Cordillera Ranch

The sporting activities at the Clubs of Cordillera Ranch are many – and they include athletics, tennis, fishing, shooting and equestrianism – but it’s the Jack Nicklaus-designed golf course that takes pride of place within a massive 8,700-acre residential property in the heart of Texas Hill Country.

Many of the holes take advantage of the dramatic elevation changes available on such a rugged property, playing over and through limestone canyons or around cascading stretches of water, and thankfully, the housing units on the site are positioned discreetly in the background, well away from the fairways.

Holes that encapsulate the spirit of Cordillera Ranch include the right doglegged 613-yard 5th, where a creek splits the fairway and a waterfall backdrops the green and the 172-yard 16th, which plays across a rocky canyon to a green that’s cut into a rock formation, creating a little island between two natural waterfalls.