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4.2
107 Reviews (107)
5 Stars
43
4 Stars
48
3 Stars
12
2 Stars
3
1 Stars
1
Conditions
4.1
Value
3.9
Layout
4.2
Friendliness
4.2
Pace
3.8
Amenities
3.8
92.5%
Recommend this course
99 out of 107 reviews
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About

Holes 18
Type Municipal
Par 71
Length 6243 yards
Slope 126
Rating 70.3

Brackenridge Park Golf Course, which is the oldest public golf course in Texas, was the first ever host to the Texas Open Golf Tournament in 1922. This historic golf course has the honor of being the first inductee into the Texas Golf Hall of Fame. Brackenridge Park may not be as challenging to today’s golfers, but it is still an entertaining round. The layout has a tight front nine with plenty of trees, demanding accurate tee shots. The back nine is more open, subjecting it to strong winds. Water comes into play on a few holes and there are also numerous doglegs and well-placed bunkers to watch out for. Elevated greens and tight fairways lined with trees add to the challenge at Brackenridge Park Golf Course.

Course Details

Year Built 1916
Fairways TifSport Bermuda
Greens Miniverde Ultradwarf Bermuda
Golf Season Year round
Architect A. W. Tillinghast (1916) Colligan Golf Design (2008)

Rentals/Services

Carts Yes - $16
Clubs Yes

Practice/Instruction

Driving Range No
Teaching Pro Yes
Putting Green Yes

Policies

Credit Cards Accepted VISA, MasterCard, Amex, Discover Welcomed
Metal Spikes Allowed No
Walking Allowed Yes
Dress code Appropriate golf attire.

Food & Beverage

Bar, Grill

Available Facilities

Clubhouse

Accolades

  • Golf Advisor: Top Courses in Texas (2015 #25)

Reviews

4.2
107 Reviews (107)

What Golfers Are Saying

Course Challenges Include:
Bunkers 22
Narrow Fairways 15
Water Hazards 12
This course/club is great for:
Locals 14
Walkers 14
Seniors 13
This Course's Location is:
Convenient to the City 25
Near Local Attractions 12
Near the Airport 11

Numbers based on reviews tagged with attribute.

Advanced Filters
Overall Rating
Recommended
Handicap
Age
Type of Golfer
Gender
Played On
Reviews 157
Handicap 10-14
Skill Intermediate
Plays A few times a week
I Recommend This Course
4.0
Texas Advisor
Top 100 Contributor
Previously Played
Perfect weather
Walked

Getting back to good shape

A couple of months ago, the course was undergoing repairs and it was in pretty rough shape. Now it's starting to take good shape, fairways are looking much much better. This course will always hold a place near and dear to my heart as so far it's been the only course where I broke 80. If you want to go for a classic course with a lot of history, you will not regret playing Brack. Definitely a must stop when in San Antone.

Conditions Good
Value Good
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Good
Pace Good
Difficulty Moderate
Played On
Reviews 157
Handicap 15-19
Skill Intermediate
Plays A few times a week
I Recommend This Course
3.0
Texas Advisor
Top 100 Contributor
Previously Played
Perfect weather
Walked

In pretty bad shape

Brackenridge is supposed to be the flagship of Alamo City Golf Trail Courses, but I was disappointed at how poor the conditions were. Most fairways and greens were in rough shape, especially compared to a couple of years ago, when they were in immaculate shape. If this course had one beautiful aspect it used to be the greens, but those are not in great shape either. With all the rain San Antonio has gotten the past few weeks, I would figure the course would be in great shape, but that's not the case. The superintendent or greens keeper must have done experimenting with changing grass, and it has failed. Brack used to be a gem, considered one of the Top Public Courses in the US. I hope Brack can come back to the days of glory.

Conditions Poor
Value Excellent
Layout Good
Friendliness Good
Pace Good
Difficulty Somewhat Challenging
Played On
Reviews 12
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a week
I Recommend This Course
5.0
First Time Playing

Solid Course

I have no real complaints about brackenridge. The condition was solid considering we got 5-6 of rain within the past week. Greens were aerated 10 days ago so a little sandy and bumpy. Traps were still wet due to rain. A great Tillinghast design that’s very playable for everyone. It’s a little short for the longer hitters, but still presents some challenges. Great for beginners since the only OB is on the property line or water. I will definitely be returning for another round

Conditions Good
Value Excellent
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Good
Amenities Good
Played On
Reviews 14
Handicap 15-19
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a week
I Recommend This Course
4.0
Previously Played
Hot weather
Walked

fun round, great pace

Brackenridge is a fun muni course in very good shape. it is fairly short but the 64 bunkers and tight fairways on the front 9 make up for the length. My group was 1st one off, so we played in 2.5 hours...love that pace!
I have the ACGT punch so my price was very low (the membership fee includes free and heavily discounted tee times). However, when I have paid full greens fee, I've always felt it was slightly over-priced by about $10 to $15. But, all-in-all, I recommend Brack for its challenge, variety of holes, and overall condition of the course.
It is rare to see a muni with so many well-maintained traps...maybe that's what drives up the green fees?

