Best Golf Courses in Little Rock & Central Arkansas

As the state capital, Little Rock anchors central Arkansas golf — and it punches above its weight, hiding one of America's finest private courses alongside genuinely good, genuinely affordable municipal golf. Whether you've wangled a rare invite to play the best course in the state or just want a good-value weekend round beside the river, here's where to play across Little Rock and the surrounding towns of North Little Rock, Maumelle and Benton.

The private elite

Central Arkansas is home to the best course in the state — if you can get on it. The private clubs here are the top of Arkansas golf, all member-and-guest.

• The Alotian Club (Roland) — a Fazio-designed, top-10-in-America private club just west of the city; strictly invitation-only, and worth every string you can pull to get hosted.
• Chenal Country Club (Little Rock) — 27 holes of polished member golf in the affluent west of the city, with two championship nines and a strong practice facility.
• Pleasant Valley Country Club (Little Rock) — a classic, well-established private club close to the heart of town with a loyal membership.
• The Country Club of Little Rock — the city's old-money club — historic, tree-lined and traditional.

Public golf in the city

Little Rock's municipal golf is a genuine bargain — you don't need a membership to play well here, and the city courses are among the best public value in the state.

• Rebsamen Park Golf Course — a scenic riverside muni and the best public value in the city — 27 holes of wide, forgiving golf beside the Arkansas River for under $30.
• War Memorial Park Golf Course — a handy 9-hole muni right in the middle of the city, perfect for a quick round or a lunch-break nine.
• Maumelle Country Club — a semi-private course just north of town that welcomes public play; a step up in conditioning from the munis.
• Longhills Golf Club (Benton) — a well-priced, mature 18 about 25 minutes south — a favourite escape for capital golfers.

North Little Rock and the suburbs

Cross the Arkansas River and the golf keeps coming. The suburbs of North Little Rock, Sherwood, Cabot and Conway hold a string of good-value public courses that locals play far more than the downtown munis, and Burns Park alone is worth the trip for the sheer amount of golf packed into one enormous city park.

• Burns Park Golf Course (North Little Rock) — 36 holes plus a 9-hole course inside a huge riverside park; affordable, walkable and endlessly popular — the North Shore answer to Rebsamen.
• Stonelinks at Stonewood (Sherwood) — a tidy, well-priced public 18 that's an easy add-on to a Burns Park round.
• The First Tee / Cabot area courses (Cabot) — friendly semi-private and municipal golf north of the metro that welcomes public play.
• Centennial Valley (Conway) — a scenic daily-fee course about 30 minutes northwest near the university town of Conway.

The Alotian, in context

It's worth understanding why the Alotian Club matters even though you almost certainly can't play it. Built by Little Rock businessman Warren Stephens and designed by Tom Fazio, it opened in 2004 and vaulted straight into America's top rankings — it has hosted the U.S. Amateur and is routinely listed among the 20 best courses in the country. It's modelled in spirit on Augusta National: immaculate, intensely private, and playable only as a member's guest. You'll see it on 'best of' lists and hear locals talk about it, so it's good to know what it is. But the practical golf in central Arkansas — the golf this guide is really about — is the excellent, affordable public network below.

Semi-private and value picks worth knowing

Between the ultra-private clubs and the city munis sits a useful middle tier of semi-private courses that welcome public play at a step up in conditioning. These are the ones locals book when they want something a cut above the muni without a membership.

• Maumelle Country Club (Maumelle) — the pick of the semi-privates — well-conditioned, scenic and reliably in good shape, just north of the river.
• Hindman Park (Little Rock) — a solid, underrated city course on the south side that flies under the radar and rarely gets crowded.
• Diamante-style resort day trips — for a bigger occasion, central Arkansas golfers often pair a home round with the resort courses an hour southwest in Hot Springs.

Green fees and value

Central Arkansas is a bargain by big-city standards. The city munis — Rebsamen, War Memorial, Burns Park — typically run in the $20–35 range to walk on a weekday, with modest cart fees on top. Semi-private courses like Maumelle sit a little higher, in the $40–55 bracket. Weekday mornings are cheapest and quietest everywhere, and most courses now take online tee times a few days out. Twilight rates, usually kicking in mid-afternoon, are the best-kept value in the city for a quick nine after work.

Best courses for beginners

New golfers should point straight at the munis. War Memorial's central 9-hole layout is perfect for a first-ever round or a lunch-break loop, and Rebsamen's wide, forgiving fairways are kind to a wayward ball. Burns Park has enough room that a beginner never feels boxed in or rushed. Save Chenal and the private clubs for when your game — and your invitation — arrives, and read up on course etiquette before your first outing.

Burns Park: the North Shore's giant

Burns Park deserves a closer look, because it's one of the great public-golf bargains in Arkansas. Set inside a sprawling 1,600-acre park in North Little Rock — one of the largest municipal parks in the country — it offers 36 holes of full-length golf plus a 9-hole course, all at muni prices, with room to spare even on a busy weekend. The layouts are mature, tree-lined and walkable, the practice facilities are solid, and the sheer amount of golf means you can almost always get on. For a visiting golfer who wants maximum, affordable play in one place, Burns Park is as good as central Arkansas public golf gets.

Locals rotate between Burns Park and Rebsamen depending on which side of the river they're on, and both reward an early weekday tee time when the courses are quiet and the rates are lowest. After heavy rain, the riverside turf can play soft — worth a call to the pro shop before you travel.

Where to stay and best time to play

Little Rock has plenty of hotels downtown near the River Market district and in west Little Rock near Chenal, so lodging is easy and cheap by big-city standards; a downtown base keeps you walkable to restaurants and close to Rebsamen and War Memorial. Spring and fall are prime; summers are hot and best played in the early morning, and the mild winters keep the munis open year-round. The riverside courses at Rebsamen and Burns Park can play soft after heavy rain, so check conditions before a weekend round.

Making a trip of it

Little Rock pairs naturally with the spa-and-golf town of Hot Springs an hour southwest — see our Hot Springs golf guide — making an easy two-base weekend, and it slots neatly into a wider Arkansas golf trip. Coming from the River Valley, it's about two and a half hours east on I-40. For where it all ranks statewide, see the best golf courses in Arkansas.