Memorial Park, the Golf Club of Houston, BlackHorse and Gus Wortham, with a rental home in the Heights, are the plan. Houston's 17% hotel tax, Memorial Park's visitor rate and a car for courses spread 20 to 45 minutes apart are what push the total up.
Plan my golf trip for me: budget, dates and courses →Starts with a sample trip. Change any number to match yours. Set up your travel profile to fill these in for you.
Compare hotels in the Heights →Pick each course you'll play (one round per golfer) and we'll price it for your group. Prices are per golfer for 18 holes, with the season and time of day you choose. Your picks set “Green fees per golfer (whole trip)” in your budget.
418 courses around Houston that take public tee times, by city, with peak green fees. Private member clubs are left out.
The city course that hosts the PGA Tour's Houston Open, about six miles west of downtown, with big Doak greens and a visitor rate well above what locals pay.
thegolfnewsnet.com dallasnews.comHouston's oldest course, restored by the Houston Golf Association, with hillier ground than most of the city and short, tricky par 4s along Brays Bayou.
dallasnews.com dallasnews.comBuilt on an old landfill and oil field south of downtown, with lakes, rolling ground and views of the skyline and NRG Stadium.
golflink.com islands.comWildcat's second course, a bit shorter, with raised tees and greens over the same rolling ground.
islands.com golfpass.comA cheap, easy-to-reach city course about 15 minutes from downtown, close to the Museum District and the Texas Medical Center.
islands.com greenfeetracker.comRees Jones layout that hosted the Houston Open from 2006 to 2018, with wide fairways and lots of water; it is not a walking course.
inkl.com greenfeetracker.comCopies of famous holes, including Augusta's Amen Corner and TPC Sawgrass's island green, about 15 minutes from Bush Intercontinental.
dallasnews.com golflink.comA newer course on rolling, pine-covered ground by the San Jacinto River, with zoysia fairways and greens, about 30 minutes from Bush Intercontinental Airport.
dallasnews.com dallasnews.comThe pick of BlackHorse's two courses, with holes routed through an old quarry and a risk-reward par-4 16th.
golflink.com texasmonthly.comThe sister course at BlackHorse, where holes 4 to 6 wrap around a lake and wetlands; book both for a 36-hole day.
golflink.com texasmonthly.comA wooded course with ponds and lakes that reviewers call country-club quality for a public price; check-in is at a modest temporary building, not a clubhouse.
dallasnews.com dallasnews.comA former Champions Tour stop just north of Houston, with pines and water and five sets of tees.
dallasnews.com golflink.comA city course built around 50 acres of wetlands with no homes on it, about an hour south of Houston and a strong value.
dallasnews.com islands.comAn upscale daily-fee course through pines and lakes, laid out as three six-hole loops that each return to the clubhouse.
dallasnews.com golflink.comA links-style course with rolling ground, hardwoods and wetlands along the West Fork of the San Jacinto River, and one of the area's better values.
golfpass.com golfpass.comGalveston's city course by the Moody Gardens resort, with seaside paspalum grass and water on most holes.
moodygardensgolf.com islands.comA premium daily-fee Greg Norman course on the west side, out past Katy.
dallasnews.com greenfeetracker.comA city-run course east of Houston with rolling ground, tall pines and holes along a river, often named the area's best bargain.
greenfeetracker.com blog.golfnow.comThe sample is 4 travelers for 4 nights. Your plan ($7,356) covers the main costs most people budget for, the ones you enter on the left. Costs people forget ($2,893, about 39% more for this trip) are the fees, taxes, tips and extras listed in the calculator. Prices were last checked on October 17, 2026.
Share of the $10,249 real cost. Nights and travelers multiply most of these costs, so changing either one moves the total the most.
12 of this trip's numbers link to a published price or rate. The rest are our estimates, and each one says what it is based on. You can also read how we calculate every trip.
