Tom Doak’s layout through forest, meadows and spring-fed creeks is opening at Wild Spring Dunes in Texas, the latest natural golf mecca from the Keiser family.
If you’ve been Mike Keiser’s Bandon Dunes in Oregon or Sand Valley in Wisconsin, or simply cherish golf in its most natural forms, the developer’s son Michael Keiser Jr. has a new must-play project in Texas.
At Wild Spring Dunes, 20 miles north of Nacogdoches in East Texas, acclaimed designer Tom Doak (who did Pacific Dunes and Old Macdonald at Bandon) has crafted a course through forest, meadows and spring-fed creeks. Its first eight holes are opening for preview play later this month, with a grand opening set for Fall 2026.
The resort shared a few photos with Sports Illustrated in advance of the opening.
Wild Spring Dunes is set over more than 2,400 secluded acres with sandy soil that is ideal for golf.
“This is a really unique piece of land. There was a fault line that ran through thousands of years ago, then collapsed,” said Tom Ferrell, vice president of media and communications for Wild Spring Dunes. “I have spent a lot of time in the foothills of the Appalachian mountains in it, and it reminds me of that.”
Construction of the Doak course began in January and has progressed quickly, to the point that holes 1 through 8 will be open Nov. 12 (preview rounds include playing the eight-hole loop twice).
And the great golf at Wild Spring Dunes won’t end with the Doak course, as Coore and Crenshaw have already completed the routing for a second course.
This article was originally published on www.si.com as The Keiser Family’s Next Great Golf Destination Has Arrived.
