Hinterlands Tour, June 21-27, 2017 (Part
I)
This has been a tough tour to
plan…lots of events this time of year at many clubs, some long driving
distances involved (obviously flew from Boston and will fly to North Dakota),
and of course finding places that will be open on Monday or can fit you in on
weekends. But after juggling the
itinerary a few times it all worked out…if a bit hectic (even for me).
The evening before this trip Pat
and I attended a showing of the film “The Founders” which is about the 13
founders of the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA). Theirs is really a remarkable story of a true
group of pioneers…not just regarding women’s golf but all of women’s
athletics. Enjoyed it but wished it
showed more of Mickey Wright’s golf swing (Ben Hogan called her swing the best
he ever saw). Anyhow…see it if you have
the chance.
Pat and I got home and soon heard
that the Republican won the tightly fought House seat in Georgia. Great news…sure hope the Dems keep Nancy
Pelosi as their “leader” in the House!!!
;-)
On the morning of 6/20 I awoke
at 2:15am after a relaxing 4 hours sleep...had to catch a 5am flight to Des
Moines, IA (connecting at O’Hare in Chicago).
Most thankfully was upgraded on both flights and was able to sleep for
about 1- 1 ½ hours on the first flight.
Connection time was tight and we taxied at O’Hare for about 25+ minutes,
but I made the connection as did my checked luggage J.
Des Moines Golf & Country
Club--North and South Courses, June 21, 2017: As a city, Des Moines surprised me…very positively. It is one the fastest growing cities in the
USA and in recent years has become a major major insurance center…apparently
now with more jobs in the insurance industry than Hartford, CT. The publishing industry is a large employer
here as well (including, according to Wikipedia, Golf Digest).
Des Moines G&CC was founded
in 1897, started with 9 holes on a 40 acre field in what is now downtown Des
Moines, then moved to another city location in 1923 where 18 holes were built. In the 1960’s with Interstates 80 and 235 being
planned to go right through the club’s property, a 471 acre plot of land west
of downtown (and considered to be in the “boonies” at that point) was purchased
and Pete Dye retained to design two golf courses (North and South). This new facility was dedicated in 1970. More recently, both courses have undergone
extensive renovations under Dye’s supervision.
In 1999, DMGCC hosted the US
Senior Open won by Dave Eichleberger, and will host the Solheim Cup in August
2017. I distinctly remember watching the
1999 US Senior Open on television and the huge galleries attending the event (252,800
for the week). As with the US Senior
Open, the Solheim Cup will be contested over a “composite” course consisting of
holes 10-18 of the North (as the front nine of the Composite), followed by
holes 1-7, then 17 and 18 of the South (as the back nine of the
Composite).
Neither the North or South
Course has ever been included on a USA or World Top 100 listing.
I teed off as a single on the
South Course at 10:20. South plays a big
7347 yards from the back tees (par 72).
Best holes IMO were #8 and #17…both are par threes (right next to each
other) with #8 being uphill to a green with a deep false front and sloping very
sharply back to front, and #17 a good “Redan” (adaptation of hole #14 at North
Berwick in Scotland). Pics of both
follow.
Hole #12 is also an excellent
par 4 angling right for 386 yards with a large pond protecting the right side
of the fairway and the angle to the hole, creating a short but effective “Cape”
hole (bite off as much as you can chew). I played well (42-38 = 80) and liked
the course but was not overwhelmed. First
few holes are very open and not especially interesting, but the course improves
after that point.
I finished the South around
12:40 and the starter said I should try to go off the back side of the North which
I did with a member, Kary S., an orthopedic surgeon and good guy.
I thought the North course was
far superior to the South. It totals a
shorter (but healthy) 7267 yards (par 72).
