Golf in Texas
Overview
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This page explains golf in Texas. The sorter handles the local question by city or ZIP.
Golf in Texas
Austin's GolfATX system operates six public courses including Lions Municipal Golf Course, where senior green fees (age 60+) are $27 on weekdays. Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, and Fort Worth each operate large municipal golf systems with senior rates, and Texas's year-round mild climate makes the sport accessible in all seasons across the southern half of the state.
Published local price
Houston resident weekday 18-hole greens fee at Memorial Park Golf Course (municipal); rates vary by season and tee time
Published range: $30 to $38.
Memorial Park Golf Course - Houston Muni Golf · as of 2025Where to go
Golf score
2nd of 51 states for retirement golf
Golf score blends year-round playability (34%), playable access (16%), affordability (16%), course pedigree (12%), and statewide course density (22%).
Courses
A sample of marquee courses across Texas, with where to play and how to book.
Open firm fairways and bold greens from a 2019 Doak redesign · Tom Doak
One of the country's best-known municipal courses, reborn in 2019 under architect Tom Doak and now home to the PGA Tour's Houston Open. You can still walk it, and Houston residents pay some of the friendliest rates in big-time golf.
$$ · Slope 128
Pete Dye design through live oaks, home of the Valero Texas Open · Pete Dye
This is the course the pros tackle each spring at the Valero Texas Open, a Pete Dye layout set in the Hill Country north of San Antonio. It is open to club members and to guests of the JW Marriott resort, so plan a stay-and-play if you want to test it.
Opened 2010 · $$$$
Robert Trent Jones Sr. course with a waterfall and 70-plus bunkers · Robert Trent Jones Sr.
Horseshoe Bay's flagship course sits in the Hill Country and was designed by Robert Trent Jones Sr., with water in play and more than seventy bunkers. Carts are required, so it is an easy ride, and the lakeside resort makes for a relaxing few days.
Opened 1972 · $$$ · Slope 134
Cliff-lined fairways winding through Austin's rolling Hill Country · Tom Fazio
The headline course at Omni Barton Creek in the hills west of Austin, a Tom Fazio design known for its limestone cliffs and dramatic drops. It plays long from the back tees, but several sets of tees let you pick a length that fits your game.
$$$$ · Slope 141
Austin's first public course, walkable and rich in civil-rights history
Locals just call it Muny. Opened in 1924, it was Austin's first public course and the first in the South to desegregate, and it is still an easy, walkable round at a friendly price.
Opened 1924 · $ · Slope 114
Photo: Larry D. Moore (CC BY 4.0)
Historic tree-lined city-park course along the San Antonio River · A.W. Tillinghast
Opened in 1916 to a design by A.W. Tillinghast, this is the oldest public course in Texas and the original home of the Texas Open. Tee times are gentle on the wallet, and the tree-lined holes along the San Antonio River are full of history.
Opened 1916 · $$ · Slope 126
Photo: Pauliedigi (CC BY-SA 3.0)Course profile
A tree-lined Dallas muni redesigned by D.A. Weibring in 2001 · D.A. Weibring and Steve Wolfard
A city-run course just east of downtown Dallas, redesigned in 2001 by PGA Tour player D.A. Weibring. It stretches past 7,000 yards from the tips but plays fair from the forward sets, and green fees stay reasonable.
$$ · Slope 130
Tight tree-lined holes along the Trinity River, nicknamed Hogan's Alley · John Bredemus and Perry Maxwell
A member-owned Fort Worth club that has hosted the PGA Tour every spring since 1946, the longest run at any single course on tour. It is private, but if you ever play it you will meet the tight, tree-lined corridors that earned it the name Hogan's Alley.
Opened 1936
We've mapped 55 courses across Texas so far.
What Texas costs
Cost of living
97
BEA index, U.S. = 100
State income tax
None
Social Security
Not taxed
How people start
Most metros list city-run courses with published fee schedules. Those set the affordable floor before any private club enters the picture.
