The Valero Texas Open has an 88-year legacy that’s helped forge the careers of many of the game’s greatest players, from Ben Hogan to San Snead. But the third-oldest PGA Tour tournament, which also includes one of golf’s most coveted achievements in its storied history, will soon begin a new chapter.
Departing its previous home after 15 years, the Valero Texas Open will help initiate TPC San Antonio and its adjacent environmentally state-of-the-art AT&T Oaks Course at JW Marriott San Antonio Hill Country Resort and Spa. Seeking to join Arnold Palmer as the event’s only three-time consecutive titlist, Zach Johnson will be among a stellar field when the tournament debuts May 10-16 on the luxurious resort site in northeast Bexar County.
The new host facility replaces the Westin La Cantera Resort and will offer the PGA Tour a rare combination of modern convenience and unspoiled nature. San Antonio International Airport is within 20 minutes of the luxury resort offering 1,002 rooms.
The all-encompassing new facility also features the best of Texas casual and fine dining, plus a spectator-friendly tournament held in the natural beauty of Texas Hill Country.
The newest addition to the PGA TOUR’s TPC Network—TPC San Antonio—features 36 holes designed by Pete Dye and Greg Norman, two respected and innovative architects who are also World Golf Hall of Fame members.
Perched within 2,800 rolling acres of the Cibolo Canyons development in Texas Hill Country, both the AT&T Canyons Course (designed by Dye and PGA Tour player consultant Bruce Lietzke) and the AT&T Oaks Course (designed by Norman and PGA TOUR Player Consultant Sergio Garcia) were built as venues to host PGA Tour events, and the organization embraces them. This year’s event will be played on the AT&T Oaks Course.
Garcia will play, but Norman has a business commitment preventing his participation in the event touted as the most “green” on the nearly year-round PGA Tour. In fact, PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem believes the two new courses “will be the most ecologically friendly courses built in the United States.” Among the numerous “green” initiatives incorporated in the construction of the 36-hole facility: Windtricity, a “clean and green” power source; a nearby 100-acre bird sanctuary; a tree accountability program; and a closed water system that catches and re-uses run-off water.
Started without a title sponsor, Robert MacDonald, a prominent touring pro of his era, won the initial Texas Open in 1922 at Brackenridge Golf Course. Through the years, the tournament has always been played in San Antonio. But it has also endured 12 official names and eight different venues.
Ben Hogan (1946) and Sam Snead (1948 and 1950) frequently played in the event as the best of their generation, and now both are in the World Golf Hall of Fame. A decade later, Palmer won the event three straight years beginning in 1960.
Justin Leonard, a 12-time PGA Tour winner, is the most recent of several Texas PGA Tour pros who have fared well in the event. The Dallas resident collected the first of his three Texas Open titles in 2000, and won again in 2001 and 2007 (the year prior to Zach Johnson’s initial success).
Now a six-time PGA Tour winner, Johnson is an Iowa native who has become an adopted son of Texas. He began his back-to-back Texas Open titles in 2008, when he shot 62-64 to complete four rounds in the 60s to capture the title by two strokes over Charlie Wi, Mark Wilson and Tim Wilkinson at 19-under-par 261.
Last year, Johnson prevailed in one of the most competitive tournaments of the PGA Tour season. Seven players were within one shot of the lead on the waning holes, until Johnson and James Driscoll tied at 15-under 265. Johnson made a 10-foot birdie on the first sudden-death playoff hole for the win.
Johnson’s consecutive titles are among the tournament’s most memorable. Arguably, the most revered title occurred in 2003, when Tommy Armour III, grandson of the several-time major winner Tommy Armour and namesake on the famous line of golf clubs, made PGA Tour history. Armour, also a Dallas native, had rounds of 64-62 and 63-65 en route to the still PGA Tour record of 26 under-par 254.
A variety of ticket packages are available for the Valero Texas Open. For more information, visit  www.golfsanantonio.org. For lodging reservations, call JW Marriott at 210-276-2500.