Cedar Rapids, Iowa Advice

[Mike Hendren]

I have an opportunity for a teaching gig there the first week in October.  Not lucrative unless I can see some solid golf architecture in the neighborhood.  Looks like  Cedar Rapids CC and Harvester are the obvious choices.  Anything else under the radar?

Advice appreciated.

Mike

[PCCraig]

I would start by going to see the movie Cedar Rapids.

[Tim Pitner]

Michael,

I'm a Cedar Rapids native.  Unfortunately, the golf situation is not great.  Cedar Rapids Country Club is credited to Ross, although I don't know if he ever was on-site.  It's worth playing, if overly treed.  The other private in town, Elmcrest, is where Zach Johnson cut his teeth--it's a decent course, but nothing special. 

The only public in CR (Marion, actually, I think) I would recommend is Hunter's Ridge and that's only okay. 

One course not too far away I like a lot is Saddleback Ridge in Solon.  Sort of a quirky course, with very little bunkering.  I'm also partial to Finkbine in Iowa City, mostly for nostalgic reasons (I went to university there).  It's a Robert Bruce Harris course (fairly typical, I understand).  I like it because it's on a big piece of property and is just a fun course to play. 

October is usually the best time of year to be in eastern Iowa, for the golf, crisp fall weather and Hawkeye football.

I believe most of Cedar Rapids was actually filmed in Michigan. 

[Sean Leary]

I have an opportunity for a teaching gig there the first week in October.  Not lucrative unless I can see some solid golf architecture in the neighborhood.  Looks like  Cedar Rapids CC and Harvester are the obvious choices.  Anything else under the radar?

Advice appreciated.

Mike

You give up on Seattle?

[Jon Spaulding]

Pass on Hunter's Ridge; drive to Harvester. Have not played CRCC, as of yet. Want to say that Ross was definitely involved, think I saw a drawing somewhere. I've been told that Amana Colonies is "OK".

Unfortunately, the best thing to see in CR these days is the death of US manufacturing.

The local plant with competent people gets shut down and now I have to spend my time explaining to customers why the Chinese can't cast the stuff right, and a bunch of non-union rednecks can't so much as assemble a product which was made successfully for 80+ years in Cedar Rapids. Paging Lou Duran.....

[Jason Topp]

Mike:

Close by, I would suggest:

1.  Amana - I am a fan, others are detractors, it is worth seeing
2.  Finkbine - University of Iowa course.  Robert Bruce Harris but a good set of greens and a fun layout.

I have not played Cedar Rapids CC, but I think it is a much altered Ross course. 

Courses to skip - Blue Top Ridge(Rees Jones), Bos Landen.

Courses worth the drive:

1.  Wakonda - Very good Langford in Des Moines that is over-treed
2.  Harvester

I do not know the courses near the river very well but there may be some options in that direction as well.

There are some interesting small town 9 hole courses in the area but I do not know them well enough to make a recommendation.


3. 

[Lou_Duran]

Unfortunately, the best thing to see in CR these days is the death of US manufacturing.

The local plant with competent people gets shut down and now I have to spend my time explaining to customers why the Chinese can't cast the stuff right, and a bunch of non-union rednecks can't so much as assemble a product which was made successfully for 80+ years in Cedar Rapids. Paging Lou Duran.....

Sounds like a great opportunity for a young, enterprising engineer like you.  And with WS, IL, OH and IN disrespecting its unionized hard-working public servants, you should have no trouble recruiting the "best of the best" to take away market share from their Chinese comrades and Fly-Over-Country antagonists (my friends, the dumb, incompetent red-necks).

Somehow I don't think the demands of your business will be met by 36-hour work weeks, 13 paid holidays, 6+ weeks vacation and sick leave, defined benefits pensions, and a free Cadillac healthcare plan.  But if I am wrong and you have some openings, I may want to come to work for you.  I promise that I won't agitate, ask for more than my union can extract from you, or beg for golf with the beautiful people at SoCal's toniest courses.  I'm not holding my breath. 

[Mike Hendren]

Thanks gents.

Never fear Sean - they LOVE me in Seattle and I'll be out that way the week of August 29th. 

Mike

[Tim Pitner]

Jason,

Interesting that you like Amana, but not Bos Landen--I thought they were birds of a feather. 

Michael,

I would recommend Harvester and Wakonda too, although these are each two hours away from Cedar Rapids.  If you want a more local course, check out Saddleback Ridge.  It's a hidden gem.

[PCCraig]

Michael,

I'm a Cedar Rapids native.  Unfortunately, the golf situation is not great.  Cedar Rapids Country Club is credited to Ross, although I don't know if he ever was on-site.  It's worth playing, if overly treed.  The other private in town, Elmcrest, is where Zach Johnson cut his teeth--it's a decent course, but nothing special. 

The only public in CR (Marion, actually, I think) I would recommend is Hunter's Ridge and that's only okay. 

One course not too far away I like a lot is Saddleback Ridge in Solon.  Sort of a quirky course, with very little bunkering.  I'm also partial to Finkbine in Iowa City, mostly for nostalgic reasons (I went to university there).  It's a Robert Bruce Harris course (fairly typical, I understand).  I like it because it's on a big piece of property and is just a fun course to play. 

October is usually the best time of year to be in eastern Iowa, for the golf, crisp fall weather and Hawkeye football.

I believe most of Cedar Rapids was actually filmed in Michigan. 

It was filmed in Ann Arbor due to tax issues.

