Cottonwood Hills (KS) may reopen in 2011

[Craig Van Egmond]

The saga continues..

http://southcentralgolf.com/index.php?option=com_recentnews&id=3504&Itemid=622

[Jason Hines]

Hi Craig,

I see the website is still up and running.

http://www.cottonwoodhills.net/photogallery-golfcourse.html

Did you ever get to play there?

[K. Krahenbuhl]

I drove by a few times last year and from what I could see from the road there is going to be a lot of work to do to open back up there.

[Craig Van Egmond]

Jason,

    I never played there, when I am in Hutch it is for only one reason and I ain't giving up a round at PD to play anywhere else.

    After it first opened I did ask lot of the PD members what they thought and they thought it was too tough.

[Jason Hines]

Can't keep a good thing down or someone wants to sell some houses?

http://m.hutchnews.com/news/local_state_news/article_cf7c98e4-826a-58c0-a7ba-bbcd17e253cf.html?mode=jqm

Has anyone here actually play this course?

http://goo.gl/maps/fU4Ux

[K. Krahenbuhl]

Can't keep a good thing down or someone wants to sell some houses?

http://m.hutchnews.com/news/local_state_news/article_cf7c98e4-826a-58c0-a7ba-bbcd17e253cf.html?mode=jqm

Has anyone here actually play this course?

http://goo.gl/maps/fU4Ux

I can't imagine that investment succeeding as a golf course or a housing development.

[Jaeger Kovich]

It looked interesting in its grown-over state from the car 2 summers ago.

So this guy paid almost $2mil for the property? or he bought it back for that? I hope they do more than  just re-grass it and make it as good as it can be....

I wouldn't want anyone telling me "the course was built the right way"!

[Jeff_Brauer]

It was a very hard course, narrow corridors, etc.  Not bad, but a bit too slick as compared to PD, and I felt it might have been more natural for the site it sat on.  Some rock walls, etc.  As far as I recall, only one poor hole, the ninth with blind water.  May have been the tenth.....

[Ken Moum]

Can't keep a good thing down or someone wants to sell some houses?

http://m.hutchnews.com/news/local_state_news/article_cf7c98e4-826a-58c0-a7ba-bbcd17e253cf.html?mode=jqm

Has anyone here actually play this course?

http://goo.gl/maps/fU4Ux

I played it, three times IIRC. On back-to-back days, I played it in a stiff NW wind then a more-typical SE wind.  I was pleased to see that it was MUCH more playable the second day. IMHO there are too damned many courses built these days where it appears no one bothered to figure out what the summer wind was.

Oddly, I loved the place. And despite my crappy driving, didn't find it all that hard to get around.  I've only played PD a couple of times, but Cottonwood didn't seem any more difficult, and I didn't feature the one thing I don't like about Prairie Dunes... lost balls or virtualy unplayable lies within a couple of yards of putting surfaces.

FWIW, both of them are easier than the other course in those sand dunes, Highlands, formerly Paganica.

Personally, I'm delighted to hear that it's coming back. And even more delighted to hear that the real estate component might not be a key to its future.

K

[David Kelly]

From PD to Cottonwood Hills are miles of absolutely great golf land.  Unfortunately, Cottonwood Hills was a botch job. Whereas Prairie Dunes was routed so that almost every hole plays into or with the wind, Cottonwood Hills had a lot of sidewind holes, blind gunch, blind water, forced carries, and unnatural looking bunkering.

A lot of people had been waiting a long time to see another course built there because the land was so great but CH was a pretty big let down.

[Jason Hines]

David, Ken,

Do you remember what grass they used in the fairways?  Did the course take advantage of the sandy soil and play fast and firm at all?