The City of Seguin, Texas, has hired Nathan Crace, ASGCA, and Todd Quitno, ASGCA – along with Brian Ross – to redesign the historic Starcke Park Golf Course on the banks of the Guadalupe River.
“Todd and I have been looking for a project where we could collaborate for a few years now,” explained Crace, Watermark Golf/Nathan Crace Design. “When this RFP came across my desk, I immediately called Todd and said ‘We need to see if Brian wants to collaborate on this.’ It felt like the perfect team for this project. When I visited and spoke with officials and some golfers at the course, it was easy to see everyone was excited about the project and committed to its success. I can’t wait to get back to Seguin and get started.”
“I live in Austin,” Ross said. “So I’m very familiar with the course and it’s a short drive from my office. Todd is great with the technical aspects of a renovation of this scope and how to make it work within a budget, and Nathan has over two decades of experience working with municipalities and public agencies. More importantly, we all share the same philosophy on design for a public course that sees the amount of play they see at Starcke Park and we understand how to blend creativity in the design without increasing long-term maintenance costs.”
With the explosion of participation in golf since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in the Spring of 2020, a similar spike in golf course renovation followed quickly behind. As a result, the three architects say their firms are so busy with their own projects in different areas of the country, the Starcke Park project was the perfect opportunity for them to combine their strengths for the benefit of the City. The three have known each other for years through their affiliation with the American Society of Golf Course Architects (ASGCA). Quitno and Crace are members of the ASGCA and Ross is a member of the ASGCA’s Tartan Program for architects who aim to apply for ASGCA membership in the next few years. The Tartan Program is a great opportunity for established architects to work with the next generation of golf course architects and younger architects to network with some of the best golf course architects in the world.
“I look forward to getting back to Seguin for the kick-off meeting so we can hit the ground running,” said Quitno. “I visited the site with Brian several weeks ago and the people we met during our short visit were so engaging and full of enthusiasm for the improvement program, it was really inspiring. The site is great as well, with holes along the river and the heritage trees that frame many of the holes, it’s a really tranquil setting for a course that sits in the middle of a city.”
Originally designed by Texas Golf Hall of Famer John Bredemus in 1939, Starcke Park Golf Course is an 18-hole par-71 layout that was carved through a pecan orchard on a bluff above the Guadalupe River. Many of the trees still remain, helping to frame the holes which feature gently rolling fairways and elevated greens. Starcke Park is one of the last remaining true park-style golf courses in Central Texas and the only public course in a 20-mile radius of quickly growing Seguin.
Constriction is tentatively scheduled to begin in early 2025 with the course re-opening in the Fall of 2025.