Golf Digest’s Top Five Courses in Texas

Golf Digest, one of the premier golf publications, produces the America’s 100 Greatest Course list on a biannual basis. It also publishes a Best in State ranking compiled via input from nearly 2,000 low-handicap golfers. Texas, which boasts more than 900 golf courses, has two entries on Golf Digest’s America’s 100 Greatest Course and two others on America’s Second 100 Greatest.

Whispering Pines Golf Club in Trinity was the top-ranked course in the state for the 2021–22 rankings and came in at №55 on America’s 100 Greatest Course, down one spot from 2 years prior. Designed by Chet Williams, a Texas-based architect and former associate of Jack Nicklaus, the 7,468-yard, par 72 course opened in 2000 and has been included on Golf Digest’s prestigious list since 2013, when it debuted at №75.

Located 88 miles north of Houston, Whispering Pines is a picturesque course on a 400-acre property with natural features such as piney woods, lakes, creeks, and dunes. The final six holes, built along gator-infested Caney Creek and Lake Livingston, are particularly memorable. Whispering Pines hosts The Spirit International Amateur Golf Championship, which brings together the world’s best male and female amateur golfers every 2 years.

Dallas National Golf Club, ranked №71 in the US by Golf Digest, is a 7,372-yard, par 72 course that features Crenshaw/L-93 Bentgreen grass, eight bridges, 12 holes constructed atop or along the edges of three large plateaus, and a pair of streams running through rugged limestone canyons. Holes 9 through 14 also split the canyons.

Renowned architect Tom Fazio designed the course and implemented various complex design elements, including constructing the par 3 17th into an excavated box canyon of rock. Although he has designed more than 125 courses, Fazio once noted, “If Dallas National were the only course I ever designed, I feel I would have had a great career.” The course opened in 2002 and was ranked by Golf Digest as the top course in Texas from 2007 to 2015.

Golf Digest ranked Bluejack National and Colonial Country Club as the third and fourth best courses in the state, respectively. Based in Montgomery, Bluejack is a 7,552-yard, par 72 course designed by Tiger Woods and Beau Welling in 2016. The par 3 12th at Bluejack resembles the 12th at №2 Augusta National, where Woods won four Masters, although some suggest the hole is instead a homage to the 12th at №16 Muirfield Village, where he won eight tournaments. Bluejack is №124 on Golf Digest’s America’s Second 100 Greatest.

Colonial Country Club, meanwhile, ranks №161. Designed by Perry Maxwell, the course is known for its challenging three-hole stretch known as the Horrible Horseshoe and features dozens of bunkers. It became the first club in Texas to host the US Open in 1941.

Preston Trail Golf Club in Dallas, designed by Texan Ralph Plummer, comes in at №5 on Golf Digest’s rankings of Texas’ best courses. The course hosted the Byron Nelson Golf Classic every year from 1968 to 1982.

Trinity Forest Golf Club (Dallas), Spanish Oaks Golf Club (Bee Cave), Austin Golf Club (Spicewood), and Champions Golf Club (Cypress Creek) round out the top 10.