The operators of one of Houston’s most popular golf courses are taking their concept to The Woodlands.
Early Bird Management, a Houston-based company and operator of East River 9, will develop and run a nine-hole public golf course in The Woodlands, confirmed Early Bird CEO Clayton Freels to Chron on Monday. The new course is a public-private partnership between Early Bird and The Woodlands, with a term sheet approved during a Woodlands Township Board of Directors meeting on Thursday. Final approval from The Woodlands Township is expected in April, and the course should open in 2028.
The new course in The Woodlands will mirror East River 9 in many ways. Both will be nine-hole, Par-3 courses and, like East River 9, the complex in The Woodlands will also have pickleball courts and a restaurant. The Woodlands course will also have lighting for golf at night, just like East River 9. There is one major difference, however. The rolling hills at East River 9 are without any trees or shade. That won’t be the case in the Woodlands, per Freels.
“The Woodlands is obviously a different terrain and this property is tucked within a residential area,” Freels said. “We want to protect the trees and the character of The Woodlands as much as possible and elevate our concept to match The Woodlands’ standards.”
The new Woodlands course will sit on the 208-acre South Gosling Park, a parcel of land that was purchased by the township in 2023. The new course will be the second that Early Bird has designed and operated, following the opening of East River 9 in November 2022.
“We knew this was scalable, and we discovered the greater Houston area can support additional par-3 courses [in addition to East River 9],” Freels said.
Early Bird does not currently have any other courses planned in Houston aside from the new course in The Woodlands.