Golf and Texas retirement markets: what is included, what costs extra and who can play

Summary

Golf shapes where many Texas retirees look. A golf course anchors the marketing of resort towns such as Horseshoe Bay, of age-restricted communities such as Sun City Texas and Kissing Tree, and of lake communities near Granbury and Hideaway. The word golf on a community page can mean four different things to the person who buys a home there: golf that comes with the dues, golf sold as a separate membership, a public course that happens to sit next to the community, or a course that only residents and their guests may play. The four carry very different monthly costs and different rights.

This guide sorts published Texas communities into those four patterns, using each community's own pages, its association or club documents where they are posted, and Census Bureau survey tables for the age profile of the surrounding place. It does not rank courses, rate layouts or compare green fees. Dollar amounts appear only where a club publishes a dated schedule, and the one dated golf schedule among these communities is the 2026 fee schedule of Hide-A-Way Lake Club. Elsewhere the published pages describe what is included or excluded without posting a price, so the guide says that and points the reader to the club.

For how dues, initiation fees, resale fees and special assessments work in general, and what Texas law says about association charges, see the companion guide to HOA, condo, club fees and special assessments. This guide stays with the golf question: what the course is attached to, who controls it, and what to ask before treating a course as part of the price of the house.

Key takeaways

• Golf attaches to a Texas home in four ways: included in dues (Hide-A-Way Lake Club's 2026 schedule says greens fees are included in membership), sold apart from dues (Sun City Texas excludes golf from its dues), open to the public (Heritage Ranch, Robson Ranch Texas) or limited to residents and guests (DeCordova Bend Estates).
• Dollar amounts are reliable only when a club posts a dated schedule. Hide-A-Way's 2026 schedule lists an $11,500 initiation fee and $339.75 in monthly dues for a lot with a house; most other communities describe what is included without posting a price, so ask for the schedule and its effective date in writing.
• Public and semi-public courses give residents discounts or priority that the club can change, so a resident rate is a favor from the club unless a governing document makes it a right. Obtain the resident rate and the tee-time rules before relying on them.
• A course is not the same as an age rule. Pecan Plantation, Hide-A-Way Lake and DeCordova Bend Estates are retirement-heavy all-age communities, while Sun City Texas, Kissing Tree, Robson Ranch Texas and Heritage Ranch are marketed as 55+, and some 55+ communities such as Frisco Lakes are built around pools and courts rather than golf.

Four ways golf can be tied to a Texas home

The first pattern is golf included in the regular charge. The member or owner pays one set of dues, and rounds on the home course carry no green fee. Hide-A-Way Lake Club in Smith County states this in its 2026 fee schedule, and a developer-side site for Pecan Plantation near Granbury says something similar, with qualifications described below. The second pattern is a separate golf charge. The home sits in an association whose dues pay for common areas and non-golf amenities, and golf is bought on top through a membership or green fees. Sun City Texas, Kissing Tree and Robson Ranch Texas describe themselves this way. Comanche Trace near Kerrville sells golf through a ladder of club membership categories.

The third pattern is a public or semi-public course next to the community. Heritage Ranch in Fairview describes its course as open to public golfers as well as members, and Kissing Tree calls its course semi-private. The fourth is a resident-only course. DeCordova Bend Estates on Lake Granbury says its courses are open only to residents and their guests, apart from charity tournaments. Hide-A-Way Lake Club is also a members-only setting, with guests paying greens fees. The patterns overlap, since a community can include some golf in dues and sell premium extras, so the useful habit is to ask four questions in order: who owns the course, who may play it, what does the owner already pay, and what is billed on top.

Ownership is the question that sits under all four. At Hide-A-Way Lake Club the community's homeowners association is the club, governed by a 12-member board. At DeCordova Bend Estates the association's history page says the members own the amenities and share in the cost of operating them. At Comanche Trace the community's pages say the property is owned and operated by Legacy Golf Properties, a company that specializes in club and resort assets. At Horseshoe Bay the golf group activities listed by the city require membership in the Horseshoe Bay Resort Club. A member-owned club answers to the people who pay for it, and an operator-owned club answers to its contract terms, so the two behave differently when costs rise or the course is sold.

