TPC San Antonio is the practice course for both UTSA men’s and women’s golf. The course contains two 18-hole courses — the Canyons course and the Oaks course. TPC is also home to PGA Tour events such as the Valero Texas Open, an event that typically takes place a week before the Masters. Last fall, the course served as the playing field for the Valero Texas Collegiate, which senior Walker Franklin competed in for UTSA.
Franklin, a native of Colorado and Louisville transfer, has been playing golf all his life.
“My entire family played golf. My dad [and] mom were professional [as well] as my uncle, so it kind of just passed on. They have been able to help me a lot,” Franklin said.
UTSA men’s golf played its first spring tournament in Playa del Carmen, Mexico at the Iberostar Playa Paraíso Golf Club. The intercollegiate event was hosted by UTRGV and was the Roadrunners’ first appearance at the course. The weather conditions were ideal, allowing for all three rounds of golf to be played.
“The weather was unbelievable. It was 85 every day, a little windy and very hot compared to [San Antonio] ” Franklin said.
“Looking at the course during the practice round, there are certain situations you can get yourself into if you are too aggressive,” Franklin said about what coaches advised them to look out for. “We were really trying to put the ball in play and make sure we had control.”
TPC’s Oaks Course is described as the most difficult of the two. The layout of the course challenges a player to be both assertive and cautious. The course is lengthy with a combined yardage of 7,034 compared to Iberostar Playa Paraíso Golf Club’s 6,683.
“The Oaks is, I feel, one of the toughest courses that I have ever played,” Franklin said. “On the PGA tour, number one is the toughest starting hole, so I feel that just sums it up.
“I would say the layout of the Oaks course is the most similar because it is quite tough off the tee,” Franklin said of the comparison between the two courses. “If you hit a bad tee shot or loose shot, it can penalize you pretty quickly.”
An experienced golfer’s goal is to reach the green in one stroke on a par-3, two strokes on a par-4 and three strokes on a par-5. The short game a player possesses is crucial to obtaining the score they want. It is a super technical concept that even comes down to the type of grass that is found throughout the course.
Iberostar Playa Paraíso Golf Club has paspalum grass. The Oaks course at TPC is composed of different types of Bermuda grass: Champions Bermuda for greens, TifSport Bermuda for fairways and Bandera Bermuda for rough areas.
“I would say a little bit quicker. I feel here in San Antonio and TPC when it’s a little colder, the greens are slower,” Walker said about the speed of the greens in Mexico.
Despite TPC San Antonio being the home course for the Roadrunners, it is still their most difficult, especially the Oaks Course.
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