Whispering Pines Golf Club: Holes 14 & 15
Alex Elias
Designed by Chet Williams in 1998 while he was with the Nicklaus Design Group, Whispering Pines Golf Club features one of the finest finishing stretches in all of golf, highlighted by the Par-4 14th and Par-3 15th.
Though Williams designed the course, Founder Corby Robertson Jr. notably routed it, including Hole 14, a Cape hole that Chris Rowe, Director of Golf at Whispering Pines Golf Club, called “the best hole in Texas.”
Playing alongside the Trinity River, and formerly framed by two trees—now one, known as the “George Bush Tree” in honor of the 41st President, who allegedly hit it three times in a row—the hole is defined by its options.
“A PGA Tour player can drive the green—I’ve seen Jordan Spieth do it—and a player with a 25 handicap can bail out to the right and still make a safe par,” said Rowe.
With its width longer than its depth, the three-swelled green offers several pin locations, none more difficult than front left.
“If you lay up, you only have a wedge in, but you have to be really precise,” said Rowe. “With a left pin, if you miss left, you’re in the hazard. If you miss long, you’re in a bunker—perhaps the toughest up-and-down. And if you miss short, there’s a false front, leaving a delicate pitch back up onto the green.”
Immediately following, the 178-yard Par-3 15th awaits. A natural island, Robertson had to go to the Trinity River Authority of Texas and ask them to purchase the land—which he secured on a 99-year lease.
“Like the Par-3 16th at Cypress Point [Golf Club], it was just there. It’s natural,” said Rowe. “Trying to decide on a club can be very difficult because the wind tends to swirl. If you look at Hole 14, the pin can be blowing downwind, and on Hole 15—playing in the same direction—the pin can be blowing towards you, all while the water around it can look almost dead still.”
The Restoration of Hole 15
Devastated by a flood in 2024, when the course received nine inches of rain in a four-hour period and nineteen inches over several days, 16 of the 18 holes were flooded, along with every hole on The Needler—Whispering Pines’ short course, with Hole 15 being the most severely affected.
Ultimately, shutting down for a year, steel piers 60 feet in length were driven into the ground to provide structural support for Hole 15.
“The green is never going under water again,’’ said Rowe.
Though the return of the signature hole was rewarding, the way the club came together was perhaps even more meaningful.
“There was a sense of pride. Everybody came together, from caddies to servers doing all they could to help with the cleanup,” said Rowe. “It was really an impressive thing to see.”
