[A_Clay_Man]

I'm searching for some assistance in helping me understand why almost every town in the state of Nebraska has at least nine holes of golf, and has had golf for a very long time. Ogallala's course was built in '36. It is on flatish ground with some quirky pushed up features, with a heavy reliance on trees as design elements.

 Since Nebraska is the home of Arbor Day, that tree part is somewhat understandable.

Apparently, Nebraskans love their golf. I wonder why that is? Is this a phenomenon found in other states?


Here's a link to the states directory.
It was great to see our own Paul Hermsmeyer's course gets top billing.


http://www.1golf.com/ne/index.htm


One aspect that I'll postulate as key, is of attittude. Nebraskateers are a different breed. Attitude about the quality of the golf course is almost non-existent. Similar to the sentiment Don Mahaffey once passed along about his Texas clientel. "All they care is that the weeds are green", but this is different.

My initial observations are that it is just a love for golf. Perhaps it's the wind, or the sandy soil, that pulls at the primordial brain?

Last night I had my first league night. The draw was 130 golfers. Hell, in New Mexico they couldn't draw 67 for the biggest tournament of the year, on a great course, in a town ten times the size.

Thoughts?

[Alan Gard]

As one who grew up playing one of those small town courses (the Friend Country Club...the population of Friend was about 1000 people), I have some thoughts on this.  

1. People in small-town Nebraska have more free time in the daylight hours.  My dad was a farmer, and while everyday was a workday in some form, that also meant that at non-harvest time he had 2 hours to go play golf and spend a little time with us kids.  Even if they aren't farmers, many of the small-town folk are self-employed, which allows them some leeway in setting their own hours.  And the people like to enjoy the outdoors with their free time, which makes golf a common activity.

2. These courses were generally easy to build.  Again, I have no expertise other than my experience playing a lot of these courses, but they were pretty much: take a square piece of land with few trees, figure out a rough layout of holes, put in some simple greens, plant some trees to line the holes, maybe dig a bunker or two and go.  The soil is obviously good for growing things so with a little attention it doesn't cost a lot to grow grass.  They weren't afraid to let the grass get a little brown in the summer, so irrigation costs weren't that high.  Finally, a lot of these courses started with sand greens, again reducing the initial investment.

3.  Town pride.  With small towns, there was a lot of town pride.  And rivalry.  Though our high school rivalries were intense, I think it was much more so in my dad's and uncles' day (based on some of their town team baseball stories).  This leads to more courses in two ways.  A) Keeping up with the Joneses..."If Friend has a course, we're going to have a better one" and B) Townspeople volunteering time and money to build and maintain one.

The true small-town courses don't offer a lot architecturally, but they do somewhat adhere to the minimalist's approach.  And I still have fun going back home and playing the course I grew up on (and its $12 green fee doesn't hurt).

It just shows that golf can be enjoyed anywhere.

[A_Clay_Man]

A true Friend. Thanx

Fascinating what passion, some free time, and earth manipulating equipment can make.

Thoughts of Wild Horse came when you mentioned the donated labor & equiptment.

 The interesting part is;

I still have fun going back home and playing the course I grew up on

While I haven't grown up on the old Ogallala Country club, I find the nine holes to exucde the essence of the sport. Why the second even has a straight line O.B. on a par 5, where the tee is close to the O.B line, magnifying it's presence and affect. Ala Talking Stick North's second. Grant it, that is likely the only similarity with the Az. C&C design, but with tons of trees and two pimples that frame the front of the pushed-up green complex. Simplistically perfect, requiring the most accurate of shots to succeed. I'd even argue artful due it's juxtaposition, save for the interstate.

[RJ_Daley]

Adam, as you know, I have been pondering the difference in golf culture between my Wisconsin area, and the place I love to play so much, Wild Horse in Gothenburg (the typical Nebraska, Union Pacific RR line, agriculture based economy town of 3500pop).  

Here in dairyland, I play at a top municipal course, with a highly active men's club 18 hole weekly league 180 members), and fairly active women's 18 hole league (~60 members).  We have all kinds of tournaments and events.  We have a few 9 hole short season-10 week after work group membership leagues too.  

If you consider WH as a community effort, it is in a way a municipal course in spirit, and certainly viewed as a community treasure.  Yet, they can't draw the kind of numbers we have to make up a robust league like ours.  They have two men's 9 hole leagues, one night 88 players, one night 40 players.  One women's night 40 players.  Without the population, there just doesn't seem to be enough numbers to draw from to make up what we might think of as an active or seriously competitive league.

