TRINITY, Texas — Stars have come and gone at the Spirit International Amateur Golf Championship at Whispering Pines Golf Club, and plenty of them have been big ones. The tournament, celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, counts five former world No. 1s on both the men’s and women’s sides among its alumni.
But this year, the biggest star might be a piece of the back nine that wasn’t even in play the last time the biennial event came to this remote corner of Texas, about 90 minutes north of Houston.
Two years ago, Whispering Pines was still recovering from a flood that tore through the property, buried portions of the golf course in silt and left its signature par-3 15th needing to be rebuilt.
Now you’d never know it. In fact, the hole might
be even more visually stunning than it was before.
That’s the backdrop of the event, which starts on Wednesday, bringing 80 of the world’s top amateur players from 20 countries and six continents back to the Chet Williams-designed course that has long been regarded among the best in Texas.
It’s quite a turnaround from 2024.
Flood ravaged Whispering Pines two years ago
A 100-year flood swept through the sprawling property about six months before that year’s Spirit, coming after a storm that dropped nearly two feet of rain in just a handful of days. Large portions of the golf course were covered in silt, and No. 15, one of the most recognizable holes on the property, took a particularly brutal hit.
Whispering Pines founder Corby Robertson acknowledged at the time that the green would have to be rebuilt. It’s well-known around the club that Robertson is still squeamish about discussing the flood, an obvious sign of the pain it brought to the energy mogul.
Understandably so, as the course and the tournament are a huge source of pride for the former University of Texas football All-American.
“It's very hurtful to watch something that you've invested your time, interest and financing in and to just watch Mother Nature take it apart,” Robertson said then. “On hole number 15, we're gonna have to rebuild the green. I'm sorry, we got a temporary and it'll be better someday.”
Someday has arrived.
Hole has been completely rebuilt
The 15th is completely repaired ahead of the 2026 Spirit, and what was one of Whispering Pines’ showcase holes before the flood is again a striking part of the experience. The short par 3, wrapped by water and guarded by dramatic bunkering, was closed for more than a year. Steel piers 60 feet in length were driven deep to stabilize the area. It has emerged from the rebuild looking every bit as good as it did before, and perhaps even better.
Texas star Farah O’Keefe was seeing it for the first time this week.
“It’s pretty challenging,” O’Keefe said. “I haven’t really played too many island greens before, so to get up there, it’s not a true island, but it’s pretty close. It’s pretty neat. The bunkering on the front portion of the green is really, really cool looking.”
Putting together a piece this morning on @thespiritgolf, a great am event coming back soon to Whispering Pines in Texas. Here's the 15th hole. PRO TIP: To avoid the gators circling in the water, hit the green. pic.twitter.com/HqQvw7BiQ4
— Tim Schmitt (@TMSGolfweek) October 20, 2021
(Editor's note: The video in the tweet above was shot in 2021, before the flood.)
O’Keefe was shown a photograph of what the hole looked like when floodwaters had risen nearly to the putting surface. Seeing the finished product in person made the transformation even more impressive.
“I remember when we walked up and saw it for the first time yesterday, it was just like, ‘Wow,’” O’Keefe said. “It’s pretty breathtaking. Ali showed us a picture of the green when it was flooded, and I saw the water all the way up to the edge of the green.
“It’s crazy to see how they can turn it around in a period like that. It’s beautiful.”
That restored stage will once again be occupied by some of the best amateurs in the world.
The list of players who have come through the Spirit over the years reads like a collection of golf’s greatest hits: Scottie Scheffler, Jordan Spieth, Lexi Thompson, Paula Creamer, Brandt Snedeker, Will Zalatoris and Rose Zhang, among plenty of others.
Before they became household names, they made their way to tiny Trinity and an unusual golf course whose roots hardly suggested it would someday attract elite players from around the globe.
How the Spirit came to be
Whispering Pines grew out of a camp on the property, where Robertson devised a game he called “olf,” essentially golf without greens. Campers would hit shots toward a pushed-up portion of turf with a washtub serving as the target.
They loved it.
Eventually Robertson and others saw the potential for something considerably bigger. By then successful in the energy business, Robertson had the financial means to pursue the idea. After beetles began eating away at trees on the property in the 1990s, the project picked up steam. Three legitimate golf holes came first, followed by irrigation and ultimately the Chet Williams-designed course that became Whispering Pines.
Then came the Spirit. Robertson launched the biennial Spirit International in 2001 around an Olympic-style format, with countries sending two men and two women to Texas to compete. Twenty-five years later, the tournament is still providing a glimpse at players who could become the next generation of professional stars.
Team USA certainly isn't lacking candidates in 2026.
Sam Saunders, who represented the United States at the Spirit in 2005, returns 21 years later as the American captain, with Texas Golf Hall of Fame executive director Alli Jarrett serving as his assistant.
His four-player roster features O’Keefe, Jack Turner, Ethan Fang and Anna Davis, all ranked among the top 25 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking entering the event.
They’ll play a course that has endured plenty since the Spirit last gathered there.
In 2024, simply having Whispering Pines ready for the tournament felt like an accomplishment. Robertson believed the scars left by the flood could ultimately result in a stronger golf course.
“We're looking for ways to build this back so that it's more fortified,” he said at the time. “But it's ready and that's what matters.”
Two years later, the scars are gone.
And at the 15th, one of the places where Mother Nature did its worst, Whispering Pines may have gotten something even better back.
Tim Schmitt is the managing editor of Golfweek and the golf coordinator for the USA Today Network.
This article originally appeared on Golfweek: A 100-year flood wrecked this Spirit hole. Two years later, it might be better than ever