Conditions Excellent
Value Average
Layout Good
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Amenities Average
Difficulty Moderate
Played On
Reviews 17
Handicap 15-19
Skill Intermediate
Plays A few times a week
I Recommend This Course
4.0
Previously Played
Hot weather
Used cart
Conditions Excellent
Value Average
Layout Average
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Average
Amenities Poor
Difficulty Somewhat Challenging
Played On
Reviews 94
Handicap 10-14
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a week
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Top 250 Contributor
Previously Played

Never looked so good

Old Brack has became the gem of the Alamo City Golf Trail. The trail itself has really improved over the last few years, and Old Brack is the best of them. Fairways are lush green. A little longer than normal, which looks great and makes them slightly easier to hit out of. All bunkers/tees are in excellent condition. They’ve done their best to minimize touching during this Coronavirus epidemic. Green were freshly sanded a few days ago. Rolled good but, were slower than normal due to it. A few more days and a fresh rain and they’ll be virtually perfect. Noticed a few ballmarks people weren’t fixing. Please do, it’s too nice of a course to have this problem. Enjoy, go play, while we still can.

Conditions Good
Value Excellent
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Good
Amenities Average
Played On
Reviews 20
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a week
I Recommend This Course
5.0
First Time Playing

San Antonio golfing

Had a very enjoyable outing. The greens were a bit sandy and had some bounces due to recent conditioning but overall it was a good course to play!

Conditions Excellent
Value Good
Layout Good
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Amenities Excellent
Played On
Reviews 1
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Verified Purchaser
First Time Playing
Perfect weather
Used cart
Conditions Excellent
Value Average
Layout Good
Friendliness Good
Pace Excellent
Amenities Average
Difficulty Moderate
Played On
Reviews 29
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a week
I Recommend This Course
3.0
First Time Playing

Course is in perfect conditions. The only bad thing about this course I experienced was the pace of play. It took over 6 hours to play 18 holes. Tee time was for 10:33, but it was so backed up that I did not get started until 11:20. Played the 1st hole and the waited another approximately 30 minutes to tee off the 2nd hole par 3 because there was another 3 groups of 4- waiting like us.
Tree debris were in several holes from what my understanding had been there several weeks
Course conditions were perfect. I would recommend playing this course after 2 pm if you don’t want to wait and spend all day waiting.

Conditions Excellent
Value Average
Layout Fair
Friendliness Average
Pace Poor
Amenities Fair
Played On
Reviews 15
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a month
I Recommend This Course
4.0
Verified Purchaser
First Time Playing
Conditions Good
Value Fair
Layout Average
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Good
Amenities Average
Played On
Reviews 38
Handicap 0-4
Skill Advanced
Plays Once a month
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Arizona Advisor
Previously Played
Perfect weather
Used cart

Tex-Mex Tillnghast: Brackenridge Park Golf Course

While it may seem hard to believe, A. W. Tillinghast spent quite a bit of time in the Alamo City in the 19 teens and twenties (providing an "examination" of San Antonio Country Club while building Alamo Country Club in the early 1920s, which was later to be known as Oak Hills Country Club). Brackenridge Park Golf Course is a simply a wonderful example of his work. It is the oldest public course in the state of Texas (1916) and was the first inductee into the Texas Golf Hall of Fame. Old Brack, as it's known by the locals (although as a kid, my friends and I referred to it as Baltusrol South), is an absolute staple of the game in southwest Texas. A 2008 redesign returned the routing to Tillie's original build.

Old live oaks, ponds and small tributaries of the San Antonio River are in play, throughout the round. The front side is tighter, with smaller green surfaces and terrific bunkering. The back opens up a bit, moves to larger putting surfaces and allows the seemingly ever present wind to have greater presence in helping influence how one will play their next shot. Numbers 16 and 18 are beautiful mid/short three pars that are ALL Tillie. But it's the history of the course that you'll not be able to shake: The Texas Open was played here, off and on, from 1922 until 1959. Walter Hagen, Byron Nelson (beating Ben Hogan in 1940), Sam Snead and Mike Souchak (who set the record that would stand for 46 years in a 72 hole professional event at 257) all won here. Numerous city and state amatuer events have been held on the course, as well. Finally, in 2009, the Texas Golf Hall of Fame moved to Brackenridge, prompting Ben Crenshaw to say: "I think this is really the place it should be." It's also the place YOU should be if you are ever in San Antonio, looking to play a great round of golf.

Conditions Good
Value Excellent
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Good
Pace Good
Amenities Good
Difficulty Somewhat Challenging
Played On
Reviews 21
Skill Advanced
Plays A few times a week
I Recommend This Course
5.0
First Time Playing

Best Muni in Texas

We played Brackenridge twice because The Quarry greens were in so bad shape. Lots of mature trees but the tee shots are playable except #16! Not sure about that tree in the middle of the fairway. I can hit a draw but this shot requires you to hook it about 30 yards! Interesting hole nevertheless. Just laid up and made par both days. Greens are in excellent shape for a muni. But as usual some players don’t know or care to repair their ball marks. Should utilize the marshals to go around and fix some of the ball marks? Very happy we decided to play this local muni. Not very long but don’t let that fool you into thinking it’s not a worthy challenge.

