The owners of Bandon Dunes release details about a new 36-hole destination in Texas | Courses

In just 14 months, Dream Golf, the luxury golf resort company of Michael and Chris Keizer, has announced the development of two 36-hole public golf courses.

The first, last April, was Rodeo Dunes, set amid thousands of acres of wild prairie dunes an hour’s drive northeast of Denver (the first course, designed by Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw, is now under construction, and a second course is planned by Jim Craig).

This month, Dream Golf announced the addition of Wild Spring Dunes, located near the eastern Texas town of Nacogdoches, approximately 155 miles from Dallas and Houston.

Wild Spring Dunes spans 2,400 acres of pine and hardwood forests, punctuated by meadows, creeks and ravines. The soil is a mixture of sand and clay. Parts of the course may remind golfers of the rolling pine landscape of Sand Valley, Wisconsin, another Keizer resort, while others are uniquely East Texas, playing through low canopies of oak and other densely packed deciduous varieties. Even more striking are the elevation changes and rugged ridge-and-valley topography.

There are plans for overnight cabins and an expanded practice area. Parts of the site are blocked off for future housing. The first of two projected courses, designed by Tom Doak, is expected to open later in 2024. Coore and Crenshaw have studied the site’s potential for a potential second course and are believed to be the architects of the second course, if it comes to fruition, although no plans have been finalized.

An early map published on wildspringsdunes.com, while primitive and of indefinite topographical scale, appears to indicate that Doak’s course interacts with canyons on the east and west edges, with holes running in and out toward the steep slopes . The greens at 13, 15 and 16 are above a gorge and others are slanted against creeks and water features.

“This country just has a different vibe than anything I’ve worked on in the past,” Doak said in a statement. “That’s the appeal for me, and I think the course will be unique and interesting for golfers.”

The second course covers land of a slightly different character. While Coore stresses that it is preliminary and needs refinement, the plan is to alternate between quieter and more aggressive high terrain, with the greens of several canyon par 3s on foothills or in opposing highlands, perhaps similar to the second at Colorado Golf Club or the eighth and 17th holes at Ozarks National.

When it opens, Wild Springs Dunes will be another milestone in this renaissance of public golf in cutting-edge settings. There is currently a parallel market of golf courses being developed on similar “dream golf” tracts that are private and cater to an upscale clientele with memberships all over the U.S. Most golfers will only see them in photos. Not so for anyone who can travel to East Texas.