Our Men's club started regular league play May 4, although more than half of the 180 people that play weekly were playing informally every thurs., as soon as the course opened )which was first week april this year).  We play official league until last week of Sept, but at least half the members again play informally until the snow flies in Nov, and course closes.

Here, 80-90% men and women walk 18.  It is opposite at WH,  even though they only play 9.  Can the heat be a factor?  Here, more and more walkers are buying electric battery run caddies with remote control, or walk behind trolleys.  There, it seems they all lease a cart of the year, or own one!

Both courses, here and there offer a very affordable unlimitted playing yearly membership.  Here, the course design is a solidly good test on a somewhat remodelled course from an original, mediocre design, generally maintained well, but a little too soft.  There, they have a world class golf course that is the ideal for firm and fast, inland links-prairie style.  

Yet, I think I can say that WH is not the most popular course out there in that region.  I believe unremarkable flat courses  with bathtub bunkers, pushed up and boring greens, with barely a design theme or merit, do as good-or better numbers or rounds played in that region than WH.  I could be wrong...

The answer can only be in numbers of population, regional ecomomy, and regional/cultural values placed on various kinds of recreational/social opportunities.

I suspect you have the same contrasting views from your old Pacific Grove days, and what you have experienced in N.M., and now Ogallala.

With WH being the exception to typical Nebraska town course designs, you have to wonder why they all seemed to think the flat, low ground was the right place to site their community courses years ago, when very often, a couple miles out of town, one finds good golf ground.

I'll let you know when I figure out why so different... until then, we will have to hope they finally schedule a Badger-Husker football game to find out which big red has bragging rights.

[A_Clay_Man]

Walking, proper ettiquette and strick rules of golf are not at all emphasized.

Junior golf starts in June and I'm looking forward to doing my best, at a grass roots level, to help modify that.

The general behavior nips on the edge of Cowboy golf. One difference is a respect for the land, illustrated by ballmarks and divots being repaired, regurlarly.

Dick, One of the more amazing aspects of G'burg is how poorly their high school team shows at competition. I would've bet a sizable farm that given the nature of WH, as a home course, the school couldn't help but prodice an above average team of golfers. Yet, they don't. Perhaps it's affect hasn't been fully realized, still being a relatively young course. Time will tell.

[RJ_Daley]

Adam, All I can say about local prospects honing their game at WH is that someone in that village should adopt John Hurley, and shoot for him developing a game to be the first Nebraskan to win "The Open".

[RJ_Daley]

Also, regarding the walking thing, I think we have to factor in the golf business economics.  I'm pretty sure their structure must rely on the cart trade to make it a viable proposition to keep a quality pro and staff.  With just the cost of the yearly memberships, I can't imagine how they could make it without those cart leases.  I'm always a bit conflicted about my insistence to walk when nearly everyone else is riding out there.  I do want to see them retain their fine staff, but on the other hand, I seriously wouldn't go out there if walking was not available.  So, I try to make sure I buy some stuff every time in the pro shop.  I might have one of the larger collection of WH shirts that exists...

I guess that doubling the yearly membership fees to make up for de-emphaisisng carts would not wash there; yet here, even at double what they are paying would be a steal.

Mucking around in local culture and tradition is a slippery slope.  I'm happy to just respect their ways if they are willing to overlook what might seem odd to them, about mine...

[Jason Hines]

Hey Guys,

You touched on several things that I have noticed as well.  I have never figured out the cart thing here either, however, at the club I belong most about half of the people in the mornings walk?  Don’t forget, that a golf cart has a cup holder for your beer on men’s night.

Adam, I had wondered the same thing about G-burg high, coaching?  Can they not adapt to tree lined parkland?

Some of the other topics, the reason why they did not build a course in  out in the hills in the old days was that it is easier to walk on the flat ground.  Also, you wanted your course closer to town and when there were 6 times as many small farms, you needed your land for grazing and crops.  However, that was then and this is now.  I have stated before that a city course/club similar to WH can be emulated in several other places in this state, Sidney, Alliance, Scottsbluff, Chadron etc.

