Day 2 of my first extended trip out west!

05/05/2016

After some great R & R in Loup City, I was off to Ravenna.

The Ravenna Golf Club is built over two large hills and every hole is either uphill, downhill or sidehill. The only flat lies were on the tee boxes. Excellent manicured pine lined fairways and large elevated greens with some slope make this this course another 9 hole hidden gem along with Friend and Atkinson-Stuart!

Next Stop: Prairie Hills at Pleasanton

Prairie Hills is a Scottish style course located 6 miles south of Pleasanton. A back nine was added in 1996. Large elevated greens and rolling fairways with deep prairie grass rough makes it a challenge. 

Within the past year, Justin K. a former asst pro at Woodland Hills in Eagle has purchased the course after the previous owners had neglected the course. He has done a great job from the photos he showed me but still has some work to do. 

On to Kearney and the Elks CC.

The Elks Country Club in northeast Kearney is a fun executive par three course with medium to larges flat greens and rolling hills fairways. Two difficult holes are an uphill 226 yard par 3 and a 240 yard downhill par 3 the rest of the holes are good for the short irons from 100 yards to 140 yards.

Last stop of the week is Buffalo Ridge also in northeast Kearney.

Buffalo Ridge is a very short flat course of 2600 yards with pine lined fairways and mid-sized greens. A good course for beginners or just a relaxing easy walk round.

Back onto to the interstate for a 2 hour drive to Lincoln and a well deserved rest.

Score Card: 162 courses played.

Miles Driven: 190

Total Miles since 7/21/2014: 6731

April was a bust, bring on May!

Outside of a couple of warm windy days in early March that I played in the Hastings area, central Nebraska had a very wet April with no opportunities to play the area.

05/04/2016

Even though the rain stopped out here on the 1st of May, it is still quite wet with pockets of water on most of the  fairways. Dannebrog is a sand greens course that has to protect the "greens" from the cattle that use the pasture in the off season.

But Dannebrog is well known for it's Bull Pen Open and its famous 2nd hole with a cut off corn crib that circles the entire hole.

Next stop: St. Paul Country Club.

St. Paul is a short well manicured flat course with a winding culvert through the middle of the course. You need your domed green game to score on this course. The greens are very true and medium sized.

Next Stop: Ord Golf Club

Ord Golf Club is a city park type course with rolling hills and tree lined well manicured fairways and greens. It is a short course with large flat rolling greens but the last four holes are challenging with Dane creek coming into play. The par three 8th demands a well placed tee shot to a cliff side green were all you see the top of the flag. An easy and enjoyable walk.

Next Stop: Burwell

The Calamus Golf Course is located on the lowlands below the Calamus Dam. Generous wide flat fairways and large elevated greens made a good walk. The par 3rd is a difficult tee shot to an elevate green on top of the hill with a creek in front.

Next stop: Sargent

Windmill Links is located east of Sargent on a rolling hill layout. The greens are artificial greens laid on a concrete base. You must play bump and run and they putt very fast. Good Luck!

Next stop: Loup City

The Loup City Golf Course is a very level cottonwood lined layout with mid-sized flat greens.They cut the fairways and rough the same length and very wide. Tight out of bounds on the short par 4's fourth and fifth need smart tee shots. A very pleasant walk.

I also spent the night in Loup City.

Score Card: 158 courses played

Miles Driven: 278

Total Miles since 7/21/2014: 6541

2016 gets an early start

03/07/2016

Another great early spring day ( despite the wind) in Nebraska. It was 81 degrees and an opportunity to get an early start on Golfing Nebraska 2016. This is probably my last day trip out west. Off to Hastings to play Southern Hills and Elks CC as well as Valley View at Gibbon. I still need to play Lochland CC in Hastings with a family member of the course.

I learned a valuable lesson last fall that you need to make contact with golf courses during the off season to verify that they will be open and playable!  So I contacted all three courses for today's schedule. As I approached the Platte River on the Tom Osborne Expressway north of Hastings, the fog thickened. While driving through Hastings, the fog lifted and cleared up when I arrived at Southern Hills southwest of town.  The front nine was built in 1927 with small flat greens and large old trees and somewhat hilly.  A ditch comes into play from the tee on the 7th and the 9th.  The back nine was finished in 1991 and is very open with young trees and two ponds. Southern Hills is well worth the visit.

Back onto to Hwy 6 and east a few miles to the Elks CC in the southeast part of Hastings.

The Elks CC was opened in 1999 on a tract of old trees which gives it the appearance of a mature course. The greens are medium to large in size and somewhat flat. Today the back nine had not been opened yet and the front had temporary greens which is not much fun. Hit it near the flag and take two chips and move on.

My last stop was  at Valley View Golf Club in Gibbon. I decided to take a cross country route instead of driving back to I 80. While traveling on several farm to market roads, I observed a large flock of Sandhill Cranes feeding in a corn stubble field.

 I was in Gibbon last September 22nd waiting for the fog to lift so I could find the course. After I finally found the sign on Hwy 30, I drove the 4 miles north into the countryside to find the clubhouse on the highest hill in the area only to find a high school girls event just starting. This year was much better as no one was there. After waiting a while a maintenance worker drove up the the clubhouse and I was off to the first tee. The entire course is below the clubhouse level with two large hills and the valley between them. I had hoped to get a cart for this last round of the days since my legs were getting weary, but no carts were ready so I headed out with my trusty cart. No hurry so I took my time up and down the hills. Medium sized flat greens and very few hazards made for a relaxing round.

Scorecard: 152 courses played

Miles Driven: 293

Total Miles since 7/21/2014: 6263

Trifecta near Fonner Park in Grand Island

11/03/2015

Had a week of warm 60's degree golf weather in early January and March, but those golf opportunities were nothing compared to the 70's  degree weather in this first week of November. With nothing on my plate for Tuesday, I headed out for Grand Island at 6am. Back in 1992 after watching a John Daly exhibition at Lochland in Hastings, three of us played Grand Island Municipal which has been renamed Jackrabbit Run, that left me with three (3) courses in GI to play. Since they all are located near the Fonner race track, I call it my Trifecta!

My first stop was Indianhead.  When they describe the course as open and level, they are not kidding. The fairways and green are very flat and there are very few trees on the course.  The only hazards are a pond surrounding a par three green except for a small opening in the front and a pond stretching between the 15th and 16th fairways.  The course is very well maintained and located in the Indianhead neighborhood.

Next stop was the Fonner View Golf Course. With four par 3's averaging 137 yards and 5 par 4's averaging 288, you might think it would be an easy round. However the tight fairways and thick trees and well placed sand traps along with the small greens will demand accurate shots to score well. The last hole demands a high shot over a large tree to carry the green.  Jackie goes out of her way to make you welcome at Fonner View.

The last stop of the day was at Riverside Golf Club.  Another traditional tree lined country club with fairly wide flat fairways and large undulated greens that putted very true. A river winds through five fairways and can cause layup shots. The green are very receptive to iron shots and the course was in excellent shape. I really enjoyed playing Riverside!

Even though the opportunities for Golfing Nebraska in the remainder of this year look slim, we will be traveling to Texas for Thanksgiving with my sister and golf bro Don so we can continue our annual golf battle for the 47th year!

Scorecard: 149 courses played

Miles Driven: 207

Total Miles since 7/21/2014: 5970