San Antonio, the centerpiece of a golf vacation into the South Texas Plains, is blessed with year-round golf weather, a lifetime supply of fabulous courses, and a fascinating, multicultural history that has made it one of the country’s most iconic golf destinations. What Las Vegas is to gambling, the Alamo City is to golf. Three world-class resorts (Westin La Cantera, JW Marriott, Hyatt Regency Hill Country), numerous high-end country clubs, and loads of acclaimed public courses, such as historic A.W. Tilinghast’s Brackenridge Park (1916), round out the carte du jour. And restless golf souls who succumb to the call of the open road can explore the eclectic ranch and border communities where any town big enough to have a Dairy Queen sports an entertaining golf course, and places like Alice, Laredo, McAllen, and Pharr offer excellent, affordable facilities. When it comes to choosing the ultimate Texas golf getaway, San Antonio and the South Texas Plains are always at the top of the list.
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Alice: The ranch town of Alice is the dividing point between the brush country and the coastal plains and its rural nature makes it a hub for outdoorsmen, many of whom also enjoy golf at one of South Texas’s best 9-holers, the fabulous Alice Country Club.
Hondo: The Hondo Golf Course is the long-time favorite of locals–an older links-style layout with small, tidy greens that are perfect for practicing your short game.
Laredo: South Texas’s main business center and the largest port of entry anywhere on the US-Mexico border, this city boasts the well-respected Laredo Country Club in addition to two solid public facilities. The Casa Blanca Golf Course continues to benefit from ongoing renovations, but the new Max A. Mandel Golf Course is receiving rave reviews (Golfweek’s Best Municipal Courses) for its great condition and fun design, with scenic holes laid out along the Rio Grande River.
McAllen-Pharr: Here at the ‘Crossroads of the Rio Grande Valley,’ revitalized downtown buildings and immaculate landscapes line the avenues where small shops sell typical border fare. Golfers flock to the 27-hole Palm View Golf Course and the highly rated Tierra Del Sol Golf Club, long known as one of the better golf options in the Valley.
Mission: Famous for its grapefruit and as the hometown of former Dallas Cowboys coach Tom Landry, Mission rests in the rolling brush country of mesquite and prickly pear and is blessed with one of the Valley’s premier courses in the Club at Cimarron.
Weslaco: With a revitalized downtown that highlights the 1920s Spanish architecture and its unique historic sites, Weslaco is a frequent rest stop for visiting golfers, who claim the Tierra Santa Golf Club is one of the Valley’s best municipals due to its outstanding condition and fast, PGA-Tour quality greens.
Road Trips: San Antonio
Travel to this South Texas jewel of a city and you will truly feel like you’ve been away on a special vacation. Well-known outside of Texas as the state’s premier golf destination, the Alamo City lives up to that reputation, charming visitors with its Mexican heritage, Hill Country scenery, rich history, and fabulous golf courses. With PGA TOUR-quality facilities, historic municipals, and world-class resorts at every turn, a week here just isn’t enough to soak it all in. But it’s still the golf trip of a lifetime.
The City of San Antonio’s municipal golf system, affectionately known as the Alamo City Golf Trail, might just be the best in the country. Loaded with seven wonderful courses, the lineup is a tribute to this historic golf town, which has hosted the PGA TOUR’s Texas Open since 1922. Brackenridge Park, designed by the venerable A.W. Tillinghast in 1916 and the oldest public course in the state, is one of the all-time classics and the featured course of the Golf Trail.
The Alamo City Golf Trail includes:
- Brackenridge Park
- Willow Springs
- Olmos Basin Golf Course
- Cedar Creek
- Mission Del Lago
- San Pedro
- Riverside
But perhaps the best way to spoil yourself with golf in San Antonio is to book a trip at one of the three luxury resorts the city has to offer.
Hyatt Regency Hill Country Resort and Spa: Located across from Sea World, the former Wiseman Ranch is now home to 27 holes of lush, Hill Country golf. Resort amenities abound, including the kid-magnet Lazy River. Charlie’s Long Bar, an eclectic saloon with a long copper bar, is the ideal place to cozy up while the family enjoys other resort features.
Westin La Cantera Golf Club: Home of the PGA’s Texas Open since 1995, La Cantera features two truly spectacular golf courses that roller-coaster through the hills west of San Antonio. The original Resort Course is cut out of a limestone quarry with white bunkers and majestic oaks dotting the plush fairways. The newer Palmer Course is just as scenic, offering numerous holes with panoramic views of the city and countryside.
JW Marriott San Antonio Hill Country Resort and Spa: Open to guests of the resort, the TPC San Antonio has received rave reviews for its breathtakingly beautiful 36 holes of golf designed by Pete Dye and Greg Norman. Both courses play host to TOUR events, with the AT&T Oaks Course serving as the venue for the PGA TOUR’s Valero Texas Open since The AT&T Canyons Course is the site of the AT&T Championship, a Champions Tour stop in October.