Conditions Excellent
Value Excellent
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Good
Pace Good
Amenities Good
Played On
Reviews 30
Handicap 5-9
Skill Advanced
Plays A few times a week
I Recommend This Course
4.0
Previously Played
Hot weather
Used cart

Nice Muni course Better then some more expensive one in area

Nice course! staff is friendly and course is in good shape design is good greens are good.Was not crowded both times i played. Lots a of shade when it is hot . You need to know how to hit fades and draws of tees.Greens where some what fast and true.

Conditions Good
Value Average
Layout Good
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Good
Amenities Average
Difficulty Somewhat Challenging
Played On
Reviews 6
Skill Intermediate
Plays A few times a week
1.0
Previously Played

Awful Time

Whoever the Marshall was on 8 March 2019, needs to be fired. It took 4 1/2 hours to play 18 because my two-person party was waiting for the people ahead. This Marshal was awful and over his head. I normally play 18 in 2 1/2 hours. DO NOT PLAY THIS COURSE UNLESS YOU HAVE HALF A DAY TO WASTE. Incompetent employees ruined this course.

Conditions Excellent
Value Fair
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Poor
Amenities Excellent
Played On
Reviews 3
I Recommend This Course
5.0
First Time Playing

Great course!

We played the quarry in the morning. The greens at the quarry were terrible. But then and afternoon round at Brackenridge redeemed our day. The greens were fantastic and true. What a great course.

Conditions Excellent
Value Excellent
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Amenities Excellent
Played On
Reviews 94
Handicap 10-14
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a month
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Top 250 Contributor
Previously Played

Fall in the park

Old Brack was an amazing Fall stroll in the park. Beautiful conditions for mid November on a 65 degree day. Greens were average speed, but rolled true to form. The fairways were nice and green. The Bermuda rough is just starting to turn dormant in spots, so it had that nice green/tan tint to it. Old Brack is a throwback to the great course architecture of old. Amazing bunkering with ample room to play. Simply municipal golf at its best. This is a muni done right. Go play and enjoy.

Conditions Excellent
Value Excellent
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Amenities Average
Played On
Reviews 1
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a week
2.0
First Time Playing

Bad all around

I have a tee time at 1:33 pm and arrive at the course around 1:15 pm to check in. The gentleman gives me my starter receipt and tells me to give it to the starter before teeing off. 1:33 pm arrives and I get in line to tee off. I say line because two groups are already a head of me looking for the starter who is never found. Eventually tee off around 1:45 pm to begin our round. Course conditions are sub par but the greens are great. Throughout the front nine we had to wait on two or three tee boxes but nothing drastic. Make the turn to the back nine and the two groups in front of us have already called it a day. We get excited thinking we will breeze through the back nine and be done before dark. Things are going good until the 12th when we see 13 is a parking lot. Finish 12 and start approaching 13 when we see 9-10 guys standing on the 12th tee box waiting to tee off. Then we notice the groups are all 5-6 people. We ended up waiting 15 minutes before we decided to pack it in and call it a day at 5:00 pm. As we’re heading back to the club house I see an employee and let him know of the jam on the back nine and he shrugs his shoulders. I go into the pro shop and inform the manager of the jam and he shrugs his shoulders and tells me they are playing a best ball tournament. Overall I was very disappointed especially in the staff. If you are going to spend $80 to golf I would recommend going someplace else.

Conditions Average
Value Average
Layout Good
Friendliness Fair
Pace Poor
Amenities Fair
Played On
Reviews 1
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a week
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Verified Purchaser
First Time Playing

July 4th

Wanted to play oldest public course in Texas while on vacation. Played on a holiday was my only regret. Course was in nice shape for the heat conditions. Staff was very friendly.
Definitely would play here again

Conditions Good
Value Good
Layout Average
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Good
Amenities Good
Played On
Reviews 2
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a week
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Verified Purchaser
First Time Playing

Excellent Muni with Unique Design

Had a blast on this course with muni with my grandfather. Don’t expect a monster course at just over 6,000 yards, but several of the holes definitely force you to think about club selection. Approach shot placement is also important as there are ridges bisecting many of the greens. Definitely recommend anyone to get out and experience some San Antonio golf history on this Tilley designed course!!

Conditions Excellent
Value Excellent
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Average
Amenities Excellent
Played On
Reviews 11
Handicap 10-14
Skill Intermediate
Plays A few times a week
I Recommend This Course
4.0
Verified Purchaser
First Time Playing

Great old course

The course is in great condition. Greens are fast. It was my first time visiting San Antonio and playing this classic old course that has been around a while was very fun. I like that they also have square shaped greens. Staff was great, but a few groups of players were pretty rude which suprised me. I was hit up on like 4 times from the group behind me when I told them there was a group in front of me and I couldn’t push any faster. The only other issue was even though I booked it thru GolfNow I wasn’t on the tee sheet for the time I paid for but they worked it out

Conditions Good
Value Good
Layout Good
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Fair
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