Brackenridge Park Golf Course

Brackenridge Park Golf Course

Brackenridge Park Club House
Club information
Location	San Antonio, Texas
Established	1916
Owned by	City of San Antonio
Operated by	Alamo City Golf Trail
Total holes	18
Tournaments hosted	Texas Open (1922-1926, 1929-1932, 1934, 1939-1940, 1950-1955, 1957-1959)
Website	alamocitygolftrail.com
Brackenridge Park Golf Course
Designed by	A.W. Tillinghast
Par	71
Length	6,243 yards (5,709 m)
Course rating	70.3
Slope rating	126

Brackenridge Park Golf Course is a historic golf course in San Antonio, Texas and the oldest 18-hole public golf course in Texas. It opened for play in 1916 and was the first inductee into the Texas Golf Hall of Fame. Brackenridge Park was the original site of the Texas Open which held the tournament for most years between 1922-1959. Located in historic Brackenridge Park, the course is one of six municipal golf courses managed by the non-profit management group, the Alamo City Golf Trail. The Alamo City Golf Trail consists of Brackenridge Park Golf Course, Cedar Creek Golf Course, Mission del Lago Golf Course, Olmos Basin Golf Course, Riverside Golf Course, San Pedro Driving Range and Par 3, and Willow Springs Golf Course.

George Washington Brackenridge donated 100-plus acres of land to the city to create Brackenridge Park, the park in which the present day Brackenridge Park Golf Course is located.

Ray Lambert's appointment as City Parks Commissioner in 1915 began a new era for Brackenridge Park. Lambert inherited a parks system that was underfunded and growing quickly. He immediately asked for almost a threefold increase in budget (to $60,000), and earmarked much of this increase for the further development of Brackenridge Park. One of Lambert's major projects was the construction of a public golf course. A public course had been advocated by golf enthusiasts for many years as a tourist attraction for the City. There were three other courses in San Antonio at that time, all private. In October 1915, it was reported that the 18-hole Brackenridge Park golf course was under construction. Noted course designer A.W. Tillinghast was hired to design and build the golf course. A clubhouse was also proposed, as well as a swimming hole "so that after the game the players may enjoy a plunge in the delightful waters of the San Antonio River."

Currently the historic golf course remains in operation near downtown, and within close proximity to the San Antonio Zoo and Aquarium. San Antonio landmarks, the Witte Museum and San Antonio Japanese Tea Gardens, are also located nearby.

The original clubhouse was a small one-story building that burned down in 1920. In 1922, the City hired Ralph H. Cameron to design and build a new clubhouse for the golf course and the Texas Open. $8,000 was raised by the City for clubhouse construction. Cameron designed other notable San Antonio buildings, including the Scottish Rite Cathedral (1923), Neo-Gothic Medical Arts Building (1925), the Frost Brothers Store (1930), and the U.S. Post Office and Court House (1937).