The third of the four courses I’ll review from this trip is The Quarry Golf Course. This was one of our rounds on Monday on what turned out to be a gloomy, but comfortable morning on the golf course. Unfortunately, that gloom made for terrible lighting so my pictures don’t do a good job to show how special the back nine is – but more on that as we get into the review.

I had seen pictures of The Quarry online before my round and what’s interesting is that the course is actually in the middle of an urban area, not far from an interstate and another major highway. In fact, without any traffic, the course is only 15 minutes from the River Walk.

The Quarry gets its name from an old rock quarry pit. While the golf course is somewhat new – it opened in 1993 – the cement operation at the property started back in the early 1900’s. The course’s website does a great job outlining all that history in case you are looking for more information.

The course is really a tale of two nines with the back nine being the highlight, since it is located in the old quarry pit. Even though the back nine is far superior to the front, I thought the front had many strong holes. The front has a links look to it and felt like a golf course in the Northern Plains.

I enjoyed the par-3’s on the front nine. From the professional tees (72.9/131/6740, par-71) the 3rd is 168 yards and has a long green that narrows towards the back half. Water guards the left side and bunkers are placed to the right, meaning that if you want to get the tee shot close to a back flag then the distance and accuracy need to be almost perfect. The par-3 8th is 158 yards with more water, this time to the right.

The back nine continues the links look, although it has more dramatic scenery with the walls of the quarry framing three sides of the course. Large boulders are placed throughout the back nine so wayward shots can ricochet off them. For the most part there is plenty of width to the course and compared to The Bandit – another Keith Foster design we played the day before – the green complexes here were much more playable and friendly.

Two par-4’s, the 13th and the 17th, are the signature holes at The Quarry. The 13th is 362 yards and turns left around the deepest part of the pit. The safe tee shot is less than driver out to the right while the more aggressive drive cuts across the water. The 17th is 386 yards and plays along a shelf with a steep falloff to the left and the rocky hillside to the right. Out of all the golf holes I’ve played so far in Texas, the 17th is one of my favorites.

The Monday morning green fee was about $100 after taxes, so a round here isn’t cheap. Thankfully, The Quarry was well cared for. The tees were lush and seemed to be overseeded. The bermuda fairways were full and provided many tight lies as the grass starts to enter the growing season. The greens rolled well, but were the slowest of the five courses we played on this trip.

Without hesitation I’d recommend a round here if someone is visiting San Antonio. My only gripes are that the green fee seemed to be about $20 too much and I think the 10th should be an easy par-5 instead of a long par-4. Besides those two things, I think The Quarry is a great course and it is one of the more memorable courses I’ve played in Texas.

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