Golf included in dues: Hide-A-Way Lake and Pecan Plantation

Hide-A-Way Lake Club's 2026 fee schedule is the clearest dated example among these communities. The schedule says greens fees are included in membership, the swimming pool carries no fee, and the dining room and grill are pay-as-you-go with a $25 monthly food credit. It lists an initiation fee of $11,500. Monthly dues for a membership lot with a house total $339.75, made up of club dues of $282.37, the $25.00 food credit, $16.10 for garbage, $1.41 for compost and $14.87 for fire protection. A membership lot without a house totals $323.65. As an illustration, our arithmetic on the monthly total gives $4,077 a year for a lot with a house, before the initiation fee and any change the board makes. The schedule is a 2026 document, and the club's board sets the amounts, so a later year can differ.

The same schedule shows that included golf is not the same as unlimited free access for everyone in the household circle. Non-family guests pay greens fees of $60 for 18 holes and $30 for 9 holes on weekdays and $70 and $35 on weekends, and carts cost $20.00 per person for 18 holes and $10.00 for 9 holes. It adds that no member-owned riding carts are allowed on any course at any time, so a retiree who owns a cart should expect to rent from the club. The club's amenities page lists 27 holes of golf, and its about page describes a golf shop and driving range headed by a PGA professional.

Membership is also a condition of owning in Hide-A-Way Lake. The club's bylaws qualify owners of membership lots to be elected as members by action of the board, and the membership application process asks each applicant to authorize a background check and submit $40.00 for it. The club's materials say review by the membership committee can take up to 3 weeks and board approval another 15 to 30 days, which can delay a closing. A buyer who wants the included golf therefore also accepts an application process. See Hide-A-Way Lake and Hideaway for the community and city.

Pecan Plantation presents a looser version. The developer-side land-sales site says association dues include access to the Pecan Plantation Country Club with daily access to 18 holes of golf and no additional green fees or food and beverage minimums, and that certain premium amenities are optional add-ons with separate fees. That is the marketer's description rather than the owners association's. The association's own FAQ says members make tee times through its member site or mobile app, may sign up a guest, and pay a daily cart fee and monthly trail fees, with the amounts kept on a separate fee list. A buyer should obtain that fee list and the current dues in writing before assuming that an amenity is included. See Pecan Plantation.

Golf priced apart from association dues

In an age-restricted community built by a national developer, the pattern is usually that dues pay for the common amenities and golf is separate. Del Webb's Sun City Texas HOA page in Georgetown says the association dues cover use of the amenities, excluding golf, maintenance of common areas and other association obligations. In answer to a question about community activities, it says certain activities are paid for outside the dues, including golf, exercise classes, chartered clubs and special events. The developer's community page describes three championship 18-hole golf courses. The page that gives dues carries no effective date, so no dollar figure is repeated here; confirm the current association charge and the golf schedule with the association. See Sun City Texas.

Kissing Tree in San Marcos is explicit in the same direction. Its FAQ says the Kissing Tree Golf Club is semi-private, with priority tee times and discounted rates for residents, and that the course is open to the public with discounts for San Marcos residents and those 55 and better. It states that golf green fees are not included with the purchase of the home or the HOA fees, and points to the club's own site for fees and tee times. The FAQ separately describes a driving range, a short game practice area and putting greens as part of the amenity campus, so some practice facilities sit with the community while the course itself is priced by the club. See Kissing Tree.

Robson Ranch Texas in Denton says in its legal disclaimer that there are additional fees, not included in the HOA fees, for using some of the recreational facilities, and that the golf course and restaurant currently are open to the public. The community page describes 27 holes in three nine-hole courses at the Wildhorse Golf Club and mentions additional benefits that are available only to homeowners. The disclaimer does not say which benefits or what they cost, so a buyer should ask the sales office for the resident schedule, including cart and range charges. See Robson Ranch Texas and Denton.

