“Brackenridge is to Texas golf what the Old Course is to Scotland.”

So says John Colligan, the Arlington-based architect who oversaw a year-long $3 million renovation of Brackenridge Park Golf Course, a A.W. Tillinghast design that dates back to 1916.

Colligan’s statement may be overstating the case a wee bit, but the layout’s historic nature cannot be denied. The Lone Star State’s first public course, “Brack” hosted the PGA Tour’s Texas Open from 1922 to 1959, and plans call for it to become the new home of the Texas Golf Hall of Fame. 

Squeezed into just 113 acres in a park named after a local businessman from the 19th century, the par-71 course now plays to 6,350 yards. Fairways lined by pecan and oak trees are fairly tight. Short but fun, this flat walk in the park is all about the approach shots leading to moderately sloped greens, six of which are square.
 
Colligan used a local surveyor’s 1925 copy of Tillinghast’s routing plan to restore 15 holes to their original shape, although the back nine was re-routed to bring the San Antonio River back into play, most notably on the 190-yard 10th, which Ben Crenshaw has called his favorite hole in Texas. The subtle hazards, including well-placed fairway bunkers that gobble up offline tee shots, recapture Tillinghast’s reef bunkering style.
 
“We want the golf course to be a living Tillinghast museum,” says Colligan. “As opposed to art on the walls, the golf course is the art. It is Tillinghast’s art.”
 
Brack closes with four sterling match-play holes. The 15th, a 136-yard par 3 with an elevated and well-bunkered green, is followed by a 390-yard par 4 bisected by a creek, forcing a risk-reward decision off the tee. The 17th, a drivable par 4 at 306 yards, has that same creek cutting in front of the green, while the finisher is a 187-yard par 3 fronted by a pond.
 
Located just 10 minutes from both the airport and downtown (the 750-foot Tower of the Americas serves as your target line on the 4th hole), Brack re-opened for public play December 1.

As the second-largest city in Texas, San Antonio already has two multiple-course golf resorts in Hyatt Hill Country and Westin La Cantera, stellar private tracks like Oak Hills Country Club, and above-average public venues in Pecan Valley and the Quarry.

But Brack stands alone for its history, newly restored conditions and overall playability.