[Mark Dorman]

Could take Hwy. 30 west to Ames and play Coldwater Golf Links, which I always enjoyed, and worked there for a season...
Another one in Ames is Veenker Memorial, another decent course with some funky holes. I believe they just switched over to bentgrass too (~2 seasons?)

If you make it to Des Moines another private club to check out is Hyperion Field Club. Played that a few times and it's fun with some good holes, and right next to Camp Dodge (Natl. Guard) which makes it a bit interesting when they are having target practice!

Also check out The Legacy, in Norwalk, just south of Des Moines. Never played it but my dad loved it.
I also enjoyed Bos Landen, in Pella. But that was high school days and I know they had financial issues and got bought.

[Jon Spaulding]

Unfortunately, the best thing to see in CR these days is the death of US manufacturing.

The local plant with competent people gets shut down and now I have to spend my time explaining to customers why the Chinese can't cast the stuff right, and a bunch of non-union rednecks can't so much as assemble a product which was made successfully for 80+ years in Cedar Rapids. Paging Lou Duran.....

Sounds like a great opportunity for a young, enterprising engineer like you.  And with WS, IL, OH and IN disrespecting its unionized hard-working public servants, you should have no trouble recruiting the "best of the best" to take away market share from their Chinese comrades and Fly-Over-Country antagonists (my friends, the dumb, incompetent red-necks).

Somehow I don't think the demands of your business will be met by 36-hour work weeks, 13 paid holidays, 6+ weeks vacation and sick leave, defined benefits pensions, and a free Cadillac healthcare plan.  But if I am wrong and you have some openings, I may want to come to work for you.  I promise that I won't agitate, ask for more than my union can extract from you, or beg for golf with the beautiful people at SoCal's toniest courses.  I'm not holding my breath. 

I thought you might enjoy that one. We'll simply shut the doors before entertaining a union operation; and my enterprising spirit is under constant attack by the people in Sacramento. At this rate we will eventually have a vacuum out here, where no one actually works.

Oddly enough, unions prompted this factory to close in CR, moving it out of state. The alternative, on paper looks great....yet in reality, to date, is far worse. Perhaps a case where good management with a tough union is better than weak management with a non-union shop, who together took one company under, which is why this facility on the other side of the Red River from you was bought out of chapter 7 in the midst of what was a great market.

Back to golf......the good places around Des Moines are a long way from CR. I wish someone would do a review or am IMO of the Harvester some time, it had some really great things going on.

[Lou_Duran]

JS,

They say that necessity is the mother of invention, and I can't think of a better man to be a real-life "Local Hero".

You can show that a hands-on owner can recreate the American Dream in Cedar Rapids, producing quality products locally at competitive prices, while treating workers as they deserve and paying them high wages and benefits consistent with their productivity.

And with the "fair" profits you earn, after paying all your taxes and making the necessay re-investments in the plant, the workers, and the community, perhaps you can hire Doak, C & C, KBM, Brauer, Nuzzo, Andrews, Nugent, Mingay, Thompson, Ristola, et. al. and build the affordable course of architectural significance for the all the deserving stakeholders there and here.

Or you can deal with the incalcitrant Chinese and incompetent Rednecks while staying within sight of the Pacific Ocean with your wonderful family, living on a steady diet of kids' sports and activities, and golfing at such places as El Niguel, Riviera, LACC, Bel-Air, Wilshire, Lakeside, MPCC, SDCC, LaJolla, Victoria, etc.  Life is all about priorities and choices.  You, sir, have some tough ones. 
 

[Evan Fleisher]

The suggestions above pretty well sum up the golf scene in central Iowa...gotta "travel" a bit to see anyting worthwhile.  A bit farther away (of a drive) and you've got the Quad Cities courses...TPC Deere Run, Rock Island Arsenal, Davenport CC (a Colt & Alison) are a few worthy contenders.

Another that might require a bit more distance to travel is Spirit hollow down in Burlington.

[Jon Spaulding]

JS,

They say that necessity is the mother of invention, and I can't think of a better man to be a real-life "Local Hero".

You can show that a hands-on owner can recreate the American Dream in Cedar Rapids, producing quality products locally at competitive prices, while treating workers as they deserve and paying them high wages and benefits consistent with their productivity.

And with the "fair" profits you earn, after paying all your taxes and making the necessay re-investments in the plant, the workers, and the community, perhaps you can hire Doak, C & C, KBM, Brauer, Nuzzo, Andrews, Nugent, Mingay, Thompson, Ristola, et. al. and build the affordable course of architectural significance for the all the deserving stakeholders there and here.

Or you can deal with the incalcitrant Chinese and incompetent Rednecks while staying within sight of the Pacific Ocean with your wonderful family, living on a steady diet of kids' sports and activities, and golfing at such places as El Niguel, Riviera, LACC, Bel-Air, Wilshire, Lakeside, MPCC, SDCC, LaJolla, Victoria, etc.  Life is all about priorities and choices.  You, sir, have some tough ones. 
 

Am I allowed to combine these options however I see fit? I believe it's doable, other than the building a golf course part.

[Brad Klein]

Ross was most certainly at Cedar Rapids in 1915 and did a pretty good routing there when visiting during one of the few long-distance railroad journeys he ever took west of the Mississippi.

Unfortunately, other architects followed in his wake there, most disastrously one from the Midwest in (as I recall) the early 1980s, whose idea of renovation was to mound everything, place bunkers where golf balls were meant to land, and who obviously had not taken a second to honor, much less even acknowledge, Ross. After spending about $6 million to build a mammoth brick clubhouse, a few members decided to turn their attention to the golf course and to recapturing Ross; they had a decent plan in shape in the early 2000s but I don't think it was ever fully implemented.