Comanche Trace shows the membership-ladder version. Its membership page lists a Full Golf Membership with unlimited golf and practice facility privileges, a Non-Resident Golf Membership for people whose homestead exemption or primary residence is outside a 50-mile radius, a Limited Golf Membership with up to 4 rounds of golf a month or 48 rounds a year and tee times restricted to Tuesday through Thursday and after 1:00 PM on Friday, Saturday and holidays, junior executive memberships for couples where both are 45 or younger, and a social membership without golf. Its real-estate amenities page marks the 27 holes of golf, the practice facility, tennis and pickleball, the pool, the fitness center, the clubhouse and the pro shop as member-only amenities. No prices are posted on those pages, so the cost of the house and the cost of belonging to the club have to be asked for separately. See Comanche Trace and Kerrville.

Public and semi-public courses, and what they mean for a resident

Heritage Ranch Golf & Country Club says its Arthur Hills course in Fairview is an 18-hole, par 72 layout measuring 6,988 yards from the back trees, and that public golfers and members alike are welcome. The community has 1,144 homes on 575 acres and is marketed as 55+. Its site shows golf, membership, events and dining as separate sections, so ask the club for its membership schedule and the date that schedule took effect. For a resident, a public course means the tee sheet is shared with visitors who have no tie to the community, and that the club's finances do not depend only on residents. Ask how tee times are divided between residents, members and the public, and whether living in the community requires or merely allows a club membership. See Heritage Ranch and Fairview.

The same question applies at Kissing Tree and Robson Ranch, where the published materials describe public access with resident advantages. Priority tee times and discounts are favors the club grants, not rights that run with the deed, unless a governing document says otherwise. A buyer who plans to golf several times a week should ask for the resident rate in writing and ask whether a resident discount can be withdrawn. The guide to 55-plus communities versus all-age master-planned communities explains why the community's governing documents, not its marketing, set binding rules.

Resort-owned golf is a related arrangement. The City of Horseshoe Bay's Things to Do page lists a Hill Country Golfers group of 150 or more members who play outings at courses across the region, men's and women's 18-hole associations and lessons for new golfers, and says that membership in the Horseshoe Bay Resort Club is required for the golf associations and some other clubs, with the Slick Rock Golf Course pro shop as the contact. In that market golf is a privilege of resort membership as well as a feature of the town, so a buyer should obtain the resort's current membership terms and dues before counting the golf culture as part of the home's cost. See Horseshoe Bay.

Resident-only courses and the guest rules that come with them

DeCordova Bend Estates, an incorporated city and gated community on Lake Granbury, describes an 18-hole course with a par of 70 that plays 6,423 yards from the men's back tees and a nine-hole par-3 course named Durant. Its golf page says both courses are open only to residents and their guests, apart from charity tournaments such as the volunteer fire department tournament each June, and that tee times are made through an online tee-time system. The association gives no fee amounts on that page, so whether club or golf membership carries charges apart from the association's dues is a question for the association. See DeCordova Bend Estates and Granbury.

A resident-only course changes the daily experience in ways a public course does not. Guests are limited by rule, as the Hide-A-Way schedule's guest greens fees show. Cart rules differ: Hide-A-Way prohibits member-owned riding carts on its courses, Pecan Plantation charges a daily cart fee and monthly trail fees, and Hide-A-Way's rules prohibit unlicensed motor vehicles such as golf carts on the community's streets and roads. A retiree who expects to move around a community by cart should confirm the current cart policy for the course and the streets, since both are set by the association and can change by board action or referendum.

Resident-only golf also means that the course is funded by the people who live there. In a member-owned club that is the point, but it makes the club's reserves and capital plans a buyer's business. Ask for the association budget, the reserve schedule and any special assessment history, as the companion guide to club fees explains, and compare the monthly total with the cost of a similar home where golf is optional.