I did not truly get into golf until I moved back to Nebraska, honestly, that is what you do here.  In the immediate Omaha area there are over 50 courses easily.  200 in a state with the population of 1.7 million.  Alan mentioned Friend which is a nice course that oozes with the character that Adam has found in Ogallala.  Others rural courses I can mention are Fairbury, Milford, Pierce, Ewing, Oakland, Beemer and Beatrice CC .  These places reek of the character and spirit that is spoken of on this board every day.  Please fill in other courses as you all see fit.

[A_Clay_Man]

Jason, Thanks for the toughts. It really is a special place. I hear Iowa is similar in that every town has a nine holer.

Corey Crandall and I just walked Ballyneal and he said when I dropped him off, that he didnt ever remember walking 18 holes. My chin almost hit the floor. I think he really liked it. Good thing that when I picked up his bag to put in the trunk, I ask him if he wouldn't mind removing the dive weights.  

[Jason Hines]

Adam,

I thought of a couple other things.  It was touched on somewhat by Dick and Alan, golf is a working man's game in rural Nebraska where I grew up.  Plus, the club houses are a big part of the social structure.  Weddings, bar, cafe etc., there are not a lot of other choices.

Dick,

WH is becoming the best place you can play in the state in the hearts and minds.  Of course, I have run into people that didn't like playing there because the "greens were too fast"  and I have heard, "it was too windy".  Two guys in my weekend 4 some had not even heard about WH until last week.  It can be frustrating here, I have play with you several times out there and brought friends that were not looking and soaking up the same things you and I were.

J.

[Chris_Clouser]

Adam,

Oklahoma has the same thing.  The state is littered with nine-hole golf courses all over the place.  I think two key components led to this.  

1)  Vast amounts of open acreage.  They can only farm so much land and because a lot of these small towns had a lot of terrain they developed some of it into golf courses.

2)  Socialization of the masses.  These nine hole courses turned into the social center of the small towns as well and were the source of the entertainment and relational development with their fellow citizens.  

The big exclusive country club was not something that occurred in these regions until after World War II and then only in the big cities like Tulsa or Oklahoma City for a long time.  

[Jay Carstens]

Adam, All I can say about local prospects honing their game at WH is that someone in that village should adopt John Hurley, and shoot for him developing a game to be the first Nebraskan to win "The Open".

Dick,
It might be hard to imagine but Hurley didn't win this week's Class B State Championship.  Thanks to an untimely s**** he lost by 1 shot.  He's off to Texas A&M this fall.  Highlands was playing beautifully too (before the rain), firm and fast and breezy.  That's golf.

[Evan Fleisher]

Jason, Thanks for the toughts. It really is a special place. I hear Iowa is similar in that every town has a nine holer.

Corey Crandall and I just walked Ballyneal and he said when I dropped him off, that he didnt ever remember walking 18 holes. My chin almost hit the floor. I think he really liked it. Good thing that when I picked up his bag to put in the trunk, I ask him if he wouldn't mind removing the dive weights.  

Adam,

Right now Iowa has a tourism/promotion kind of advertising thing going on with Governor Vilsak speaking...it is called "Iowa...Life Changing".

In that ad, there are two guys talking about "driving" and whose turn it is...of course it turns out they are driving a golf ball.  Then the gov comes on and says that Iowa has the largest amount of 9-hole layouts (per capita) in the country and that our uncrowded roads make it easy to get around to all of them.

I agree with some of the above sentiments...farmers with free time on their hands (in the afternoons), a sense of belonging and community for smaller rural areas, etc. are some of the reasons for the proliferations of these types of courses, whether they be 9 or 18 holes.

[Tony_Chapman]

Adam -- First off, I haven't even gave you an official welcome yet, so "It's great to have you!!" Please IM me and we can take in a Husker game in the fall if things work out.

Alan -- We need to meet. My cousin is Dave Clouse (don't worry everyone, he's famous in Friend).   Dave's father was one of the guys who started the course in Friend and Dave has taken it under his wing the last few years. A wonderful place to throw your bag on the shoulder and walk nine after supper.

Adam, I don't want to bore everybody on the board but I think if you have lived in the state for awhile it's fairly simple to see how golf has evolved in Nebraska.

Beginning in the late 1800's you had a few clubs in Lincoln and Omaha that really grew up to about the 1920s I would say. Golf was very good in Omaha and Lincoln and most of the other decent sized towns (Grand Island, Kearney, Norfolk) had good 18 hole courses (and still do). In the 1930's, Johnny Goodman hit his prime (winning the US Open) and the 1941 Amateur was brought to Omaha Field Club.

