Going to San Antonio and Austin. Best course to play for first timer.

[I'_rather_be_golfing]

Headed to San Antonio and Austin end of January. I’ll be golfing 5 days. 2 days in San Antonio and 3 days in Austin. Hopefully the weather is good for all 5 days. In San Antonio, I know I’ll be going to La Cantera golf club. But which side of the course is better? Resort side or Palmer side? And what other courses are fun, scenic, and challenging?

[bk52]

Try Cedar Creek. I consider it the poor man's La Cantera. In the same area as La Cantera so if you are staying in the area, it is an easy drive.

[Roadking2003]

The weather can be wonderful or too cold. I hope you hit the wonderful weather.

 

Regarding golf in Austin, if you stay at Omni Barton Creek, they have four good courses. If not, I suggest Falconhead or Wolf dancer at Hyatt Lost Pines.

[I'_rather_be_golfing]

Thank you for your guy’s suggestions.

[Argonne69]

Palmer is the better course at La Cantera. The Quarry is a fun layout.

Definitely the courses at Omni in Austin. Falconhead was very good.

[bulls9999]

We used to drive down to San Antonio for 3-4 years during Thanksgiving/Christmas to play in a bit warmer weather.La Cantera: 2 courses: The Palmer and The Resort course. The Palmer is the harder course but has a number of blind tee shots. I asked why at the time, did the PGA tour stop play the Resort course and not the harder Palmer course? …. and the answer was that the Resort course was more spectator friendly. The Resort course also had a hole overlooking the roller coaster from the 6 Flags Amusement Park (now defunct?), with a tee box about 100-ft up in the air on a quarry cliff...green was reachable if you dared to try. I think Golfnow.com has some discounted greens fees for those 2 courses. Here's an old Flickr album, sorry but there's only a few photos. Maybe I'll post a few more of the other San Antonio courses we played into that album later tonight or post them directly here. The shot with the clubhouse is the Palmer course 18th green (also a blind tee shot to a downhill fairway...huge kick if you hit your drive long enough). Other shots are from the Resort course. One shot shows the Westin La Cantera hotel in the upper right. San Antonio - Westin La Cantera

Yes, we played the Quarry course, and we liked that too. I believe they overseeded the fairways back then, not sure if they still do. But we often went for overseeded courses (why play dormant Bermuda when you could play overseeded courses).

Also played The Bandit which is about 20 miles north east of San Antonio (also overseeded at that time).

 

[J_Birdie]

Do you want pure scenery and a challenge? Palmer Course, Cedar Creek, Tapatio, The Bandit

A great experience / great track, but more playable? Quarry, SilverHorn, Canyon Springs, Vaaler, La Cantera Resort Course

History? Brackenridge Park. Always in good shape.

 

In Austin your best bets are the Omni courses, Wolfdancer, Falconhead, Avery Ranch.

Lions in Austin if you're into history but don't expect great conditions.

[Neurotica]

TPC San Antonio is a good choice as well. A bit pricey but conditions are great on both courses. Oaks is the more difficult of the 2. Played there today (oaks) and was outstanding.

[LICC]

I preferred the Dye course at TPC San Antonio. Very good strategic course. The Oaks course was fine with some quirky features. At La Cantera I only played the Resort course and it was very good and fun

[I'_rather_be_golfing]

So I was just told by my wife that we will staying in round rock. Just found out now from my wife. Anyone ever played Forrest Creek or Blackhawk?

[CCTxGolf]

Round Rock is a quite a haul from San Antonio. IMO both Cantera courses are more fun than the TPC courses.

 

Also, responding to a post above the six flags is still open. If anything there seem to be more coasters than when that photo was taken. Pretty crazy teeing off that 100+ ft cliff with theme park screams in the foreground!

[I'_rather_be_golfing]

I’ll actually be driving up to San Antonio for a few day after my visit to Round Rock. I’ll also be in Round Rock for a few days.

[CCTxGolf]

Awesome! Sounds like a fun trip. Some other good courses in SA that aren’t quite so tough on the pocket book are Olympia Hills (North East Side of town off i35) and The Republic (South Side). Olympia Hills is about 2/3’s great holes with cool elevation changes with some boring holes mixed in on the back 9. Republic is an all around fun course that can be played for less than $50. University of Incarnate Word moved all their golf facilities/program to the republic so it seems to be in great condition year round.

[larryw]

Forest Creek is in very good shape. City just overhauled it and it has always been a fun layout to play. Not so much for Blackhawk.

Might also check out Star Ranch. It is a wide open "bombers" course with not a lot of trouble. Of course these are subjective observations. Much prefer Forest Creek or Star Ranch over Teravista or Avery Ranch.

If you are looking for a challenge to play then check out ShadowGlen in Manor. Not too far from RR and is a great layout to play. Not the greatest conditions sometimes but still a very challenging course and fun to play if you like tough courses.

[I'_rather_be_golfing]

Thank you guys for all your suggestions. It will help out tremendously. You guys have safe and happy New Years.

[Neurotica]

The Canyons course is my favorite as well. But couldn’t turn down an invite to play the Oaks yesterday. Played it from the gold tees quite the challenge!

[schwollo]

I second the falconhead Barton creek votes. Forest creek is in good shape nothing spectacular. Star ranch is very fun but like others said it’s wide open . You could also head north to Georgetown for the legacy hills trio of courses.