For the first time since 2005, a course other than Whispering Pines or Dallas National is No. 1 in Texas.
The name is unique — The Covey at Big Easy Ranch – and so is its meteoric rise in The Dallas Morning News’ 37th annual Texas Golf rankings.
The Covey, which just completed its second year of operation, climbed from a debut at No. 10 in 2024 to the top spot by vote of The News’ 81-member golf panel.
“Starting out 4 ½ years ago, reaching this position was always the goal,‘’ said Casey Russell, director of golf at The Covey. “When I think about how far we’ve come from the days when you couldn’t walk 100 yards without being cut up by the scrub and the briars, we are overjoyed.‘’
Located near Columbus, about 75 miles west of Houston and just north of Interstate 10, The Covey was built on a 2,000-acre hunting and fishing preserve owned by Billy Brown, a former oil and gas executive and proud Louisiana native. (The course’s logo incorporates the Fleur-de-lis.)
Designed by Chet Williams, the architect of Whispering Pines and several other courses in The Dallas Morning News’ Top 100, The Covey was voted the best new course in Texas in 2024 and was named the best new course in the country by Golf Digest in 2025.
The golf course was carved out of rolling, rocky terrain. Water is circulated through formerly dry creek beds to add to the charm of the property that has no houses overlooking the course.
“It’s one of the better pieces of property I’ve ever had a chance to work on,” Williams told The News. “It rises up and goes down at all the right spots.”
The elevation changes provide a variety of uphill and downhill shots. Williams has also included a good share of undulating greens with false fronts and backstops and ramps to challenge golfers of all abilities.
Brown’s vision for the property included a two-story halfway house that is as well-stocked as any clubhouse. It was built on the course’s highest point and offers magnificent views of property and a place where Big Easy Ranch members could gather at dusk to enjoy the views and food from the expansive kitchen.
Big Easy Ranch began as a destination site for hunting and wing-shooting in 2016. Brown decided to build a par-3, nine-hole golf course to entertain guests between morning and evening hunting sessions.
The property’s dramatic 50-foot elevation changes as well as groves of pine and hardwoods convinced Brown to take the next step with an 18-hole course that would be anything but “easy.‘’
The course can play as long as 7,511 yards with a par of 72. Zeon Zoysia was selected for the fairways and rough with TifEagle greens.
The Covey replaces Whispering Pines as the No. 1 course in Texas. Whispering Pines experienced massive flooding in 2024 and is still recovering. It dropped to No. 2. Dallas National, No. 1 in 2020, is undergoing a major renovation. It dropped from No. 2 to No. 4. Brook Hollow Golf Club remained at No. 3.
Darmor Club, 5 miles from Big Easy Ranch, was voted the best new course. The Hal Sutton-designed course debuted at No. 5. It is the second-highest debut for a new course.
Dallas National made its first appearance in the Texas Golf rankings at No. 2 in 2004.
Colonial Country Club, which underwent a major renovation by Gil Hanse and Jim Wagner in 2023, climbed from No. 15 a year ago to No. 6. Colonial was the top-rated course for the first seven years of the DMN state ranking.
Preston Trail and Boot Ranch each dropped three spots to rank No. 7 and 8, respectively. Fort Worth’s Shady Oaks Country Club jumped seven spots to No. 9. Bluejack National near Montgomery rounds out the top 10.
Two other major movers were No. 11 Vaquero, up nine spots after a major redo by Andrew Green, and No. 12 Driftwood Club, which debuted at No. 26 in 2024.
Private courses dominate the top 100 rankings. Black Jack’s Crossing in the Big Bend town of Lajitas was the highest-ranked course open to the public. It is No. 21. TPC San Antonio’s AT&T Oaks is No. 30, and Highland Pines Golf Club near Houston, which features Zoysia fairways and greens, is No. 31.
All-time No. 1 courses
Eight courses, led by Whispering Pines, have been ranked No. 1 since Texas Golf’s inception in 1989. The courses with the number of times they have been No. 1 and the years:
| No. 1 | Course | Location | Years |
|---|---|---|---|
| 15 | Whispering Pines | Trinity | 2006-14, 2017-18, 2021-24 |
| 9 | Colonial CC | Fort Worth | 1989-95, 2003-04 |
| 4 | Dallas National GC | Dallas | 2015-16, 2019-20 |
| 4 | Crown Colony CC | Lufkin | 1997-99, 2001 |
| 2 | Champions GC | Houston | 1996, 2002 |
| 1 | Omni Barton Creek Fazio Foothills | Austin | 2000 |
| 1 | Vaquero Club | Westlake | 2005 |
| 1 | The Covey at Big Easy Ranch | Columbus | 2025 |
How the ranking is done
The Dallas Morning News course rankings are a team effort. The 81 panel members were given a ballot of 300 courses and asked to rate them on a 10-point scale. Panel members are golf professionals, golf course architects, superintendents, people involved in the golf course industry and amateurs. Many of the amateurs compete in statewide and national events, and others have GHIN indexes north of 10.
Not even the most avid golfer has played all 300 courses, and the first marching order all panel members are given is to vote only for the courses they have played, preferably within the last five years. We also give each of the panel members a list of criteria to consider when rating. These criteria are similar to what national golf publications use.
The votes are tabulated, and a process known as winsorization is used to account for outliers — high and low — to smooth the data. Because not every course is rated by every panel member, we determined that a course must receive votes from at least 13% of the panel members to be eligible for Top 100 consideration. The standards are slightly lower for the top-50 public courses and the three lists of public courses broken down by price points.
More DMN golf rankings
— Ranking the top 100 golf courses in Texas: Nos. 1-50 (2025)
— Ranking the top 100 golf courses in Texas: Nos. 51-100 (2025)
— The Covey at Big Easy Ranch tops The Dallas Morning News’ Texas Golf course rankings
— Whispering Pines returning to pristine form a year after major flooding wrecked course
— As golf’s popularity booms, Texas enters golden age with new courses like Darmor Club
— PGA of America’s new CEO Derek Sprague positioning North Texas as golf’s epicenter
— The top 50 Texas golf courses open to the public, ranked (2025)
— The top 25 nine-hole golf courses in Texas, ranked (2025)
— The top 25 high-priced golf courses in Texas that cost $130 and above (2025)
— The top 25 golf courses in Texas that cost from $75 to $124 (2025)
— The top 25 golf courses in Texas that cost $69 or less (2025)
— How voting is done for The Dallas Morning News’ rankings of Texas’ top golf courses
— How to get tickets for major golf tournaments coming to Dallas-Fort Worth this year