So we wake up the next morning, have breakfast, get our golf bags in the carts and head to the 1st tee, a drive of about a mile. We stop at the range, which is about midway, hit some balls and continue to the 1st tee.
The drive to the 1st tee is rather uneventful because you’re mostly driving along the base of the dunes and ridges, rather than on top of them, thus, your view is limited.
After a long ride you arrive at a rather Spartan structure, a combination rallying point, starter’s shack, half way house and 19th hole.
From this structure you have a rather expansive vista. You can see a good deal of the golf course and miles and miles of land far beyond the golf course. One thing is for sure, you are isolated in a golf course.
In our group today was our host, Gene Greco, and his son Chris, a very handsome young man who's a good golfer and quite poised on the golf course. It's immediately obvious that Chris gets his good looks, athletic ability and social skills from his mother.
The walk from the structure down to the 1st tee is a little on the long side, but, when you arrive, you look out and one of the first things that registers on your eye and mind is the scale of the golf course, it’s immense, as are the bunkers. For me, immense bunkers tend to look closer than they really are, so I’m beginning to question how much of the slight dogleg corner I might be able to cut off. Then I think, do I want to start my Sand Hills experience by hitting my first drive into that massive, left side fairway bunker. I opt for “safety first” and drive to the center of the fairway from the Diamond tees. We opt to not play from the double diamond tees, although, on holes where there were double diamond tees, like # 4, we went back and hit some tee shots just to get a feel for the holes from the double diamonds. One thing is clear, the double diamond tees present a more strident challenge and alter the play of the hole considerably
I like wide fairways, so I have an instant connection with Sand Hills with its generous fairways.
After two holes I notice what appears to be a pattern, high tee, lower fairway, high green.
As I play the golf course that observation appears to be confirmed.
There was a uniqueness to the approach and setting of the first green which I really liked.
I loved the setting from the tee boxes and the second green, along with the view from the second green.
That view, confirmed what we observed on the ride from North Platte to Sand Hills, that the entire area could accommodate an infinite number of quality golf courses. It may be the best large area of land for golf in the entire U.S.
As we play the golf course, other than the 4th green, the greens seem to transition seamlessly from the fairways, allowing for runups, which I would imagine are required when the wind is up.
Today, there’s barely a zephyr of a breeze in the air, which, I’m told is a rarity.
Two weeks prior to the trip to Sand Hills I was at GCGC and ran into Boomer Esiason, who was a member of Sand Hills, he advised me to make sure I brought a wind vest/jacket with me, because as he told me, the wind can “howl” while you’re playing. Subsequent to the trip I ran into him again and told him that he owed me for the wind vest/jackets I bought. He was shocked to hear that we didn’t encounter any wind.
As we play the golf course I see how the wind can dramatically effect the play of each hole.
I also realize that without wide fairways, in strong wind, the golf course could become unplayable and more importantly, NO FUN. It is the wide fairways that allow the golf course to remain fun no matter where the wind comes from, or how strong it is.
Another observation is that with the greens, emerging seamlessly from the fairways, are effectively larger, which also helps under windy conditions.
But, Mother Nature robs us of the experience of playing the golf course under windy conditions.
The greens are at a good pace, but, with high wind velocity, they would be unplayable if they were faster.
I make this same observation at the courses at Bandon, Oregon.
The 4th green seems out of place, in structure and playability, still, it’s a wonderful hole with some of the largest, most expansive bunkering I’ve ever seen. Golfers are literally dwarfed, swallowed up by the massive scale of the bunkers.
I liked the back, upper tee on # 5. While it made the hole play considerably different, I liked the presentation. Under windy conditions I imagined that there was no way to hide your tee shot.
As the round progressed, one of the other things I liked was the lack of repetition. Each hole was distinctly different, even though the HLH pattern seemed prevalent.
Playing the back nine I found one of my all-time favorite holes, # 13, a par 3 with a “Skyline” green, one of my favorite features in golf. There were a number of holes with the “Skyline” effect, # 2, # 5 and # 11 all had that flavor. But, # 13 was special, a difficult uphill par 3 with danger lurking left, right and long.
I could play that hole over and over and over again and never tire of the challenge.
The par 5’s were interesting.
I liked the 1st hole and thought it was a perfect opening hole, allowing ample margins for mis-hits, nervousness, etc., etc. It also made eagle and birdie possible. No one likes to travel hundreds or thousands of miles and face an overly difficult 1st hole, one that can ruin your round despite decent play.
# 14 was one of those holes where eagle and birdie were attainable.
The greens at # 1 and # 14 were small and narrow requiring accuracy on the approach and a deft touch on recoveries. Both greens were pitched, back to front with # 14 having more slope.
# 16 differed from # 1 and # 14 in view, feel and play.
It was all downhill, almost like a roller coaster ride to a large green offset slightly left.
A very unique and interesting hole.
The 17th, a par 3, became another favorite of mine.
It’s a perfect example of target golf with little in the way of architectural margins for error in the surrounds.
The tee sits cut into the base of a hill that rises behind it.
I learned that there was an upper tee, far back and on top of the hill.
Armed with a few clubs and balls, I would subsequently make the trek up the hill the next day with Ran and play the hole. Hitting that green from up there is a frightening, daunting task, without any wind. With any kind of wind, it’s got to be exponentially more difficult, if not impossible. I can see why they abandoned the tee, but wish that they had kept it maintained, just to challenge lunatics like myself who want to try those impossible shots, just to say that they did it.
Coming off of the 17th green and walking around to the 18th tee, you’re again struck by the immense scale of the place. The left side fairway bunker is immense, and you know that if that magnet like bunker attracts your ball, par will be an extremely difficult, if not an extremely lucky score. # 18 is another of those HLH holes requiring a great drive and a great approach shot.
I also liked the rusting, creaking windmills that littered the property, they add a unique flavor.
Unfortunately, without a breeze they weren’t enjoying many RPM’s.
We finished our round and began our climb to that Spartan structure where the rest of our contingent was enjoying lunch and a few beers.
Tom Huckaby was rather subdued and being attended to and consoled by others in his group.
Ran Morrissett had challenged him to a match.
Ran would use “Hickories” and Tom would use his regular clubs.
On the 1st tee, Ran had whined his way into convincing Tom to give him an inordinate, if not a foolish amount of shots.
I think Tom underestimated the quality of Ran’s “Super Hickories” and Ran’s ability to wield them
Ran did use a new Titleist, probably a Pro-V.
Since Ran and Tom were playing ahead of us, where holes were nearby, I ambled over to see how their match stood. From the outset it was clear that Tom had no chance. As the round progressed, I didn’t have to amble over to see them, as Ran was “prancing” down the fairways, telling me everything I need to know about their match.
As Tom Huckaby drowned himself in sorrow and vast quantities of beer, Ran was in his glory recounting every hole, if not every shot in their match. I was surprised by his effectiveness and efficiency with his Hickories.
Was he trying to “psych” me out for our pending match the next day ?
Was he just as surprised as we were with his performance ?
Was he just lucky ?
Was he gaining confidence for our showdown ?
Ran and I have had a number of matches at a number of courses and to date, his lone victory had come at Inniscrone, outside of Philadelphia. His most painful loss was at Plainfield, where he had me 5 down after 7 holes. When my long birdie putt rolled in on # 15 to put him “Dormie”, he knew that the “fat lady had sung” My most painful loss was my only loss.
So, we both were looking forward to our match the next morning.
For the rest of the day and at dinner, the conversation centered on Ran’s destruction of Tom Huckaby, whose apparent weakness in his golf game is negotiating on the first tee, and how Ran would claim another victim the next day.
To be continued.