Duininck Golf ‘s successful renovations on the Oaks Course at facility leads to another opportunity on the Valero Texas Open host’s sister course
SAN ANTONIO, Texas – Duininck Golf and the TPC Network have picked up where they left off at TPC San Antonio, continuing a relationship on a spectacular project site.
As host to five PGA Tour Champions events in the past, as well as a 2020 Korn Ferry event, TPC Network’s Canyons course is a proven test for the game’s best players.
Like its sister course, the Oaks Course, which underwent a complete bunker renovation in 2021, the bunkers on the Canyon’s course needed an upgrade to maintain playing conditions to TPC Network standards.
Restoring the bunkers on the Canyons course will restore strategy, playability and maintainability and elevate the course even more, as we look to provide optimal playing conditions for Tour players, our club members, and resort guests,” said Matt Flory, TPC San Antonio’s general manager.
Chris Kleinsmith, Duininck’s project manager for the Oaks renovation and now the work on the Canyons, welcomes the opportunity to return to San Antonio to work with Rich Brogan and the TPC Network.
“Communication and continuity are key on these projects, and familiar faces create quick and open lines between the team, builder, superintendents, and various managers,” said Kleinsmith. “Rich is always easy to work with and our collective cohesion makes progress easier and outcomes more predictable.”
While the Oaks project was more focused on overall infrastructure, the work on the Canyons is solely a bunker restoration project. The existing sand, drainage and surrounding turf will be removed with the faces and floors of the bunkers reshaped to match the original course design.
“Most of the work on The Oaks was not visible,” Kleinsmith explains. “The overall functionality of the course was improved, but artistically our revisions were not nearly as visible as the enhancements on The Canyons will be.”
“Projects like this are all about creating consistently high-quality conditions across all areas of the golf course. Golfers appreciate that consistency, and project managers like Chris are laser focused on the details that matter,” said Judd Duininck, general manager of Duininck Golf.
“Players notice and care about the subtleties. Whether it’s the speed of the greens, the lies in the fairway or the firmness of sand, we want all facets of the experience to be equally and noticeably great. The current conditions of the bunkers do not afford the maintenance staff the opportunity to provide that critical consistency, and that’s the change we need to make here.”
“This restoration project will provide the maintenance team with bunkers that are much easier to maintain, while also yielding more visually pleasing shapes and definitions to the sand features,” said Sam Duininck, director of business development. Duininck Golf s expectations are to leave every property better off than it was, whether visible or not.”
