Four rounds on the Hill Country's best public courses, with total green fees under $350 and mid-range lodging near The Domain.
4 Days
Best Value Trip
$900–$1800/person
4
Moderate
The Austin area's public golf offering is strong enough that a trip built entirely around accessible, reasonably priced courses delivers four distinct Hill Country experiences without approaching resort pricing. Lost Pines Golf Club, Falconhead, Crystal Falls, and Vaaler Creek each occupy different corners of the region and different price points, but they share a common quality: honest golf on terrain that the Hill Country provides in abundance. The estimated cost of $900 to $1,800 per person covers three nights of lodging, four rounds with carts, meals, and transport.
Fly into Austin-Bergstrom International Airport (AUS) and drive 25 minutes east to the Hyatt Regency Lost Pines Resort and Spa. The resort occupies 405 acres along the Colorado River, with 490 rooms, an 18-room spa, the Crooked River Water Park, equestrian facilities, and 18 miles of hiking trails.
Morning round at Falconhead Golf Club, a public layout west of Austin designed by PGA Tour Design Center and Chris Gray in 2003. At 7,181 yards from the tips with a slope of 137, the course plays through rolling Hill Country terrain with cedars and oaks framing the fairways.
This is the double-round day, and the combination works because both courses play at a reasonable pace and the price points make 36 holes financially painless. Morning round at Crystal Falls Golf Club in Leander, approximately 20 minutes from The Domain area hotels.
Morning at the hotel or a final visit to Barton Springs Pool ($4 to $9 entry), the three-acre spring-fed pool in Zilker Park that holds 68 degrees year-round. It opens at 5 AM for the ambitious.
A rental car is necessary. The four courses span from east of Austin (Lost Pines) to west of Austin (Falconhead) to northwest (Crystal Falls) to the Hill Country proper (Vaaler Creek), and no transit system connects them. Rental car rates average $27 to $55 per day depending on vehicle class. The Domain area hotels provide a central base with easy highway access in multiple directions. The best months for this trip are March through May and October through November. Summer rates on courses and hotels drop, but sustained heat above 95 degrees compresses the playable window to early mornings.
$900–$1800
per person
4 Days
3 nights
4
courses included