Best holes include:
o
#1 a 402 yard dogleg left uphill par 4;
o
#4 a 409 yard straight par 4 with a large tree
sitting on the left side about 300 yards off the tee forcing player to hit to
right off the tee or hit a big sweeping draw…approach is to a very shallow
green on any approach shot over leaves a delicate pitch back (which I sadly
learned);
o
#10 a 366 yard downhill par 4 turning to the
right…with green orientation, bunkering, and angle creating a very difficult
approach from right side of fairway (and tougher from front right of green);
o
#12 a 160 or 194 yard par 3 with a boomerang or
“U” shaped green (two yardages are to front and back sections of green) with a
bunker sitting in between the two sections of the green (the U sits sideways
with the “top opening” to the left)...cool hole;
For what it is worth (perhaps
zippo), I would have used the entire North for major events as opposed to the
Championship/Composite course.
 |
| #5 on South...183 yard par 3 |
 |
| #8 on South, 213 yards...lousy pic except good pic of my index finger |
 |
| #17 South...198 yard Redan par 3 |
 |
| #12 North par 3 160 or 194 yards...boomerang green ...see bunker between |
After the second round, I drove
about 40 miles ENE of Des Moines to The Harvester Golf Club in Rhodes, IA,
arriving around 7pm.
The Harvester Golf Club, June
22, 2017: I stayed overnight in one
of the course’s lodges…which was very nice.
But there was one major problem…this place is in the middle of farm
country, they have orange juice, coffee, and rolls for breakfast, and no milk
of any kind…so how do I have my Fiber One for breakfast before my round? I asked if there was a place to buy milk (and
a refrigerator to store it overnight) nearby, and was told there is a gas
station eight miles away…but who knows what they carry? Decided that since I am playing at 7:20am and
my second round is just 35 minutes away and is not until 11:00am, I will have
time for my cereal late in the morning at Wakonda.
It was around 7:30pm when I drove
around Harvester (about 90 minutes before sunset) and the place looked
fabulous. I had heard from other raters
that it is very special and always in perfect condition. Was certainly looking forward to playing it
the next morning.
Went off at 7:15am…first off the
first tee. The course is in simply
perfect condition. Greens are very firm
and fast and running at least 12.5’ (for sure would be 13+’ by the afternoon) on
the stimp. Property has lots of land
movement (I always thought that Iowa was dead flat???) and course makes great
use of the land. Designed by Keith
Foster and completed in 2000, it stretches to a robust 7345 yards (par
72). It has not hosted any major events
and while it was on the Golf Week USA Modern Top 100 2003-10 and 2013-15
(peaking at #52 in 2006 and ’07) it was never high enough to make my merged
Classic/Modern Golf Week list. My best
guess is that it never met the minimum number of evaluations to make the Golf
Digest or Golf Magazine lists.
I loved the course. Fairways are wide and sharply sloping, greens
are large and underlating and sloping, and the terrain is hilly but
playable. And talk about wide open
spaces…look at some of pics here. I had
a 42-41 = 83, and was hitting the ball really well. Wind was blowing about 15-20mph and my tees
were 6430 yards…about 7+% longer than this old body is used to and it was
noticeable (although the firm fairways helped a lot). Into the wind and uphill was quite a struggle
but great fun. Favorite holes were:
o
#2…all time great…360 yd par 4 uphill
(especially on approach) turning right with split fairway…right fairway
requires a big drive to narrow landing area and provides risky shortcut but is
well protected by deep bunkers and fescue; left fairway is wide but slopes
heavily LàR
and is the longer route leaving a sharply uphill approach to infinity green
with a false front and back/right…one of the best holes I have ever played!
(even though I had a 6 after a seemingly perfect drive and 6 iron);
o
#4 is a 575 yd par 5 essentially flat (but with
mounds and rolls throughout the fairway) and turning right about 100 yards
before the semi punchbowl green well protected by deep bunkers front/right,
left, and behind and angles from 8 o’clock to 2 o’clock sloping from front to
back!;
o
#7 a 405 yd very uphill par 4 doglegging right
to an infinity green with a false front and bunkered on left and right; both
fairway and green slope severely from LàR;
o
#9 and #10 both have wonderfully natural green
settings
o
#11 is a very flat par 4 with “marsh/fescue” on
left and bunkers right and S curves RàLàR,
a very natural looking hole that just “fits”
o
#14, a 230 yard sharply downhill par 3 with two
sets of tees providing very very different angles into the green…which is very deep
with a good sized swale in its center, not quite as deep as a Macdonald/Raynor
Biarritz hole; it reminded me in some ways of the 7th at Brookline
which also has a semi-Biarritz swale…while Harvester’s #14 is longer, downhill,
and bunkered left and right like a Biarritz,;
o
#17, 180 yard slightly downhill par three with
green on a peninsula alongside the lake…green angles from 8 o’clock to 2
o’clock and a bail out area is available to its left.