Many courses post a reduced weekday senior rate and a season pass. The difference between pay-per-round and a pass is the number that usually drives the yearly cost.
In warm states the season runs most of the year; in cold ones it is a few months. The yearly cost is rounds-per-year times rate, plus cart and equipment.
Towns in Texas
GolfATX, Austin's city-operated program, runs six public courses including Roy Kizer, Jimmy Clay, and Lions Municipal; seniors 60 and older pay $27 for a weekday round at Roy Kizer. Lions Municipal, one of the oldest desegregated public golf courses in the South, remains open to the public on the University of Texas campus.
City of Austin GolfATXDallas Parks operates six 18-hole municipal golf courses including Cedar Crest, Luna Vista, Stevens Park, and Tenison Park, with weekday green fees ranging from $26 to $41 depending on the course. Tenison Park is a two-course destination facility on the east side of the city with both a Highlands and Glen layout.
Dallas ParksAscarate Golf Course (6900 Delta Dr), a 27-hole facility designed in 1955 by George Hoffman and managed by El Paso County Parks, offers a 6,579-yard Main 18 and a shorter 9-hole Delta course; senior annual parking passes (age 60+) are available at a discounted rate of $30. The county's parks page lists the course as one of the oldest in El Paso with over 300 sunny days a year for year-round play.
El Paso County Parks and Recreation -- Ascarate Golf CourseCity of Fort Worth Golf operates three public 18-hole courses: Meadowbrook Golf Course, Pecan Valley Golf Course, and Rockwood Park Golf Course; a senior annual pass (age 62+) costs $800 and covers weekday green fees at all three courses. The city's golf program also offers PGA instruction, league play, and catering facilities at each course location.
City of Fort Worth Golf -- Annual PassesGeorgetown sits within Williamson County near multiple public courses, and the Sun City Texas community's private courses serve the area's large active-adult population. The broader metro draws golfers to a range of public and semi-private options accessible from US-29 and I-35.
City of Georgetown Parks and RecreationThe Houston Parks and Recreation Department operates five municipal courses, including Memorial Park Golf Course (widely regarded as the top municipal course in Texas), Hermann Park, and Gus Wortham Park courses, all inside the Loop, with senior rates for players 65 and older applying on weekday rounds. Sharpstown Golf Course on the Southwest side is noted as one of Houston's most walkable municipal tracks.
City of Houston, GolfMcAllen Parks and Recreation manages the Lloyd B. Bentsen Jr. Municipal Golf Course, an 18-hole public course near the city center. The Parks department's Summer 2026 Activity Guide highlights outdoor recreation including senior activities, and the Rio Grande Valley golf market includes several additional affordable daily-fee courses within a short drive.
McAllen Parks and RecreationSan Antonio's Alamo City Golf Trail operates eight public courses, including Brackenridge Park and Olmos Basin, with senior/military rates (age 62+) available at all locations; a weekday senior walk rate at Olmos Basin runs about $32. Mission Del Lago, the most affordable course on the Trail, offers senior walk rates from $24 on weekdays.
Alamo City Golf TrailThe Woodlands area encompasses several private and semi-private clubs including The Club at Carlton Woods and the Tournament Players Course at The Woodlands, which has hosted PGA Tour events; public players access nearby courses in Montgomery County, and the township's 150-plus parks include sport-field complexes used for a range of outdoor activities.
The Woodlands Township Parks and RecreationCommon questions
Austin's GolfATX system operates six public courses including Lions Municipal Golf Course, where senior green fees (age 60+) are $27 on weekdays. Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, and Fort Worth each operate large municipal golf systems with senior rates, and Texas's year-round mild climate makes the sport accessible in all seasons across the southern half of the state. Towns like Austin, Dallas, El Paso have their own local options.
Texas has a cost-of-living index near 97 (U.S. = 100), no state income tax, and does not tax Social Security. The full state guide breaks down property tax, sales tax, and long-term-care costs, each sourced.
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