Some highlights of this era would include: Omaha CC, Happy Hollow Club (Langford and Moreau) in the late 20s, Hillcrest CC and Pioneers Park (in Lincoln by William Tucker).

Then things were apparently were fairly stagnant until the 50s when the small towns started popping up 9-hole golf courses. Most of these were sand greens that converted to grass at a later time. They are still probably to this day taken care of by townspeople and they most likely were built on donated land. Nebraska had a sand greens high school championship until 1984. Until 1961, in fact, any school could enter regardless of size at which time a school had to choose between sand or grass greens to compete.

The 1960s and 1970s remained mostly unchanged, except for the addition of Lochland CC in Hastings, Benson Park in Omaha (by Floyd Farley) and Capehart Golf Course (at Offutt AFB by RTJ).

Pete Dye and Dick Youngscap then saved golf in our state when they built Firethorn in 1985. This started getting people to think out of the box with their golf courses. With Dye's one success and Youngscap dreaming of Sand Hills, Jeff Brauer really started up a new era in Nebraska golf.

Most importantly he built two wonderful public courses: Highlands (a city course in Lincoln) and Woodland Hills (a privately owned public course just minutes from Lincoln). These two courses, built in the early 1990s -- along with his Champions Club in Omaha -- started to get people thinking about how fun the game could be again.

With golf's rising popularity in the 1990s, many small towns started building 9-hole tracts and a few clubs started adding nine more holes to their older front nines. Jim Engh designed the back side at my home course and -- although I have no official word -- I think it's his first solo design.

Here is a link to YCC: http://www.golfclubatlas.com/mhcyork.html

Please let me know if you have other questions. Why we won't see many majors in Nebraska, we have a ton of fun golf courses to play. Ask Brian Gracely how much he wishes I could transplant our city course (Jackrabbit Run) in Raliegh, especially for $15.75 on the weekend!!

Cheers,

Tony

[A_Clay_Man]

Tony and everyone, thanks for the input and the welcome.

It really is the good life!

Since the three states NE, OK, IA and likely KS have the farmers, the correlation is a good place to start understading. Alan's point about the free time is also key.

Tony, That was a wonderful synopsis. In my short time here, I've even learned the old team name of the cornhuskers. Anyone know it?
First one to IM me with the correct answer gets a free round at Ballyneal.

[Jason Hines]

Adam, who is the winner?  

[Doug Siebert]

Jason, Thanks for the toughts. It really is a special place. I hear Iowa is similar in that every town has a nine holer.

Corey Crandall and I just walked Ballyneal and he said when I dropped him off, that he didnt ever remember walking 18 holes. My chin almost hit the floor. I think he really liked it. Good thing that when I picked up his bag to put in the trunk, I ask him if he wouldn't mind removing the dive weights.  

Adam,

Right now Iowa has a tourism/promotion kind of advertising thing going on with Governor Vilsak speaking...it is called "Iowa...Life Changing".

In that ad, there are two guys talking about "driving" and whose turn it is...of course it turns out they are driving a golf ball.  Then the gov comes on and says that Iowa has the largest amount of 9-hole layouts (per capita) in the country and that our uncrowded roads make it easy to get around to all of them.

I agree with some of the above sentiments...farmers with free time on their hands (in the afternoons), a sense of belonging and community for smaller rural areas, etc. are some of the reasons for the proliferations of these types of courses, whether they be 9 or 18 holes.

Our roads are uncrowded because Iowa also has the most miles of road per capita in the US

There are indeed many little communities with nine holers.  I had a girlfriend who was pretty into golf back in 1993-94 and while she was a pretty good golfer (could drive it about 240 when she caught it but rarely broke bogey due to a poor short game) she wasn't much for playing really challenging courses.

I found a book called "Golf Courses of Iowa" in the bookstore and we spent a couple summers hitting just about every course around us that had 2 stars or more (gotta have SOME standards!) and sounded interesting from the description.  There were 365 courses listed in it (one for every day of the year) so we had plenty to choose from even though we rarely drove more than an hour to get anywhere.  She was busy doing her PhD work so it was weekends only but we did at least one and often both weekend days.  Being hot and humid and playing in the afternoons we'd pretty much have the place to ourselves, and they often thought we were insane for walking -- people who think Iowa is flat are wrong, a lot of it is very hilly, its just that the difference between the highest and lowest spots isn't that great.  A lot of the courses tend to be built on the really hilly land because it isn't suitable for cultivating crops so why not put a golf course there?

