Kissing Tree Golf Club

This is a expansive golf course, with some massive fairways, nice elevation changes, and big segmented greens that make this a true second-shot track. The grass is mature and the course is grown in nicely. This is a very fun golf course that does not beat you up. Large fairways that take advantage of some hilly terrain make driving easier here than most courses. The greens are large and in nice shape, but their defense is the many tiers and segments they contain. Hitting to the correct section of the green is the key to scoring.

This is a 55+ real estate community that doesn't have many houses on the course, yet. The design has some extremely long drives between some holes, so it's not a good walking course.

It's a short course at 6600 yards from the tips. There's a nice mix of short and long holes, and the finishing hole is a TRUE driveable Par 4, slighly downhill and only 287 from the back tees. Miss right and you're wet. It's a fun finish to a fun course.

Great course, and I suspect it will only get better as it has more time to grow in. Course just opened last year and I think it took them a little longer than expected to get the greens and fairways where they wanted them (played it last year and it had a little ways to go), but it’s really improved since the last time I played it. Look forward to coming out again!

In the area for a long weekend and found this course on Golf Advisor. The course was in excellent shape from tee to greens. It has some some short par 4's and long par 5's. I definitely want to play it again. Staff was fabulous.

This course is in phenomenal condition tee to green.

I was pretty happy with my round here. Cart, range and water are all free. Course has very large fairways with very few bunkers or challenging obstacles. Hardest part was the greens. I shot 9 over and I am a usual 13-15 handicap. Very very well conditioned course.

For months, I've been looking forward to finally playing Kissing Tree because 1) it's a new course less than an hour from home and 2) it's a Troon property and every Troon course I've played so far has been outstanding. Admittedly, I was bit skeptical of the courses length and location in a 55+ community... but still had to go!

So let's get this out of the way... on this particular day, it was 60ish degrees with sustained winds in the high teens and even angrier gusts. Not ideal. Also, the course warned us that conditions were not up to their standards when we booked the tee time. In fact, they told us the course would be closing for all of April to recover.

I'm not holding any of that against them. I have full faith they'll get the green back in great shape.

The good:

- very friendly staff

- nice practice area

- nice property in general

The less good:

- despite being a short course, it's not walkable

The layout of the course is extremely fun. There are a handful of short par 4s that force you to make a decision beyond just trying to bomb one down to the green. Number 9 is an especially fun hole, with bunkers and trees on the left and water hugging the right side and back of the green. An accurate tee shot is required.

The longer par 4s and par 5s have interesting elevation and terrain typical of hill country golf. This provides welcome variety throughout the round.

This course has a lot of promise, and I can't wait to try again when it's better weather and better conditions. Four stars is a little strong, but three seems too negative for a course that I definitely think is worth your time. So 4 it is.

New courses aren't opening very often around Austin and especially a public one that is pretty affordable. There's a lot to like about the new Troon-managed Kissing Tree. It's part of a 55 & over community but the course is public and a pretty solid value at about $45-75 right now. The layout is really scenic and it's senior-oriented in the fact that there aren't many bunkers, greens are receptive and it tips out at 6,500 yards. It's on the hilly side of I-35 with nice views, especially on the back nine and the par-5 14th hole. The layout has a handful of short par 4s, including the first, 9th and 18th holes. Three of the four par 3s played pretty long the day we played it.

Two curious moves: it's not a walkable routing (do Boomers not want to walk the golf course?) and the opening routing is a drivable par 4, then a 3, 5, 3, 5. Not sure what that will mean for pace of play on busy days. For now, the course isn't too crowded and check-in is a little strange until the clubhouse opens. But this is definitely a layout worth seeing if you live from San Antonio to Austin.

Kissing Tree is less than 6,600 yards from tbe back tees, which means it's plenty of golf course for 99 percent of all players. Bravo, Gary Stephenson, for not designing a course at 7,300 yards so it can bid for top-level tournaments. Nope, that's not what the folks at Kissing Tree, a new senior community in San Marcos, had in mind. They built a course that's not only senior friendly (it can play as short as 4,000 yards), but playable by almost everyone.

The holes are memorable and different. The greens are large and certainly undulated, but everyone can get the ball to them since there are opportunities to putt to them from off the green. Yet, those with a great short game will still have an advantage if they can pitch the ball to some difficult hole locations.

There are also some elevated tees, a few water hazards and a smattering of bunkers that don't overwhelm the golf course. In short, it's a course I wouldn't mind playing every day. Most of all, it's just plain fun. Add all the other stuff you can do near the course like Pickle Ball, horseshoes, bocce and tennis, and you've got a great setup.

Recently opened course in upper scale senior housing development. Lots of topography and beautiful 20 mile vistas. Large slick greens with generous landing areas. Very fun course that doesn’t beat you up. Plays 6600 yards from tips but you will have plenty of beefy second shot holes with a long iron. Managed by Troon. Has comfy carts with gps screens. I will definitely play again.