If you haven’t been to Great Hills Country Club lately, you might not recognize it the next time you see it.
The member-owned private club in Northwest Austin is undergoing a $22.3 million transformation that includes a complete golf course redesign, new irrigation, expanded practice facilities, clubhouse improvements, new dining concepts and expanded racquet amenities. The project is scheduled to culminate with the redesigned golf course reopening in spring 2027.
For Episode 3 of On the Move with Nicole Cooper, Barlow and I went straight into the construction zone to see what's happening—and talk about why I think Great Hills could be one of the Austin golf clubs to watch over the next few years.
Why Great Hills Country Club Is Interesting Right Now
You can't talk about Great Hills without starting with location.
The club sits in Northwest Austin near the Arboretum, Highway 183, Loop 360 and Mopac, with the Domain and North Austin's major employment corridor nearby. Great Hills describes itself as being in the heart of the Arboretum area and minutes from downtown.
That's important because Austin has a simple golf problem: we aren't creating new private golf courses inside the city.
There isn't exactly an extra 150 acres sitting around Central Austin waiting for somebody to turn it into a country club.
So when an established club in a strong location makes a major investment in its course and amenities, I pay attention.
What's Changing at Great Hills?
This isn't a cosmetic refresh.
Great Hills members approved the Great Hills 2030 master plan, representing the largest reinvestment in the club's 50-plus-year history. The project includes a full redesign of the 18-hole golf course by Texas golf architect Chet Williams.
The golf improvements include:
- Redesigned greens and bunkers
- Signature-hole changes
- A completely new irrigation system replacing infrastructure that was roughly 50 years old
- Expanded short-game practice facilities
- An improved driving range
- Covered practice bays with TrackMan/TopTracer technology
- Greater water capture and storage
- Changes designed to improve playability, sustainability and course conditions
The redesigned greens are expected to be nearly twice their previous size in some cases, creating significantly more potential pin locations.
And Chet Williams has made a pretty bold prediction: he believes the redesigned 13th hole has the potential to become one of the best par 4s in Texas.
We'll be coming back to see about that one.
It's Becoming More Than a Golf Club
One of the things that stood out to me during our visit was that Great Hills isn't putting all $22.3 million into golf.
The club is also investing in the lifestyle surrounding it.
Plans include dedicated pickleball courts, expanded racquet facilities, updated dining, a family-oriented dining space and a grab-and-go café with coffee, smoothies and outdoor seating.
I particularly love the café concept.
Country clubs traditionally revolve around the golf shop, locker room and formal dining room. Creating a casual place where someone can finish tennis, grab a smoothie, meet a friend for coffee or bring the kids changes how people actually use the club.
And that's part of a much bigger shift I'm seeing in Austin private clubs.
Golf still matters—a lot—but the best clubs are increasingly becoming lifestyle clubs.
If only one person in a household plays golf, the membership becomes much easier to justify when everyone else has something they genuinely want to use.
Great Hills Is Member-Owned
Here's another important distinction.
Great Hills has been member-owned since 1985.
That means members have a voice in the direction of the club rather than all major decisions coming from a national corporate owner.
The Great Hills 2030 plan itself was approved by stockholding members, which makes this renovation particularly interesting: the membership chose to make a major long-term investment in the future of its own club.
I Have Some History With This Golf Course
This one is personal for me.
Before UT Golf Club existed, Great Hills was one of the courses we used while I played golf at the University of Texas, and the Betsy Rawls Invitational was played here.
And Great Hills has hills.
Real hills.
We walked this golf course carrying our bags, and there were places on the back nine where getting from the green to the next tee was practically its own endurance event.
There's a reason the club uses gas-powered carts.
Coming back now and seeing the course stripped down to dirt while knowing what used to be there is pretty wild. I remember the old course. Now I get to watch the next version being built.
Who Should Consider Great Hills Country Club?
Great Hills makes the most sense to me for someone who wants the combination of serious golf + an active club + Northwest Austin convenience.
The club offers golf, tennis, swimming, fitness, dining and social programming rather than operating strictly as a golf facility.
Location can also make it particularly compelling for someone whose daily life revolves around North or Northwest Austin.
If you work around the Domain, Arboretum or North Austin tech corridor, there's a huge lifestyle difference between having your club nearby and driving 45 minutes across town every time you want to play nine holes after work.
That's something buyers sometimes miss when they're comparing golf communities.
The "best" golf course on paper isn't necessarily the best club for your life.
What About Membership?
Great Hills is a private club with membership by invitation. The club currently requires an application, a recommendation from a member in good standing and two personal references.
Membership pricing can change—particularly during a major renovation—so I would never make a real estate decision based on an initiation number you found in an old article, video or online forum. However, today's estimated pricing when it comes back online is $80,000.
Before buying a home because you want access to a particular club, verify directly with membership:
- Current initiation fee
- Monthly dues
- Availability or waitlist
- Membership categories
- Sponsor/reference requirements
- Assessments
- Cart and other fees
- Any restrictions while construction is underway
The house and the membership should be researched together.
The Real Estate Around Great Hills
One thing I like about Great Hills is that you aren't choosing between golf and the rest of Austin.
The surrounding area gives you established Northwest Austin neighborhoods, mature trees, hills and relatively easy access to major roads, shopping, restaurants and employment centers.
But there's an important distinction:
Buying a home in Great Hills does not automatically make you a member of Great Hills Country Club.
The neighborhood and the private club are separate decisions.
That's actually something I like to work through with golf buyers before we ever start looking seriously at houses.
First:
Which club fits the way you actually live and play?
Then:
Which homes put you in the right position to enjoy it?
Not the other way around.
My Take on Great Hills
Great Hills isn't trying to become Austin Country Club, Spanish Oaks or Barton Creek.
And it shouldn't.
Its opportunity is different.
It already has something extremely difficult to replicate: an established private golf club on valuable land in a highly convenient part of Austin.
Now its members are investing $22.3 million into making the golf course and club experience match that location.
Will it work?
We'll know a lot more when the entire course comes back online.
But I think Great Hills is going to be a very interesting club to watch heading into 2027.
And Barlow and I have already decided we need to come back when the course is finished.
Purely for quality-control purposes, obviously.
Watch Episode 3: On the Move with Nicole Cooper
Come with us inside Great Hills while the renovation is underway.
We talk about the transformation, Austin's private golf landscape, what makes Great Hills different, my history playing here at UT—and then things deteriorate into a $100 chip-and-putt challenge, a questionable golf story from Japan and an unfortunate encounter with the sprinkler system.
If you're considering Great Hills or comparing Austin's private golf communities, I'd be happy to help you look at the club, community, commute and home together.
Because buying into a golf lifestyle should never start with the house.
Find the lifestyle, then the house.
Nicole Cooper
Broker-Owner, NBC Realty
Former University of Texas Varsity Golfer
Austin Golf Community & Luxury Real Estate Specialist
Call/Text: (512) 698-2393
Email: [email protected]
AustinAreaSpecialist.com
