While we were in San Antonio I managed to play one round locally, at La Cantera’s Palmer Course. On Monday, we finished up early with our sightseeing, which left the late afternoon open for a round of golf!

My hope was to check out Brackenridge Park Golf Course, however they had an event and couldn’t get me out. My next choice was one of the courses at La Cantera, because they always get ranked well. The Resort Course is probably more well-known since it is a former host course for the Valero Texas Open, however the Palmer Course is also highly ranked among the public courses in Texas.

If you jump ahead a few posts you’ll find my review of the Resort Course, as I played that one on a subsequent trip to San Antonio. Basically, you cannot go wrong with either course here at La Cantera. The Palmer Course is La Cantera’s newer course, opening in 2001. The course is cut through the hilly and rocky terrain. Ultimately, this terrain adds tons of interest to the Palmer Course and is probably its best feature.

There is a mix of flat holes, uphill holes and plenty of elevated tee shots. There are holes that hug ridgelines and all throughout the course you’ll get nice views of San Antonio. I finished up as things were getting dark and I could see the lighted skyline of downtown, off in the distance!

While the semi-severe land creates for some fairly dramatic golf (at least as far as Texas golf goes), the land also makes it fairly involved to play. This is evidenced by the rating and slope from most of the tees. I played the gold tees which are 72.4/139/6535. The course plays as a par-71 with only three par-5’s so I had my hands full – a bit too full for my normal golfing preferences!

My one wish is that the course had more bunkers on the low sides of the holes. Unfortunately, there are plenty of blind shots and if your ball lands on the wrong side of the slope then it can easily kick out of play.

The front nine has more gradual elevation changes and is highlighted by the par-3 4th. The 4th is a 177 yard par-3 that plays across a rocky hazard. If you have played any other Palmer courses you’ll usually find a similar-looking par-3! The green angles from front left to back right so anything fading runs the risk of ending up in the water (like my shot, doh).

The back nine is more of a wild ride as it plays over and around a ridgeline. There are quite a few interesting holes on the back nine, including the 10th and the 18th. However, I preferred the front nine myself. The 10th green is guarded by a large ravine and almost looked like something you’d find in Southern California. The 18th is a 463 yard par-4 featuring a large fairway that steps down towards the green. It is possible to hit a massive tee shot here! And, the green is tucked below the impressive clubhouse, along with the 9th green nearby.

Troon Golf manages the course so the conditions were very nice, as you might expect for one of their facilities. I paid $55 for my round here and the turf yielded nice lies while the greens were smooth (medium pace). The bunkers were a bit thin. I think the crew must be giving the course a lot of water because much of the course was soft.

For the price I paid I’d certainly recommend a round on the Palmer Course! For the $125 rack rate it is still worth a play if you are in town, because of the multiple signature holes. I love a PGA Tour course, so I’ll have to give the edge to the Resort Course, though.

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