June 2026 | Courtesy of AGSCA By Design, Summer 2026
Renovation work has started at La Rinconada Country Club, near San Jose, California, with Todd Eckenrode, ASGCA, leading a redesign to reinstate the course’s Golden Age character.
The $21 million project includes rerouting holes to make better use of the site’s natural landforms, increasing the course’s yardage and improving green-to-tee connections.
“This project is about revealing the full potential of a very special piece of land,” said Eckenrode. “The strongest holes were retained in the new layout, and the weakest holes were rerouted in entirely different locations, or orientation. Together, the new routing has wonderful variety, flow, connectivity and a rhythm to it that will really appeal to the golfers.”
The project includes renovations to all course features and cart paths. Tees and fairways will be regrassed with bermuda grass, and greens with bentgrass.
The club’s environmental responsibility is a key component of the redesign, with out-of-play areas being replaced with drought proof landscaping and naturalized meadow grasses to reduce overall turf acreage. According to the club, the project will help reduce water usage on the course by up to 40 per cent, saving approximately 30 million gallons annually. In addition to a significant amount of tree removal, the course will be reforested with native oak and sycamore trees, restoring both ecological balance and visual character.
“This is a 100-year-old golf course, and we are committed to the redesign evoking qualities of the great golf architecture of this era,” said Eckenrode.
The course is expected to reopen in spring 2027.
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