Palmilla Beach Resort and Golf Community — Attraction in Port Aransas

The course itself is in Incredible shape. The greens are in excellent shape and they are uniquely soft. Playing the course is a blast and it’s beautiful out on every hole - very well up kept. Staff inside is friendly. As a whole the course is very cool. And if you can go during the week when there’s not a ton of people it’s a great time.

If I did this review last year it would’ve been 5 stars easily. In fact playing this course is one of the things I looked forward to most when visiting Port Aransas the last couple years. The disappointing part is that the price went up SIGNIFICANTLY the past year. I’d played this course 10x since it was reduced to 9 holes and every time it was either $45 or $50 with no added tax (most recently in December 2023). But then I went the other day and it was $70 plus tax (ended up around $78) for 9 holes!! $120 is the cost for 18 which is just playing the same 9 twice.

Supposedly it used to be a very nice upscale 18 hole course pre-Hurricane Harvey (never played it then). After the hurricane they reduced this course to 9 holes and it was supposed to be a cheaper, more laid back course (obviously not having a full 18 holes lends itself to that). They allow you to play barefoot which is rly cool on that grass. And $50 with a cart and range balls was affordable and I would often play multiple times per trip.

So it was Super disappointing to have it go up that much for no real reason. Keep in mind not only is it 9 holes, but it’s also no Par 5s - 5 par 4s, 4 par 3s. So you’re playing this course really quick for $80. Also the course was EMPTY this time and tee times were wide open all week - I’m sure going up in cost hasn’t helped business. With the bar and restaurant nearby you’d think you’d want to draw more ppl and attract attention.

Anyways if money is not an issue then this place is awesome. If you’ve never played this course it’s worth playing 9. I love everything about it and I like supporting Port A businesses. And I get it, inflation has hit everyone - Just disappointed they would charge that much. Could’ve gone up a little and not done a 50% price hike. I’ll still be playing here but just not as much anymore...

I want to put this review in context so it will hopefully help others. I made a tee time yesterday for this morning. I travel to a town that is 60 miles away so to play here requires a small amount of planning. Now this morning I was driving to the golf course and the pro shop did call to notify me that it is walking only, since it hasn't rained overnight this would have been good information to know when I made the tee time because the previous day would have been just as wet and would've been walking only as well. Now to the course conditions I understand with a rain saturated course you can't mow it but here is another place management failed, I paid the same fee as if the course was in great shape. Correction minus $20 for waking only (no cast fee). Now to the reason I walked off after 6 holes, the mosquitos. Granted, the person in the shop advised me that spray is very necessary I had sprayed the whole can onto just myself after 5 holes. And even after the can had been applied it still didn't stop them. I'm am very disappointed that I spent $79 for an unmown, mosquito infested torture 1/3 round of golf. Lastly, I played this course when it first opened and the whole course was mown like the run up areas are now it was the reason I would drive 60 miles to play it. I can tell it isn't maintained with the same attention to detail. Even without being mown I can see the outline of the fairway which doesn't have the charm of the way the course was originally set-up. I would brag to my friends that the whole course was like hitting from the fringe this is something I can no longer tell my friends when I travel back home. Long story short, ask questions when you make your tee time, and I do feel cheated to pay normal fee for subpar conditions....

Golf course was in superb condition! The staff at the club house and the beverage cart were courteous and friendly.

The reason for the 1 star rating can be credited to the starter, Mike. At the VERY FIRST hole, Mike decided to come and berate my friends and I. We were the 8:40 tee time. Mike drives up to us, slows the pace of play down, and yells at me saying we were playing to slow and that we have been on hole 1 for a “half hour”. All of this occurred at 8:47. I’m not the best golfer but at a 7.8 HCP I’m not the worst golfer in the world either. I just wanted to show some of my veteran friends a good time at what I consider to be an easy and fun course for beginners. I guess Mike wanted to feel big and strong that day? Despite Mike trying to ruin my day with his ignorance. I had a good time.

We ended up finishing the round 20 minutes ahead of pace, who would’ve thought? Finishing that fast despite Mike playing a couple holes with the 2 young girls in front of us. Honestly, seeing him tee off and approach the green infuriated me as that slowed down our pace a great deal. We probably could’ve finished 30 minutes ahead of pace if Mike took his job seriously instead of just being out there to play some free golf.

Sorry everyone for the essay, but Mike was so awful to my friends and I. I will not be returning to...