| Cost | Default | Where it comes from |
|---|---|---|
| Green fees per golfer (whole trip) | $550 per traveler | Four peak-spring rounds with cart: Memorial Park $160 (non-resident weekend green fee up to $140 plus about $20 cart, Golf News Net, Mar 2026), Golf Club of Houston Tournament $175 (weekend with cart, Green Fee Tracker, checked May 2026), BlackHorse South about $150 (GolfLink estimate with cart; Texas Monthly range up to $160) and Gus Wortham $64 ($47 weekend walking rate plus $17 shared-cart fee, HGA rate page). Total $549, rounded to $550. Judgment call. Source |
| Rental home per night (whole group) | $400 a night | Houston short-term rentals average about $233-$286 a night across all sizes (BNBCalc, 12 months to Sept 2026); rates peak in June and are lowest in January. $400 for a 4-bedroom home in the Heights is our estimate. Judgment call. Source |
| Airfare per person | $489 per traveler | US DOT (BTS) average domestic itinerary fare for Houston Bush Intercontinental (IAH), Q2 2026: $488.87 (Q1 2026 was $465.76). Houston Hobby (HOU) was $421.71 in Q2 2026. Source |
| Food per person, per day | $80 per traveler, per day | GSA FY2027 meals and incidentals (M&IE) rate for Houston (Harris, Fort Bend and Montgomery counties): $80 a day. Source |
| Cost | Default | Where it comes from |
|---|---|---|
| Checked bag fees | $90 per traveler | Major US airlines charge about $35 to $50 for a first checked bag each way, so about $90 round trip. Source |
| Golf bag fees | $110 per traveler | American, Delta, United and Southwest treat a golf bag as a standard checked bag; a second bag is $55 each way. Source |
| Shipping your clubs Off by default | $108 per traveler | Ground shipping for a golf bag starts around $54 each way. Source |
| Lodging taxes | 17% of the rental home (whole group) | Taxes on stays of 29 nights or fewer in the City of Houston: Texas state hotel occupancy tax 6% + City of Houston hotel occupancy tax 7% + Harris County hotel occupancy tax 2% (incorporated areas) + Harris County-Houston Sports Authority 2% = 17% (Airbnb's list of taxes it collects, matching the city and county rates). Unincorporated Harris County is 6% + 7% county + 2% = 15%; Montgomery County towns such as The Woodlands or Conroe differ. Source |
| Rental car | $85 a day | KAYAK at IAH (Nov 2026): SUVs about $68 a day, large cars about $62 and vans about $97; October is the priciest month overall. $85 a day for a minivan or large SUV in spring. Judgment call. Source |
| Tolls and toll-pass fees | $15 a day | TollGuru: typical Houston daily toll routes run about $5-$15 with an EZ TAG; drivers without a tag pay 50% more plus processing fees, and rental-car toll programs add their own daily fee. $15 a day is our estimate. Judgment call. Source |
| Drinks on the course | $80 per traveler | Our estimate of about $20 a round for beverage-cart drinks and snacks. Judgment call. Our estimate |
| Golf balls | $55 per traveler | A dozen Titleist Pro V1 balls lists at $55. Source |
| Tips for bag drop and cart staff | $20 per traveler | A few dollars at bag drop and the turn; we use $5 a round. Judgment call. Source |
| Side bets and prizes | $50 per traveler | Our estimate for skins, team bets and a small trophy. Our estimate |
| Lessons and extras you picked Off by default | $0 for the trip | Set by the extras you pick in the tee-time planner. Our estimate |
| Travel insurance | 6% of your plan | Squaremouth says a comprehensive plan averages about 6% of the trip cost, usually 4% to 10%. Source |
| Pre-trip shopping | $60 for the trip | Our estimate for travel-size toiletries, sunscreen and small things bought before a trip. Our estimate |
| Pet boarding or sitter | $50 a day, if you check Pets | Dogster puts regular kennel boarding at about $35 to $85 a night. Overnight sitters at home cost more. Source |
For 4 golfers spending 4 nights in peak spring season, with four rounds each, a rental home, flights and food, plan on about $7,360. Once you add golf bag fees, lodging taxes, rental car, tolls and toll-pass fees, drinks on the course, balls, tips and side bets, it's closer to $10,250, or about $2,560 each. Use the tee-time planner above to price the courses you want.
Yes. It's a city course, and tee times can be booked online. Visitors pay much more than Houston residents: up to $140 on weekends and holidays, with a cart about $20 more. Residents pay $21 to $38. Source
Spring. The PGA Tour's Houston Open was played March 26-29, and the LPGA's Chevron Championship moved there for April 23-26. Check the course calendar before planning a spring trip around it. Source
Summer and winter. From June to August highs reach the low 90s, so late rounds are the bargain. Gus Wortham's weekend walking rate drops from $47 to $39 after 3 pm, and Houston courses stay open all year. Source
Bush Intercontinental (IAH) is on the north side, close to the Golf Club of Houston, Tour 18 and the courses toward The Woodlands. Hobby (HOU) is south of downtown and usually cheaper: about $422 on average, against about $489 at Bush. Source