Take the long way home

05/15/2016

After the weekend with Pam's family in Ainsworth for her Aunts memorial service, she and her Aunt from Lincoln were going to head home the regular way through Norfolk, but I had other ideas about more golf courses on my list and headed south to Broken Bow to start another Golfing Nebraska Day!

Travelling south of Ainsworth on Hwy 7 to Brewster, another place I had never been to, a fork in the road decision had to be made. The easy way was to go west on Hwy 91 to Dunning, then southeast on Hwy 2 to Broken Bow, but the shorter and more adventurous way was on a ranch road straight south to Broken Bow. I had second thoughts when the pavement turned to sand and gravel after about two miles, but I continued on. Lots of cattle and ranches but suddenly I stopped to snap this picture.

I saw enough turkeys on this road to feed all my golf buddies for a year! I also came across an RV park in the middle of no where at Victoria Springs near Anselmo. Now onto Broken Bow CC.

The Broken Bow CC is gently rolling course with small to medium bent grass greens that are quiet flat with very few sand bunkers. The first hole is a 430 yard par 4 with OB right the entire length as well as right behind the green. Also challenging is the 112 yard par three 5th with a false front and large sand trap.

Next Stop: Overton

Made a pit stop in Lexington ( Largest community in Nebraska without a golf course!) to refuel me and my golf car.  Overton is 11 miles east on Hwy 30. As the Overton Golf Club came into view, I could see a problem on every fairway..golfers playing a scramble! I rarely go Golfing Nebraska on weekends, so I headed for I-80 and Minden Country Club.

Minden Country Club is a well manicured course with rolling hills and a creek coming into play on 7 of the holes. The par 3's are very challenging with yardages of 190, 205 and 188 and the greens are medium  sized with some slope and a few bunkers.

Score Card: 169 courses played

Miles Driven: 340

Total Miles since 7/21/2014: 7562

3 more courses to complete the North Central Area

05/13/2016  (Lucky Friday)!

After a good nights rest and breakfast at Mom's motel, I headed for Butte up on Hwy 12 about 120 miles northwest of Norfolk.

Butte Golf Course was converted from sand to artificial greens, The course is still a par 33 with three par 3's and six par 4's located 3 miles south of town. The gentle rolling layout is an easy walk with tree-lined fairways with small elevated greens.

Next Stop: Springview

Traveling one hour west on a very scenic Hwy 12 along the Niobrara River Valley is Springview and another sand greens course of Nebraska.

The Springview Golf Club is located on the northwest part of town near the city park.  It is a short par 30 sand course with 2 par 4's and 7 par 3's covering 1686 yards.

Next Stop: Bassett

Bassett Country Club is 30 miles south of Springview just two miles west of Bassett on Hwy 20. The course has wide, tree-lined undulated fairways and medium sized unguarded crowned greens. Most of the holes lay east to west as the 25-30 mph north wind followed me there!

Now I am headed for Ainsworth to meet my wife for a short stay for her Aunt Gerts memorial service on Saturday.

Score Card: 167 courses played.

Miles Driven: 214

Total Miles since 7/21/2014: 7222

Finishing off the North Central Area and cleaning gutters!

05/12/2016

My mother keeps informed of golf articles in the Norfolk paper. Recently she sent me an article about a 4 hole artificial greens course in Petersburg. It was not listed in my publications of Nebraska Golf courses so I decided I needed to play it.

The course is located in the Petersburg city park and has 4 holes. The course winds through the pines
with small, flat greens.

Next Stop: O'Neill

O'Neill Country Club is a well manicured course with generous tree-lined fairways and large contoured fast greens. Today the wind was blowing 25-30 mph which made it difficult to keep the ball online with the target. Coupled with the fact that the championship tees are 3700 yards and the senior tees are 3200 yards made for tough club selection.  

Next Stop: Norfolk and Mom's home cooking!

Last year I made a list of Nebraska course that I had played early in my golfing years but I did'nt have a score card from.  On the way to Norfolk from O'Neill I stopped in Neligh at the Antelope CC to pick up a scorecard where I had played 50 years ago!  When I got to my mother's house, she had the ladder out front and I knew what I had to do. She has four large elm trees in her yard and with the recent winds the gutters and roof were full of twigs and leaves. After about two hours of up and down on the ladder, I had the front and back gutters cleaned out!

SCORE CARD: 164 courses played

Miles Driven: 277

Total Miles since 7/21/2014: 7008

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