The nice thing was that most courses were daily fee, so we could play as many holes as we liked.  So we'd often end up playing 36 holes in about 3 hours, sometimes playing the last nine in a best shot format (or when we were feeling masochistic, worst shot)  All I can say from playing those hot and humid days during late afternoon when the wind completely stops is that it is a damn good thing that none of those courses had any rules preventing a man from playing shirtless or a woman in a sport bra.  Despite that we were closer to the best dressed than the worst of those out there since the official golf shorts of these courses seems to be frayed cut off jeans

The courses didn't have much architectural value, few would rise higher than a Doak 2, but we had a great time together and those really were some of my best times on a golf course.  There may be some higher ranked courses in the Philly/NYC/NJ area but we got you guys beat hands down in terms of golf holes per capita!

[RJ_Daley]

I find it amazing that we have so many folks recognizing a "fly-over" state like Nebraska or the prairie-sand hill region as having such a noteworthy golfing culture profile.  One doesn't see near the number of posters waxing on about Texas golf, or Arkansas golf, or even Illinois golf as if it were some unique experience.  Of course that isn't fair, as there are fine golf opportunities in every State if one seeks them out.  But somehow, Nebraska keeps getting mentioned in almost a separate category onto itself.  So, I don't know if it is the likelyhood that you will be playing on the Nebraska course with some folks attired in bib overhauls, or the smile fatique you experience because everyone is so friendly, or just that we woodland golf creatures are drawn to the allure of the endless horizons.  But, it sure is a different feel to the place.

[Evan Fleisher]

RJ,

Quick story...last night we had a couple over to our house for dinner...they are from the (OLD) Grillroom days...Rick and Dorian Nowosad (they went by Maddog and Tansi).

Anyways...they were just out at Wild Horse a few days ago and said that while they were unpacking their gear from the car a truck pulls up and two farmers (wearing their overall bibs and all!!!) hop out.  Dorian said she could hear them talking to each other and the one farmer says to the other "Where did all these cars come from?"

Guess their "private" club ain't so private anymore!  

[Jason Hines]

Evan,

I will be interested to hear your opinion of golf in Nebraska/WH after you play there.  The first time I played there was April of '99, they had shop set up in the basement of the clubhouse down with the carts because they had not finished the upstairs yet.  There were no maps or hole markings to speak of so we were a little lost at first until an old feller jumped down off his mower twice to give us directions and a little detail about the holes.

If people are looking to be overwhelmed with amenities and 5 star anything, then this is not your place.  As several had stated above, it has a lot to do with the people.

[Evan Fleisher]

Of course I too am anxious for my first ever Nebraska plays this weekend...and with the addition of Adam Clayman on Sunday it should be a real hoot!

Golf is what we are there for (and of course good company)...all else is simply "window dressing", but I'll be the first to say that the overall ambiance and amenities of a place does affect the total package when you think of an golf "experience"...not just simply playing a round of golf.

Very much looking forward to it all...more to follow after Sunday!

[A_Clay_Man]

The forecast is for wind. So, bring your lip balm. Also, some face cream to relax all those ear to ear grins, which could become perminately afixed.

 

[Tom Huckaby]

Heard about where you're going, E.  There are few secrets in this place.  

Listen to Adam - he remains wise.  And you are going to two of the places where overall amenities (or perfect lack of pretension therewith) effect one the most positively on this planet.

 

But one more thing:  if I ever hear any complaints from you about difficulty of golf travel - and I'm not sure that I ever have - I may have to commit mayhem.  Nebraska and Palm Springs a week apart... Bandon a month or so later... please.

[Evan Fleisher]

Me?  Complain about traveling for GOLF?!?!?  Are you MAD, man!  

I've got my small cooler filled with pop and water, got the sticks in the trunk, got a slew of golf books on tape, and my MP3 player...and ready to hit the road bright and early tomorrow morning.

TRUST ME...traveling for golf is the VERY LEAST of my overall worries...and for the summer I've got lined up (as you have pointed out) along with two "unscheduled" golf trips in early August (that Jill does NOT know about since she'll be in Cleveland at that time) I am by all measures a very blessed and lucky person...and grateful for it!  

[Tom Huckaby]

Evan:

What I meant is whining about how difficult trips are to pull off on the homefront - you know, how I do all the time?

Oh hell yes, once you're going, it's all good.  

 

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