Was not quite sure what I
thought about #18, a flat 565 yard par 5 that circles the lake for about 180°
in clockwise direction. Reminded me of
#6 at Bay Hill (FL), but going in the opposite direction.
Exhilarating round and tough in
the wind. The 650 yard very uphill and
turning left par 5 15th was playing into the wind…my tees were 550
yards and I needed a good drive, 3 wood, 4 utility and 9 iron to reach it.
Look at the pictures…highly
underrated track IMHO!
 |
| approach on #2 uphill split fairway short par 4...fabulous hole, terrible pic |
 |
| #4 green which runs away from you |
 |
| Short par 4 uphill #5 |
 |
| Approach to infinity green on #7 |
 |
| #9 a 465 yd par 4...lake to left of fairway |
 |
| approach to #9 with wonderful green setting |
 |
| #12 a 4120 yard par 4...uphill |
 |
| Approach on #12 with large bowl short of green |
 |
| #14 230 yard par 3 downhill from right set of tees...semi Biarritz |
 |
| #17 sticking out on peninsula...180 yards to a very very deep green |
After the round, I drove about
30 minutes back to Des Moines to play The Wakonda Club.
The Wakonda Club, June 22,
2017: Founded in 1922 and designed
by William Langford (Skokie CC in IL and Lawsonia Links WI, both of which I love,
amongst dozens of designs). This must
have been a very stuffy club in its early years as in 1938 the Board of
Directors passed a resolution requiring that male golfers must wear shirts…the
good news being that no such resolution was passed regarding female
golfers. It hosted a number of premier
events including the Western Am in ’47, the Trans Mississippi in ’55, the
Western Woman’s Open in ’56, and culminating with the US Amateur in 1963 (won
by Deane Beaman). For the last three
years Wakonda has hosted the Champions Tour’s Principal Charity Classic (won on
June 11 by Brandt Jobe).
In terms of Top 100 lists,
Wakonda was included on Golf Digest’s 1966 and 1967 200 Toughest lists, as well
as #98 on Golf Week’s first Top 100 Classic Courses list published in 1997…but
it have never made a true USA Top 100.
Apparently, a bunch of environmentalists
and tree hugging members objected to the removal of 98 fully grown trees from
the course in 2008 and forced the planting of several hundred new trees…as a
result, the course today is starting to shows the signs of being over
treed. The course was crowed with
construction workers taking down grandstands etc etc from the Champions Tour
event some 11 days earlier. It was in
very good shape (the folks in IA know how to grow grass), and the land has
excellent movement. While I liked the
course, I found the layout somewhat convoluted and 11 of the 14 par 4’s and 5’s
run north-south or south-north and all four par 3’s run east-west or
west-east. Most of all, it needs to take
down some trees (they have a strange tendency to grow over time).
The round was interrupted by
some lightning within 5 miles and we were pulled off the course for about 45
minutes. I ended up shooting a 42-41 =
83 and after thanking head pro Aaron Krueger headed west and then north to the
great state of South Dakota. Having played in IA (four courses I might add) I now
stood at 46 states played and hoped to make SD my 47th early that
evening. But first I had to complete a
3:05 205 mile drive to SD just west of Sioux City, IA. Yes, the plan was to play 54 holes on this
day!
