a Gil Hanse design, hosts the 2027 PGA Championship, and the championship comes back to PGA Frisco in 2034. Fields Ranch West is a Beau Welling design. The KPMG Women's PGA Championship was played here in 2025 and is scheduled to return in 2031.
Resort guests and Frisco residents can book tee times, and the resort says you don't need a room to play. After the round, the Swing is a 10-hole lighted par-3 course and the Dance Floor is a two-acre lighted putting course, both from Hanse and Welling.
Houston
Memorial Park Golf Course is a city-owned course under six miles from downtown Houston. Tom Doak redesigned it with input from Brooks Koepka, and it reopened in 2019. It hosts the Texas Children's Houston Open, which makes it one of two municipally owned courses on the PGA Tour. That makes it a tour course with a public tee sheet.
East Texas: Pine Dunes Resort & Golf Club
Pine Dunes Resort & Golf Club in Frankston, about 30 miles southwest of Tyler, is the surprise on this list. Jay and Carter Morrish designed it to feel like the North Carolina Sandhills, with towering pines, firm sandy turf and a layout you can walk. There are simple rooms along the 18th hole, a firepit and a communal grill, which is about all a buddies trip needs.
The far corners
Big Bend. Black Jack's Crossing at Lajitas Golf Resort is a Lanny Wadkins design out on the Rio Grande, a drive from Big Bend National Park. It runs through rock canyons, and the clubhouse is a trading post from 1899.
South Padre Island. South Padre Island Golf Club is a public Chris Cole design in Laguna Vista that opened in 1997. Pair it with beach days on South Padre Island.
Both are long drives from just about everywhere in Texas, so they work best as a full golf vacation.
Texas golf packages
Most of these golf resorts sell a stay and play package that bundles the room with rounds. At Horseshoe Bay, that's the Tee It Up and Unlimited RTJ Golf packages. Golfbreaks lists Texas golf packages including Horseshoe Bay from $565 per person and the JW Marriott with TPC San Antonio rounds from $1,029 per person, taxes and resort fees included. Rates move, so check before you book. Our guide to affordable golf trips has more on when a package beats booking each piece yourself.
Pick your Texas trip
- The lake week: Horseshoe Bay Resort and its three Robert Trent Jones Sr. courses.
- Golf plus a city: TPC San Antonio with the Alamo and the River Walk, or Omni Barton Creek and Falconhead in Austin.
- The championship chase: Fields Ranch East and West in Frisco, then Memorial Park in Houston.
- The road trip: Pine Dunes in Frankston, Black Jack's Crossing near Big Bend, and South Padre Island.
Texas can fill years of trips. When your group is ready to cross a state line, the best golf trips in America pick up where this list stops, and figuring out who you're calling first is half the fun.
