Palmilla Beach Resort & Golf Club (Port Aransas, TX on 10/20/19)

Recently, my family visited Texas and we ended up seeing a lot of the state during our travels! They flew into Dallas and we drove down to San Antonio, where we toured the Alamo and did the River Walk. We also took a day trip to Port Aransas to check out the beach there.

During our beach day I brought my clubs and managed to get out for a round at Palmilla Beach Golf Club. The course is one of those courses that is more interesting than you may imagine, due to an intriguing story!

Palmilla Beach opened in 2008 (an Arnold Palmer design) and made it only nine years before Hurricane Harvey hit the area in 2017. Sadly, Mustang Island, where the course is located, sustained heavy damage and is still rebuilding.

The course was damaged by the storm and the owners decided to take the eighteen-hole layout in a different direction, due to declining play. Palmilla Beach reopened in June 2019 as a nine-hole course with a different target market. The facility now seems to be geared towards families on vacation, instead of the serious golfer.

The 5th green, showing off the contour from the nearby dunes.

Besides the nine-hole course, there is also a short course called “The Loop”, which is three holes. While I won’t review the three-hole course separately, I’ll say that I found it to be a lot fun! It is comprised of three short par-3’s, all around 100 yards. I grabbed a wedge, my putter and a golf ball, as that is all I needed to play it. I’ve included pics of The Loop in my gallery.

The main course plays as a par-32 with five par-4’s and four par-3’s, topping out at 2,431 yards. And, from what I’ve read, the new routing uses some of the best land from the old design.

The course starts and ends near some newly built homes, so those parts aren’t very exciting. However, the 3rd through the 6th holes are as good as you’ll find, thanks to their proximity to the Gulf of Mexico. While you don’t get super close to the water, you get views of it and can hear the waves splashing onto the beach. You can even see cargo ships and oil platforms off in the distance!

The Loop is a three-hole short course at Palmilla Beach.

Much of the course plays through the dunes and has a links look to it. The 4th, 5th and 6th holes have greens that are hidden in the grass-covered dunes and were tough to play in the wind. You can even end up with some unpredictable bounces off the sides of the hills. The par-3 4th was my favorite hole because of how natural it looked.

Considering how newly grassed everything is the conditions were great. Troon usually does a good job and Palmilla Beach is no exception. Everything here is paspalum, a grass I haven’t played on much. The fairways were full and cut short and the greens were smooth and quick.

I never played the old design, but hopefully the owners are onto something with the new strategy! I’d firmly put Palmilla Beach among my favorite nine-holers and would suggest checking it out if you are in the area. It isn’t cheap, but I found a good deal online for ~$24.

Course Pictures (click any picture to scroll through the gallery):

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