Golf and the age profile of the place

A golf course does not make a community age-restricted, and an age-restricted community does not always have the oldest residents. The Census Bureau's 2019-2023 American Community Survey estimates that 47.9 percent of Horseshoe Bay city residents are 65 or older, with a median age of 64.6, and that 46.9 percent of the Pecan Plantation census-designated place is 65 or older. For the City of Hideaway the estimate is 36.1 percent, and for the City of DeCordova 32.6 percent. Hide-A-Way Lake, DeCordova Bend Estates and Pecan Plantation are all-age communities whose materials describe no age requirement. They are retirement-heavy markets without an age rule, which matters to a buyer who wants younger neighbors or who may host grandchildren for long stays.

Sun City Texas, Kissing Tree, Robson Ranch Texas and Heritage Ranch are marketed as 55+ communities, and the pages for them describe golf among many amenities. Comanche Trace sits between the two groups: its pages market to growing families, empty nesters and weekend retreaters, and its junior executive golf membership is limited to couples aged 45 or younger. These are survey and marketing descriptions, and the binding age rules live in recorded declarations, so the guide to 55+ and all-age communities remains the place to learn how to read them.

The Horseshoe Bay survey profile adds a caution that applies to any resort golf market. The same survey estimates 3,801 housing units in the city, of which 39.5 percent are vacant. The survey does not say why a unit is vacant, so the figure is a signal, not a count, but it is consistent with second homes and seasonal use. A course that fills on weekends in good weather and empties in summer is a different place to live than one with a full-time resident population.

Retirement communities where golf is not the amenity

Not every Texas retirement community is built around a course. Frisco Lakes, the 55+ community on the east shore of Lake Lewisville in Frisco, describes its amenity centers in terms of indoor and outdoor pools, fitness centers, tennis, pickleball and bocce courts, and a large roster of resident clubs, and a golf course is not among the features its association's home page describes. A buyer who plays golf there would pay a separate public or private course for it, and one who does not play avoids paying for a course through dues. See Frisco Lakes and Frisco.

The point generalizes. A community with a course may charge for it indirectly through a higher base assessment, a mandatory membership or a capital program, even when the home buyer never plays. A community without a course may sit near several public ones. When comparing two retirement communities, put the total monthly cost of belonging side by side with a realistic estimate of rounds played, not the headline amenity list.

Questions to ask before treating a course as part of the price

Ask who owns the course and whether the owner can sell it or change its operator. Ask whether membership is required to buy, optional to join or unavailable to residents, and whether an initiation fee is refundable or transfers on resale. Ask which of the amenities are marked member-only, since Comanche Trace marks the clubhouse, pool and fitness center that way along with the golf. Ask what dining minimums or food credits apply, noting that Hide-A-Way builds a $25 monthly credit into its dues while the Pecan Plantation land-sales site says there are no food and beverage minimums.

Ask for the current fee schedule on paper and for its effective date, and treat undated web pages as a starting point only. Ask how tee times are allocated and how far ahead a resident can book. Ask whether guests are allowed, how many, and what they pay. Ask for the cart policy for the course, the trails and the streets. Finally, ask for the declaration, the club bylaws and the association budget, and have the title company confirm whether any assessment appears on the title commitment. The golf is a contract with a club. The house is a separate purchase.

