Once senior year hits, most people tend to take everything easier. Fewer classes, less homework, and more empty time during the day. Within the first month of senior year, almost all of my roommates and a lot of other friends have all bought golf clubs and wanted to learn to pick up golf. Naturally, the first thought on everyone’s mind is where to go to play. For context, rookies never go play alone, nor should they since they don’t have a good sense of course etiquette and best practices. So, this definitive list will give casual Rice students a comprehensive guide to the most accessible courses in HTX and where they should go play their next round.

It does not get any better than Memorial Park. In Houston, you will find no higher-quality course at a more affordable rate (if you get the residence pass). The city keeps this course in amazing shape so that the PGA will continue to keep coming back every Spring. The course was also recently redesigned in 2017 by Tom Doak, one of the most famous modern golf course designers. As a result, Memorial perfectly marries a traditional course layout with modern fairways, green complexes, and hazards. The only negative about it is that it is always crowded. This is just because of how amazing of a deal the course really is. Even later into the evenings, Memorial is still alive with people looking to squeeze in a late nine before the sun sets. While I’m waiting for late tee times, I take advantage of the amazing practice facilities at Memorial, which are undoubtedly the best in Houston.

Taking a step down from Tour quality courses, Wildcat is the next best option. The Highlands course is the main course at Wildcat, with the Lakes course being the less challenging younger brother. Highlands is unique because of its rolling hills that provide the course with elevation changes that are unnatural to Houston. The entire course was built on landfill which allows for the hills to get high enough for views of the entire Houston skyline and NRG stadium. Be warned, though: your driver needs to be ready to go on the Highlands course. All the holes are lined with “natural area” that has doled out more penalties than I can count to me and my friends. Sometimes, I’ll watch helplessly as my ball rolls from the middle of the fairway off into some thick shrubs that make my ball unplayable. Admittedly, everyone should buy a couple of extra balls before playing here. However, this could add to the already hefty price tag at Wildcat. Most people, including myself, would consider the high prices at Wildcat to be the premium paid for a relatively quiet tee sheet. 

For a more classic municipal course, Gus Wortham is a great choice. Especially for beginners, Gus Wortham is the place to ease into playing actual golf courses. Gus Wortham introduces beginners with little experience to intentionally difficult greenside bunkering. To make up for these harder green complexes, Gus Wortham boasts wide-open fairways. Golfers can largely swing as hard and wildly as they’d like, and their drives will be perfectly playable. Occasionally, Gus Wortham hosts regional or even Texas-wide tournaments during which the course plays significantly harder as the impressive maintenance team always grinds day and night to keep the course in great shape.

South of Houston, Pearland Golf Club takes pride in its relaxed, laid-back atmosphere with a tree-lined course that winds through different residential neighborhoods. There aren’t too many standout holes here, but each hole is different as it adapts to the thin, maze-like property. Water is scattered throughout the course to add some difficulty to any straightforward holes. Ultimately, it’s a great course, but beginners should beware of all that water and the houses lining the course. It’s never fun to break someone’s window with a sliced drive. 

Lastly, and most conveniently for Rice students, Hermann Park Golf Course is the ideal place to go for a late afternoon nine or a low-stakes practice round. Hermann is a mere five-minute drive from Rice. If you wanted to, you could even bike or walk to the course. Additionally, the staff at Hermann is generally very nice to Rice students. On multiple occasions, Hermann staff members have offered my friends and me free rounds since we go to Rice. On the plus side for beginners, the course is very short and flat. However, Hermann is not the easiest place to learn, as every fairway has dense trees only about five feet off on both sides of the hole. If your tee shot isn’t perfect, you risk watching your ball trickle under a grove of annoying trees. Conditions here also aren’t great. Hermann often has some temporary greens which make putting the ball impossible, but these conditions help bring the price down for most golfers. This is partially why Hermann tends to draw a less desirable, slow-playing crowd. However, this crowd tends to thin out later in the day.