Dakota Dunes Country Club,
June 22, 2017: Those of you folks who have suffered through this blog and
the emails that preceded it may recall that in 2013 I was working to complete
the courses that had ever been on the Top 50 in the USA. Just before taking a trip to South Dakota,
Minneapolis, Illinois and Indiana on that quest, I learned that the course that
I had planned to play in the middle of SD no longer existed. Sutton Bay was once ranked as #37 on the
merged GW list but the land on which it was built eventually fractured and the
entire course tumbled into the Missouri River.
A new course also designed by Graham Marsh was built higher up and still
exists, but the high rankings were garnered by the original course. That saved me from making an arduous trip to
the middle of SD…look at a map of SD and you will discover that all of its
cities are located near its perimeter…there is almost nothing in its middle. But, as a result, I had never played golf or
set foot in SD. One other extraneous (and
worthless) fact…beside the original Sutton Bay, only one course from SD had
ever been included on any “Top” listing…Elmwood Park was on the 1966 and 1967
GD 200 Toughest lists.
So my drive north to SD was
purely to put 18 SD holes under my belt and get to 47 states in my quest toward
50. I chose Dakota Dunes as it was the
closest to any place I was going on the trip…the town of Dakota Dunes lies in
SD just over the Missouri River from Sioux City, IA and is the home of the
Dakota Dunes CC and about 105 miles directly north of Omaha, NE.
I arrived at DDCC around 6:15pm
and was on the course quickly. This was
to be my third round of the day and after it I had to drive the 105 miles south
to Omaha, so no time to dilly dally. DDCC
was designed by Arnold Palmer and opened for play in 1991. It is part of a planned community developed
by Iowa Public Service (now called MidAmerican Energy). It hosted about 10 events of the now Web.com
tour and currently stretches to 7157 yards.
Unfortunately, tree growth is now almost choking the course almost
creating a canopy over some fairways. I
was a bit tired, wanted to get on the road to Omaha while it was still light,
and quickly played it. Upon finishing,
said thanks to the staff, packed the car and was heading south. Was less tired than I thought I would be and
actually parred the 18th. Did
consume caffeine for the drive to Omaha!
Arrived in Omaha around 10pm and
went straight to bed. Had a 7:30 tee off
the next morning at Field Club of Omaha.
Had bagged state #47, even if it meant 54 holes and about 350 miles
(about 5 hours 40 minutes) of driving…and I faced another 54 Friday (but much
less driving).
Field Club of Omaha, June 23,
2017: Founded in 1898, The Field
Club of Omaha is still located at its original site, close to downtown. In 1941 the club hosted the US Amateur won by
Bud Ward. Shortly after WWII, the club
lost about 30% of its property through eminent domain for the building of a
Veterans Hospital. (see pic below…the northeast portion of the property now
houses the hospital. The course remains
at 18 holes but much shorter…now just 5198 yards from the tips (par 67),
reminding me of my home muni in Queens NY…Kissena, which was 4600 yards from
the tips (par 64). FC is actually is
fairly good condition (although the fairway grass was a bit long) and its
greens are fast and tough with severe slopes.
Its trees need trimming but it is a fun 18 holes to play. Greens are very very small...just larger than Brookline's. It is a real museum and I told the pro that
the greens keeper needed his job title changed to museum curator. Pat will be pleased to hear that I spent part
of the morning at a museum.
 |
| Field Club #1 310 yards |
 |
| Field Club #4 178 yard par 3 |
 |
| Field Club #7 545 yard par 5 |
 |
| Field Club #14 175 par 3 |
 |
| Layout of Field Club in 1941...area on top left now hospital |
I played awful on the front and
just badly on the back (despite a birdie on #1) and ended up with a 44-39 =
83). Given this was to be my second
straight day of 54 holes, 5200 yards sounded perfect!