Places where this matters most

• Horseshoe BayA Lake LBJ resort city that straddles Llano and Burnet counties, with the oldest resident profile of any town in the Highland Lakes, a golf-club culture, a Public Improvement District assessment on some lots, and its nearest listed hospital in Marble Falls.
• KerrvilleThe Kerr County seat on the upper Guadalupe River and the western medical hub of the Hill Country, with a regional hospital, a VA medical center, a large older-resident population, and a July 2026 flood whose recovery the city is still documenting.
• GranburyA Hood County city on Lake Granbury, a Brazos River reservoir southwest of Fort Worth, with a historic square, a community hospital and a freestanding emergency room, a city-owned airport, one of the older populations in the Fort Worth area, and a property-tax and water picture that depends on Hood County, Granbury ISD and the lake's drought rules.
• HideawayA small incorporated city in northwestern Smith County that covers a single gated lake-and-golf community run by the Hide-A-Way Lake Club, with an estimated 36.1 percent of residents aged 65 or older, a membership application and dues system, and the hospitals of Tyler about thirteen miles away.
• GeorgetownA Williamson County city on the northern end of the Austin corridor, with a historic town center, a hospital and clinics in town, an age-restricted community on its west side, and a property-tax picture that depends on a layered set of local taxing units.
• San MarcosA Hays County river and university city on the Austin to San Antonio corridor whose retirement case rests on one large 55+ community, a hospital in town, and a flood and aquifer picture that deserves a close look before buying.
• DentonA Denton County university city on I-35 at the northern edge of the Dallas-Fort Worth area, with two hospitals on its I-35 corridor, a commuter rail line, a 55+ golf community on its south side, and a citywide age profile that is young because of its universities.
• FairviewA small incorporated town in Collin County with one of the oldest age profiles among the north Dallas suburbs, a 55+ golf community, a low town tax rate, local shopping, trails and fire service, and no hospital of its own: the nearest hospitals are in Allen and McKinney.
• FriscoA fast-growing Dallas-area suburb that straddles the Collin and Denton county line, with three hospitals in the city, a mostly post-2000 housing stock, a high-cost and high-income profile, a lakeside 55+ community on Lake Lewisville, and a property-tax bill that depends on which of several school districts and which of two appraisal districts a parcel falls in.

Communities where this matters most

• Kissing TreeA gated 1,300-acre master-planned community in San Marcos marketed to people 55 and older, with Traditional homes, Cottages and Villas, a 20-acre amenity campus called The Mix and a semi-private golf course.
• Sun City TexasA large Del Webb active adult community in northwest Georgetown, marketed as 55+, with three championship golf courses, four fitness centers, eight pools and new single-family homes from $340,990.
• Robson Ranch TexasA gated 55+ golf community on the south side of Denton with a 17,500-square-foot clubhouse, 27 holes of golf, a sports and fitness complex, and a homeowners association that publishes its dues and resale fees.
• Heritage RanchA gated 55+ active adult community of 1,144 homes on 575 acres in Fairview, Collin County, built around an Arthur Hills 18-hole golf course and a 24,000-square-foot clubhouse.
• Frisco LakesA 55+ active adult community of more than 3,000 single-story homes on the east shore of Lake Lewisville in Frisco, with three amenity centers and a resident-governed association.
• Comanche TraceA 1,300-acre master-planned golf community just outside Kerrville on the Guadalupe River Valley, with 27 holes, a private club, new and resale homes from the $500s, and no age restriction in its marketing.
• Pecan PlantationA gated golf, marina and airpark community of about 3,000 acres south of Granbury, open to buyers of all ages, with a mostly Hood County location, an owners association and, by the Census estimate, a population in which nearly half are 65 or older.
• Hide-A-Way LakeA planned, gated community of roughly 1,600 or more homes around three lakes and a 27-hole golf course, run by the owner-governed Hide-A-Way Lake Club and incorporated as the City of Hideaway; all-age, with a high share of retirees.
• DeCordova Bend EstatesA gated golf and marina community on Lake Granbury, platted in 1969 and incorporated as the City of DeCordova in the early 2000s, open to buyers of all ages, with an 18-hole championship course and a median age of 54.5 in the Census estimate.

Related guides

• HOA, condo, club and special assessments for Texas retirees: what the charges are and what to ask
• 55-plus communities versus all-age master plans in Texas
• Texas lake retirement markets: water levels, flood and drought exposure, and private versus public lakes
• New construction versus resale homes in Texas