Salado Del Rio at Fort Sam Houston Golf Course
About
Fort Sam Houston is home to two 18-hole courses, Salado Del Rio and La Lorna. The Salado del Rio course is the more scenic of the two, offering spectacular views of the rustic countryside. The historic facility boasts some famous players including Sam Snead and Arnold Palmer. The layout is also more difficult than the other championship course at the club due to the presence of numerous blind shots and water hazards. Both Fort Sam Houstan golf courses feature tight, tree-lined fairways and greens that are medium in both size and speed. In addition to the two golf courses, Fort Sam Houston also houses extensive practice facilities including a practice chipping green and lighted driving range.
Tee | Par | Length | Rating | Slope |
---|---|---|---|---|
Blue | 72 | 6725 yards | 72.6 | 128 |
Blue (W) | 72 | 6725 yards | 79.1 | 135 |
White | 72 | 6248 yards | 70.6 | 125 |
White (W) | 72 | 6248 yards | 76.4 | 130 |
Gold | 72 | 5620 yards | 67.5 | 118 |
Gold (W) | 72 | 5620 yards | 72.9 | 123 |
Red | 71 | 5235 yards | 65.6 | 115 |
Red (W) | 71 | 5235 yards | 70.7 | 118 |
Hole | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Out | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | In | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Blue M: 72.6/128 W: 79.1/135 | 349 | 395 | 535 | 398 | 151 | 409 | 356 | 369 | 385 | 3347 | 611 | 190 | 475 | 203 | 542 | 419 | 388 | 205 | 345 | 3378 | 6725 |
White M: 70.6/125 W: 76.4/130 | 339 | 366 | 508 | 387 | 123 | 396 | 336 | 341 | 362 | 3158 | 538 | 149 | 442 | 173 | 514 | 413 | 358 | 184 | 319 | 3090 | 6248 |
Gold M: 67.5/118 W: 72.9/123 | 335 | 345 | 482 | 225 | 121 | 343 | 301 | 322 | 298 | 2772 | 549 | 126 | 438 | 148 | 464 | 340 | 319 | 141 | 323 | 2848 | 5620 |
Handicap | 11 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 17 | 7 | 13 | 9 | 15 | 2 | 18 | 6 | 14 | 4 | 8 | 10 | 16 | 12 | |||
Par | 4 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 36 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 36 | 72 |
Handicap (W) | 5 | 3 | 1 | 15 | 17 | 9 | 13 | 7 | 11 | 2 | 18 | 6 | 16 | 4 | 8 | 12 | 14 | 10 |
Course Details
Rentals/Services
Practice/Instruction
Policies
Food & Beverage
SnacksAvailable Facilities
ClubhouseAccolades
-
Golf Advisor: Top Military Courses in the U.S. (2021 #6)
Reviews
Salado Rio Fort Sam Army base
Fort Sam has 2 courses side by side. Pace was a little slow today as they were having a tournament on the La Loma course. Course was in great shape considering San Antonio is in a drought at the moment. Since it is on a military base, civilians will be required to fill out a form and show proper ID. Military and retired military just need to show ID. Great courses for the money
The course was in good condition.However you need to have an sponsor (a retired or active service man) or a pass from the base to be able to play.
Excellent Course - Great Value
Great value course for a great cost. Got a Hot Deal and thoroughly enjoyed my round, playing some of my best golf. It has been drought like conditions the last 6 weeks and the course is holding up great. The greens were not too fast or slow. 90% of the fairways were well taken care of. They were plenty of opportunities for ice cold water from coolers at every other tee box. Unfortunately the course does not go by the club house after the first 9 and the 1 vending machine was not on. They do have a 2nd course La Loma that does go by the club house after the first 9 and that is in great shape too.
Don’t Waste Your Time
The greens were very bumpy and slow. Some of the worst rolling greens I have played in a long time. The fairways were hit and miss, some ok, others a mixture of grass and weeds. Traps were mostly dirt, not sand.
For the money we paid to play this course there are many better options in SA. Will not plan to play there ever again.
Easy course, bad conditions
I’m a member here as I’m in the Air Force. I’m relatively new here and I’ve been told the course is normally in good shape, however it just isn’t right now. Can’t tell what’s fairway and what’s not from the tee box, tee boxes apart from hole 1 are in bad shape. Greens aren’t great at all, the course is pretty easy and can go low here. Pace of play can get pretty slow with all the retirees. Really hoping the course can get into better shape. Would be a great value if they do.
Favorite Course
This is my favorite Course in San Antonio. The Staff is always friendly, even w/ GolfNOW Reservations. Pace of play today was excellent-- the Wednesday Marshall was doing a good job out there. Salado del Rio is forgiving if playing to the course architect, but not if trying to cut corners. Paying attention and playing to the layout is rewarded by a generous number of pars. I was hitting 3-ft., 4-ft., and the occasional 8- and 10-ft. putts all day. LOVE SDR!
