MOUNT ENTERPRISE, Texas — As storied architect Tom Doak canvassed one of his latest projects on a scorching day in remote East Texas earlier this summer, he couldn’t help but be excited by the landscape that sprawled out before him.
“It’s unlike any property I’ve worked on in the last 10 years,” Doak says.
That land is 2,400 rolling acres of a former Texas hunting lease that will soon become Wild Spring Dunes, the Lone Star State’s first course by Dream Golf, the powerhouse developers behind Bandon Dunes and Sand Valley Resort.
The facility, which is scheduled for a soft opening of eight holes later this fall and a full 18 by spring 2026, will ultimately house 36 holes. A second layout by Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw already has been staked out with construction expected to begin later this year or early next.
The site, roughly two and a half hours southeast of Dallas, also will offer resort lodging behind the 18th green of the Doak course; private cabins and homes; a short course; and long views of the wooded surrounds.
“It will feel like Pinehurst with some elevation changes,” said general manager Mike Abbott, who previously held posts at the Tiger Woods-designed Bluejack National outside Houston and former longtime PGA Tour site TPC-Las Colinas outside Dallas.
“With all due respect, I don’t think Texas has a really great golf resort [yet],” Abbott said. “And I’ve been to most of them. This will be truly special.”
After making three trips to the site over the last four months, Doak agreed.
“The changes in the topography and transitions are what really get me excited here,” Doak said. “I certainly get some Pinehurst, even Pine Valley, vibes.”
Construction on the Doak course, which will be a par-72 that stretches to nearly 7,120 yards from the back tees, has been ongoing this year. The development of private housing, along with resort lodging and clubhouse, will begin next year.
The blind green at the par-4 4th.
Art Stricklin
The Doak course starts out with a gentle dogleg par-4, near the top of what locals call Mt. Baldy. There are sweeping views of the valley below with carries over brush and dry gullies, with a spring seeping up from the ground that inspired the course’s name.
Eleven bridges link the property together. Abbott said the course will be walking only (with caddies on offer) part of the year and permit riding the other half.
Dream Golf has had much success drawing golfers in droves to such remote destinations as coastal Oregon (Bandon Dunes) and central Wisconsin (Sand Valley); Rodeo Dunes, a Dream Golf facility near Denver, will open later this year. The piney woods of East Texas, where temperatures are regularly in the 90-100 degree range in the summer, follow the same if-you-build-it-they-will-come pattern.
The land for Wild Spring Dunes was discovered by Dallas businessman Brett Messerall, who first contacted Doak. Messerall later brought Dream Golf visionary and Bandon Dunes founder Mike Keiser and his son, Michael, into the project for organizational and financial support.
Doak already had worked with the Keisers on multiple projects at Bandon Dunes and also at Sand Valley, so from day one on the Texas site there was familiarity and a sense of direction for both the designer and the developer.
While there is no private real estate for sale at Bandon Dunes and very little at Sand Valley, Wild Spring Dunes will break from that mold. Dream Golf already is selling “founders” lots that will be paired with the kind of top-shelf hospitality for which Discovery Land properties have become known.
“The service will be off the charts,” Abbott said.
Safe bet the whole place will be.
