With this being my first post on GCA, I suppose I should begin by introducing myself. My name is Brett Crow and I am a 23 year old living in the Dallas area. I just graduated from Texas A&M University this spring and will begin my career in the exciting world of accounting beginning in September. In the meantime, I have been trying to play golf and study for the CPA exam (mostly the latter). Earlier this summer, however, I did get the chance to play some and visit some family with my dad in the Kansas/Iowa/Nebraska area and I thought I would share a few of my experiences for my first post. Here was the planned itinerary:
Day 1: Travel
Day 2: Colbert Hills - Manhattan, KS
Day 3: The Harvester - Iowa (morning); Quarry Oaks - Ashland, NE (afternoon)
Day 4: Wild Horse - Gothenburg, NE
Day 5: Sand Creek Station - Newton, KS
DAY 1
We drove up from Dallas through the eastern part of Oklahoma and Kansas all the up to Manhattan. We went through Tulsa on the way where we got a few looks at Southern Hills as they get ready for the PGA Championship. Didn't get to see very much, but what I saw looked awesome - way more elevation change than I expected. We made it up to Manhattan in the evening and got a chance to check out the Kansas State campus which was very nice.
DAY 2
We were the first group out at Colbert Hills in the morning on a beautiful day. Here's a few shots of the Jeff Brauer design (regretfully I am not nearly as good of a photographer as many others I have seen on this site):
#6, Par 4, 428 (back tees) / 383 (tees where I played)
This hole is a fun driving hole. You want to try to carry it as far as you can to the right over that first set of bunkers in order to get the best angle to the green, which is tucked behind that bunker/mound in the distance. A safe drive to the left (like mine) leaves a blind shot into the green.
#7, Par 5, 600 / 540
This picture doesn't come close to capturing how far downhill this tee shot is. This was actually taken from the back tees. I played from the ones you can see just below this teebox. The bad news is that it's a long way back up the hill once you're off the tee.
#10, Par 5, 614 / 543
This was probably my favorite hole on the course. Again, this picture doesn't capture the elevation on this hole. You can see the creek wind across the fairway at the bottom of the hill and then it comes back across the fairway again in front of the green which is tucked backed in the trees in the distance. A good draw off the tee will catch the slope and roll down to the creek giving you a chance to go for the green in two.
#14, Par 4, 487 / 452
The fairway here is crossed by a creek at the bottom of the hill which you can't see in this picture. This leaves a long second shot, but the large green is open on the front-right, allowing for a running draw into the green.
#18, Par 4, 453 / 394
This is the finishing hole wrapping around the pond. Not a hole a that sets up well for a draw (hook) like mine! By the way, you can see the 9th green next to the bunker on the right side of the pond.
Overall Comments: After playing CH, I proclaimed it to be the top course I've ever played. Living in the Dallas area, I've played a handful of Mr. Brauer's designs like Tangleridge, Whitestone, and Squaw Valley and have enjoyed them all (haven't played Cowboys yet). Like those other courses, I found CH to provide plenty of challenge without being overly penal, but the thrilling tee shots and overall beauty of the course put it over the top for me. The greens also seemed to be a bit more bold than some of Mr. Brauer's other courses I have played. The only drawback I can think of is that this is that this is a definite cart course with several long distances from green to tee.
We left Manhattan at noon and headed east through Lawrence where we visitied KU (again, very nice), then headed through Kansas City and up to Des Moines for the night.