Omaha Country Club

[Terry Lavin]

In looking at Keith Foster's website, I saw that he renovated Omaha Country Club, an old Perry Maxwell design.  Does anybody have any further info on the course and/or the work?  Any photos?  I think they may have the Senior Open coming up there in a year or so, if I recall correctly.  In any event, I've heard some good things about the course and I was thinking of adding it to a planned trip to Sand Hills and Ballyneal later this year.

[Phil McDade]

Terry:

Cornish and Whitten list Omaha CC as originally a Langford/Moreau, dating to 1927, with a remodel by Maxwell that the club lists at 1951. It has the 2013 US Senior Open.

This thread:

http://golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,36250.0/

has some interesting back-and-forth about whether OCC was originally a L/M or a Stiles/Van Kleek (which to me would be odd, as S/VK rarely worked outside the East Coast, while L/M are credited with a bunch of courses in the Midwest.

Some suggestion by GCA folks (Tony Chapman) that Maxwell's redo was limited to greens. Not sure if routing is original or not.

[Wayne Wiggins, Jr.]

Terry -

Before seeing this thread, I posted on the Shepherd's Crook one that i thought K. Foster's work here is really, very good.  Every hole is a memorable, and it certainly passed the "play 18 and head straight back to the 1st tee" test.  There are some photos on their website: http://www.omahacc.org/default.aspx?p=CourseHole&vnf=1&ssid=81645&view=&crsID=1017&hole=1

WW

[Mike Hendren]

Link to a thead I started on Omaha CC:

http://golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,37026.msg760483/

The hallmark of this course is an excellent routing on a very hilly site.  The original architect, perhaps neither Maxwell nor Langford & Moreau (the scorecard lists Maxwell) made excellent use of the one shot holes to transition downhill and the par fives sweep along a sidehill (#2), downhill/sidehille (#6) downhill/uphill (#10) and across a small ridge and valley (#16).  The 9th, 12th, 13th, 14th 17th, and 18th par fours feature moderate to severe uphill second shots and range from 315 to 461 from the tips.  Only three flat holes on the course, the outstanding 4th, the 7th and 8th which play along the floor of small valleys.  The course plays much longer than the card - 6746 from the tips and 6373 yards from the next set forward.  It will be a challenging walk for the seniors.

A cool feature is the naming of holes after respected members whose faces are depicted on the respective flatsticks.  The small ridge that is the ideal layup for the second shot to the par five 16th is also named for a member who was reknowned for laying up there and making birdie more often than not. 

Green contours are generally subtle and Foster's work is understated and restrained - commendable work where a lesser architect might be tempted to leave his mark.

Mike

[Adam Clayman]

Terry, OCC is truly a wonderful Parkland course. The trees are immense, and while they comprise most of the views, they are so far apart, and appropriately placed, that when one hits one offline, it is not unrecoverable.

A couple of the par 3's were a little too close together in look, shot demand, and distance, was just about the only criticism I could find. One of the one shotters was spectacular, set in a clearing, with glimpses of other holes, and the associated intimacy.