Hermann Park Golf Course — Attraction in Houston

UPDATE: 7/5/23: Played today in the furnace, was walking, my riding companions had enough after 14 holes and bailed, 18 was on my walk in and nobody on it so I played t18 also. The greens were their usual slow self, perhaps a little slower than usual because of aeration last week, but other than the speed, the greens were in decent shape except a big spot at the back of #3 and a spot on #9. The fairways, which can get a little bare due to heavy play and lack of rain, are in about as good of shape as I have ever seen them. The starters are now getting a little better about pairing up players rather than letting singles and twosomes go out, which is helping the pace of place. My other prior comments are still about the same, except it is now getting very difficult to get a weekday morning tee time at Wortham, and Memorial remains next to impossible.

UPDATE: I was at the range today, 1/9, - the range balls were worthless, almost bald and mostly muddy. I didn't even finish hitting them. Don't waste your time on the range until they get some new range balls.

Certain aspects of this course rate 5 stars for me, others aspects bring the score down. The Pros: For me, a retired senior who walks the course and can play during the week it is a good value $14 green fee. Compared to Memorial which costs me $15 and is a PGA tour level course, this is not a great value, but it is almost impossible to get a tee time at Memorial (because it is probably one of the best values in the country). It is less than two miles from my house, easy and free parking (compared to Memorial where you have to pay to park in their lot). I have found the staff to be helpful and courteous. Unlike Memorial and Wortham where they act like they are doing you a favor to use the course (even though they are owned by the city.) It is an easy walking course, on most holes a short walk from green to next tee. Easy to get on with short notice during the week, especially if you make a tee time reservation, which is easy to do online once you enroll in their online reservation system. The Not so Great: The course is usually not in the best of shape, probably because it is open 7 days a week (excluding major holidays) so it gets pounded. Also, it attracts a lot of golfers who don't seem to know how to repair pitch marks or divots (the latter problem is exacerbated by the large number of walkers and the absence of on course sand bottle racks.) Greens are VERY slow, and can frequently be bumpy, ragged or have bare spots. When compared to Wortham or Memorial they are disappointing. Practice facility is marginal. The driving part has been improved, with shade covers and fans, and they seem to keep the mats fairly well updated. But the range balls are often allowed to become very worn before they are replaced. Putting green is very small. Chipping practice area is terrible. No practice bunker. It is a pretty course, lots of beautiful trees, but the fairways are close to one another, and there are a lot of high handicappers that play there, so it in not unusual to have balls from adjacent fairways end up in your fairway. General Comments: Pace of play on weekdays is usually just over 4 hours, which is fine for me since I walk the course. If you are a rider, you might find it a little slow since there are lots of walkers, as it is a great walking course. Beverage cart service is erratic, doesn't matter to me, I am water guzzler. But if you like the cart person to come by every 5 or 6 holes, you may be disappointed. On the whole, it does not compare to Memorial or Wortham in almost any respect, including value. But you can get a tee time easily, which is darn near impossible at Memorial, and getting hard to...

I like to think myself an aficionado of inexpensive golf courses. Hermann Park while not terrible would not be my first choice of places to play.

We went on a Sunday with a 3:00 tee time. The place was about as jam packed as I've ever seen a course. The line of carts at the first tee was pretty long and we didn't end up teeing off until 3:30. Throughout the rest of the day, it felt like we were in a golf sandwich. It was a case of hurry up and wait for a good portion of the afternoon. I'm not terribly good, so I definitely don't like the crowd. You can't really fault them though for a course located in the loop being popular and crowded. Just know before you go.

The holes are pretty tightly laced and its a municipal course so there's a lot of errant golf balls and errant golfers trucking out into abutting fairways. Additionally, playing out here always makes me nervous because they have walking trails that go right alongside the fairways. I'd rather not worry about hitting a wayward shot into a baby in a stroller.

The greens are in pretty pitiful condition. When we played, one of the greens of a Par 3 was so bit up with fungus that they put the hole out in the fairway. On the 18th green I had a long putt opportunity, but unfortunately my lie was obstructed by the rut of what looked like somebody had been doing doughnuts in their cart on the green.

The beers are relatively reasonably priced at $3, but the course uses cart girls and they only have one or two. We saw her twice during our four hour round and I would have enjoyed the opportunity to have a few more drinks.

On the upside, the course scenery is good and it has good use of bunkers and water. The greens while poorly kept, offer varying slopes for a degree of difficulty. Also the whole thing will run you about $40 normal weekend hours, $30 twilight. That's not too shabby.

I think that there are less expensive, better kept, less crowded courses in town. But Hermann Park isn't the worst place to play and if you're nearby then I wouldn't discourage anybody going. As long as you go into it knowing what to expect, its...

I enjoy playing at this golf course. I didn't give it 5 starts for two reasons, first out of all the times i have played here (which is around 7) I do not see the cart lady more than twice in 18 holes. Most the time I see her once. The other reason is that I don't like how you do not see the club house again until the 18th hole. So if you want to take a break or get a hot dog after 9 holes you can't without losing your spot and driving the cart past a couple holes. Other than that, as long as you can hit the fairway 80% of the time you should be okay to play here. There isn't really a rough separating one fairway from another, just a line of trees. So expect to see people hitting from your fairway to get back to their hole. There is a lot of water on this course so if you can't hit over water hazards expect to lose balls in the water. Pace of play here really depends on the day. I have been there at times with no group in-front or behind me, and other times when i have had to wait 5-10 min at every hole to tee off. The fairways and greens are regularly maintained. The course itself is not very long so a lot of people tee off the blue instead of white if they have a strong drive. I do not have a strong drive so i stay at the white. They have a free GPS app range finder too. Other than that enjoy the course! Grab a cold one and...