Omaha Country Club, June 23,
2017: OCC is clearly the premier
club in Omaha (although I have a sense that 95-115 years ago, The Field Club
was quite a rival). OCC was founded in
1899. In 1927 OCC’s new clubhouse
located north of downtown (and in what were then “the boonies”) opened with an
18 hole course designed by William Langford and Theodore Moreau on a huge 300
acre piece of land. In 1951 Perry
Maxwell was commissioned to renovate OCC as was Keith Foster in 2005. From the tips today it plays to 6771 yards
(par 72) with seemingly plenty of room available to increase that yardage if
the club desired. As with Field Club the
property is very hilly (again and like IA, isn’t Nebraska supposed to be flat
outside of the Sand Hills region??) and flat lies are a rare find on the
course. It was in nearly perfect
condition when I played it…nicely firm and fast (of course, I would prefer a
touch more brown). The property is rich
with infinity greens, false fronts, Maxwell “rolls”, and severely sloping
greens. Shockingly, it has never
appeared on any USA Top 100 listing.
OCC hosted a highly successful
US Senior Open ion 2013 (won by Kenny Perry, who won that event again last week
at Salem CC north of Boston) and at last week’s event the USGA announced that
OCC will host the US Senior Open again in 2021.
I thought the course was
excellent…and that its “bones” were potentially fabulous (fabulous being better
than excellent). In many ways it
reminded me of Old Town Club in Winston-Salem, NC, which about 5 years ago underwent
one of the finest renovation efforts I have seen (by Coore/Crenshaw). The terrain is very hilly and offers a number
of very dramatic holes. To my mind, some
further tree trimming/removal would be in order to open the course up more…the
potential for a great track is there.
Additionally it had the feeling of being a wonderful club (and if my
memory is correct, I believe there is at least one highly successful investor
from Omaha who is a member…but I was polite enough to not enquire).
Hit the ball very well
especially on back nine for a 41-38 = 79.
Favorite holes include #5, 6, 9, 10, 16-18. There are only about 5 holes (and only one of
them on the back nine) that are not significantly uphill or downhill. Following are some pics:
After the round, it was time to
drive to my next stop, Lincoln, NE, some 57 miles away to play Firethorn GC and
close out my second day in a row of 54 holes.
Firethorn Golf Club, June 23,
2017: Lincoln NE…home to the
legendary Nebraska Cornhuskers but sadly diminished in recent years. In 1986 Pete Dye and then later Rod Whitman
designed Firethorn just outside of Lincoln.
It is a very tough course (as one would expect from Pete Dye) and has
several holes (in particular #17 and #18) build close of wetlands/marshlands
that feel very much like playing golf on Hilton Head Island (but probably do
not feel that way except for the summer months).
The course plays to 7025 yards
(par 72) and is built on relatively flat terrain. It hosted the 1996 US Woman’s Amateur
Championship. In terms of USA Top 100
ratings, Firethorn was #29 on the initial GolfWeek Modern Top 100 published in
1997, which placed it as #58 on my merged GolfWeek list for that year (it
stayed on my merged 100 in 1998 (#72) and 1999 (#94) and eventually disappeared
from the Modern 100 starting in 2003.
I had a strange round…firing an
awful 46 on the front but then rallying for a one over 36 on the back. Very strange as I would have expected to fade
later in this my third round of the day (last gasp??). Overall I liked the course a lot although it
is too encroached by housing for my tastes and has two bad holes IMO. On #2 the second shot is completely blind,
which I usually do not mind, but that hole is cart paths only and one has no
sense of where or what to hit on the approach (ended up guessing wrong as
losing a ball). Then on #16, Pete left
in two trees which have now grown to the point where the tee shot is like
kicking a field goal (but I birdied it so who am I to complain).
 |
| #16 at Firethorn...hit a rifle shot or kick a field goal; i hit it over, and got a birdie 3...equal to field goal 😁 |
Finished the round about
8:45pm…a very long day (two very long days).
Truth, which you probably guessed is that I took a cart on every course
this trip…no way otherwise. Got to
hotel, had quick dinner, and got to bed. Only 18 tomorrow, yea!!!! But a long drive to Wichita, KS (boo!!!).
Next post…last 6 courses on this
trip! KS and ND (will I get in #38?).
Happy July 4th...we are 241 years old!!
Happy July 4th...we are 241 years old!!
nice blog. Thanks for sharing such a great information.
ReplyDeleteChomkola