Nice Layout
Lot of elevation changes and each hole is unique.
Some of the fairways are a bit narrow.
Course needs some warm weather to thicken the fairways and start greening up the greens.
Enjoyed the day.
Dont bother playing this course!
So months ago I went to play this course because I saw them on Golfnow. However, when I got there the attendant (who was quite rude I might add) told me that I needed to be military personnel to play the course. I was confused because they were on Golfnow. Being upset I just left and didn't feel like arguing. I called about 3 weeks ago and spoke to a Joseph who was the manager and he said that if anyone tells me that again, to call him and let him know because that was not right. I went the following day and played with no issues. Just this past week on the 28th I went to play again, however, the same rude attendant was working again and told me that it was military personnel only again. I asked to speak to a manager and a woman came out saying that the "General" says only military can play on the course. Here it is a week and a half later and they are still advertised on Golfnow not advising the public of this inconvenience. Please do not bother to book on this site or go in person unless you feel like wasting your time.
There Has Been a Major Change at Both Fort Sam Golf Courses
Effective Monday, March 4, 2019, the 36 holes at Fort Sam Houston are no longer open to civilians without prior issued permits.
In order to maintain tighter security at this large base you cannot just walk on here and play.
There will be a pass/permit issued to all non-DOD personnel after submission of an application with photo ID...
We had a tee time with Golf Now but were not allowed to play golf.
Of course, Golf Now knew nothing about the policy change.
There are good layouts here but they NEED more maintenance.
We played here last month. There was hardly anyone on the course so we had a 2.5 hour
round. They have so much maintenance to catch up on here. The weeds are winning the fairway battle, the greens were spotty and bumpy, and the tees were terrible.
Lack of Maintenance is a Blemish
We really like this course and Joseph the pro shop manager is a very friendly guy.
This is a historic Tillinghast layout that’s close to 100 years old.
This time there does not appear to be much if any maintenance being performed regularly here.
The vast majority of the greens are messed up and the tees are not mowed. There is an infestation of weeds everywhere, much of the fairways have little or no grass.
Hole #4 through #8 you play the old course around ancient trees and then holes #9 to #18 you are wide open.
#17 is a tough par 3 with the green protected by a large berm and then a wide bunker. It plays into the wind to add to the challenge.
We like this old course and hope that the US government will do a better job of maintaining this historic gem.
Enjoyed this course
If your in the San Antonio area bot the La Loma and Salada courses at Fort Sam Houston should be on your list.
A very pleasant surprise
This course was more of a challenge then La Loma, course conditions were very good for this time of year. Be prepared to put the driver away and manage your way around this course. Definitely one of our favourites so far in San Antonio.
Bad Management
I showed up to the course 2hrs prior to Tee time to hit some range balls. Was told that my golf now purchase was invalid because they had 3 tournaments going on and I should've called them first before setting my tee time on golf now. They stated that they do not work well with golf now and do not always honor golf now purchases. I was able to get on the course later than my actual tee time but we were shamed by the tournament players and by staff because "we were playing to slow".. we were playing with 4 and at a 10 min per hole pace which is 5 faster than normal hole speed. We were pushed off of hole 4 and on to 10 making us miss out on 5 holes. They did not advertise that they were hosting any tournaments on their website. I checked prior to scheduling my tee time with golf now. This is not the only issue I've had with this course. I am active duty military and they say we have primary before any other player or tournament which is the only reason why we were even able to get on the course. If this was not the case we would've eaten our money and turned around. This is extremely poor management on their part. The course is decent, greens are slow and no break in the ball. Fairways give a slight challenge but very playable. This is on Salado Del Rio course. Hope this review helps. Good luck with management if your not a member and haven't played their for 20 years. Cheers!
Don’t play if you are not military
Tee time 8:33 am, showed up and asked for ID. Guy says uh oh, you need to be vetted to play here. Sends us to to visitors center, but turns out the wrong visitors center (10 miles from course). Wrong visitors center told us address of right visitors center (5 miles away from wrong one). Stated the wait and vetting process would be 1-2 hours.
It would have been nice to know the “paper work” it states you need to fill out in the agreement, was not on site. Also, if the front desk knew where to send you to do this “paper work”.
We didn’t even play, would have been dark by the time we finished getting vetted. Worst golf now purchase EVER!
This has challenges.
The course was a little dry due probably of this winter time thus the greens are often uncontrollable.
Poorly maintained course
Course conditions poor. Bunkers in very poor shape. Signage missing in several locations so you are having to guess which way to go to find the next hole. Many holes had no signage. Generally a poor, unforgiving layout, and poorly maintained. Definitely will not play this course again.