A couple months ago I visited the Austin area for a weekend of golf and some sightseeing. One of the courses I played that weekend was Wolfdancer Golf Club, which always gets ranked as one of the top public courses in the state!

That round was special for multiple reasons, but the highlight for me was that I golfed nine holes with the Director of Golf, Kelly O’Donnell! I learned quite a bit from Kelly about golf course operations and challenges faced by clubs throughout the country, with the biggest challenges being the weather and animals. Apparently some neighboring cows around here escaped years ago and the maintenance crew has continual battles with gophers, mole crickets and armadillos!

Well, I was passing through town on my way back to Dallas and was able to play again here on a perfect fall afternoon (I played the back nine in August). More on my most recent expereince in a moment though.

Wolfdancer Golf Club is associated with the Hyatt Lost Pines which features a resort that is tucked up against the Colorado River. Once you leave the divided highway it takes about 10 minutes to get to the parking lots. You get some uphill and downhill on the entry road to remind you that you are in the Texas Hill Country! Without any traffic it will probably take 20 to 30 minutes to get to the resort from Austin.

Both times that I’ve played Wolfdancer I’ve wandered around the property before playing. The resort has golf (duh!), a nice water park and all sorts of other family activities, including air-boat rides on the Colorado River. That sounds pretty fun. I haven’t stayed at the resort but from what I saw everything looked nice.

Alright, onto the course itself now. The name “Wolfdancer” stems from the Native Americans who occupied the land years ago. And, I thought the land was the course’s defining feature. There is a mix of open and wooded holes, elevation changes, multiple signature holes and nice views of the area. Plus, there aren’t any homes in sight. For those curious, Arthur Hills designed the course.

The front nine is highlighted by the 581 yard par-5 3rd (603 yards from the tips). It plays downhill from an elevated tee box and offers an endless view, where the sky just falls into the terrain. The sea of bunkers contrasted nicely against the green grass too! Like many holes at Wolfdancer the 3rd has a great look to it and it is one of my favorite holes in Texas so far!

The back nine seemed to have a bit of everything, including a split fairway on the 18th. Much of the back nine plays on some flat land near the river – the 13th through the 18th holes. These holes are lined by pecan trees and are a relaxing way to end the round, after some difficult holes early. The opening six holes are quite a handful! For this round I played the blue tees which are 73.8/135/6836.

Before you reach that river stretch of holes, you get to play the 12th, which is another signature hole at Wolfdancer! The 12th is a short par-3, which is 135 yards from the blues. It is a transition hole on the river bluff and it plays about a club downhill. The green is small and trust me, you don’t want to miss over the back edge, as things drop off severely.

As you’d expect from one of the top public courses in Texas, the conditions were very nice. Something about the cooler fall air seems to bring out the best conditions, that is for sure. The fairways were mint and yielded great lies. The greens were quick and putts rolled well. Don’t let the pictures of the tee boxes scare you, as they were recently scalped to prepare for their winter overseed.

If you haven’t made it out here to play then I’d highly recommend it! The crew and course at Wolfdancer are impressive and it is worthy of being one of the top public courses in Texas.

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