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KMcKeown

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Upcoming trip to Sand Hills & Ballyneal
« Reply #25 on: May 25, 2016, 08:55:36 PM »
I only had bfast at Sand Hills (it was terrific) but my late night meal at Ballyneal after a long, dark drive into the course was top shelf. We were greeted by a bunch of Yankees playing cards on a brokers trip. Great night.

I though thought the landscape was better at Ballyneal and quite frankly more memorable but the greens at Sand Hills were the best I've ever seen. This was the Summer '13. Yes, better than Oakmont when I played it. Better than Alotion. Havent played ANGC. The firmest and fastest I've seen. Prairie Dunes are the best IMO in terms of design and speed based on playability but that day, Sand Hills was amazing.

I agree on checking out Dismal, but only after you play as much as you can at those two iconic courses.

There's nothing else around so don't leave the courses unless you go to Dismal. Best food, drinks and friends in the area by a long shot.

David Whitmer

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Upcoming trip to Sand Hills & Ballyneal
« Reply #26 on: May 28, 2016, 04:36:57 PM »
I was in the first group out at Sand Hills yesterday, after being at Ballyneal Tuesday and Wednesday and Dismal River Thursday. Get a cheeseburger at Ben's Porch...really good. And watch your speed leaving Sand Hills. I got pulled over going a bit over the 60 MPH. Thankfully just received a warning. Phenomenal trip.

Frank M

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Upcoming trip to Sand Hills & Ballyneal
« Reply #27 on: May 28, 2016, 04:54:12 PM »
I was in the first group out at Sand Hills yesterday, after being at Ballyneal Tuesday and Wednesday and Dismal River Thursday. Get a cheeseburger at Ben's Porch...really good. And watch your speed leaving Sand Hills. I got pulled over going a bit over the 60 MPH. Thankfully just received a warning. Phenomenal trip.

David, I'll be at Ballyneal and Dismal River in about a week or so (unfortunately no Sand Hills). What kind of shape were the courses in? Playing firm?

David Whitmer

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Upcoming trip to Sand Hills & Ballyneal
« Reply #28 on: May 28, 2016, 05:12:14 PM »
I was in the first group out at Sand Hills yesterday, after being at Ballyneal Tuesday and Wednesday and Dismal River Thursday. Get a cheeseburger at Ben's Porch...really good. And watch your speed leaving Sand Hills. I got pulled over going a bit over the 60 MPH. Thankfully just received a warning. Phenomenal trip.

David, I'll be at Ballyneal and Dismal River in about a week or so (unfortunately no Sand Hills). What kind of shape were the courses in? Playing firm?


Frank,


Ballyneal was very fast and firm. Only negative was the greens were a bit shaggy and bumpy. Did not detract from the overall experience, but I have seen those greens in better shape.


The White course (Nicklaus) at Dismal was a bit firmer than the Red. Chris Johnston warned us between our rounds (played the Red first) that the White's greens were not as good as the Red's, but we found that to not be the case. The White was in fine shape. We had the entire place to ourselves on Thursday...what a day. And I had the honor of putting the "Moriarty House" sign in place next to the Red's 4th green.


Have a great time. It's about impossible not to, even if you have to go to the basement of the Turtle Bar at Ballyneal because of a tornado warning!

Dave Givnish

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Upcoming trip to Sand Hills & Ballyneal
« Reply #29 on: May 28, 2016, 05:14:32 PM »
Enjoy the sunsets. There's nothing better than watching it at Ben's Porch, or playing bocce at Ballyneal. Fit Wild Horse in if you can.

Tom_Doak

  • Karma: +2/-1
Re: Upcoming trip to Sand Hills & Ballyneal
« Reply #30 on: May 28, 2016, 06:41:50 PM »
Enjoy the sunsets. There's nothing better than watching it at Ben's Porch, or playing bocce at Ballyneal. Fit Wild Horse in if you can.


No bocce at Ballyneal for the next 2-3 months, anyway.  We expanded the putting green up into that area, and it was all seeded just a month ago.  Should be ready to play on [putting OR bocce] by the fall.

Frank M

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Upcoming trip to Sand Hills & Ballyneal New
« Reply #31 on: May 28, 2016, 09:06:49 PM »
Thanks David, appreciate the feedback! Not going to lie, though a remote chance, I am slightly concerned about tornado season .
« Last Edit: July 05, 2024, 10:35:43 PM by Frank M »

Dan Herrmann

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Upcoming trip to Sand Hills & Ballyneal
« Reply #32 on: May 28, 2016, 09:38:26 PM »
1.  Keep an eye out for the prickly pear cactus at Sand Hills (I know I saw a bunch on #17).
2.  Budget for the swag.    I still love my Sand Hills t-shirts.
3.  Buy some of the SH burger/steak spices in the pro shop.  It's the same stuff they use at Ben's Porch.
4.  The SH steak dinner was the best I've ever had anywhere.
5.  The staff at SH was like family by the time we left.   They invited Laura and me to Mullen for their July 4 fireworks, but we were beat from all the golf and the need to drive 12 hours the next day that we hit the sack early.   Big mistake - should have went to see the fireworks.


Joe Schackman

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Upcoming trip to Sand Hills & Ballyneal
« Reply #33 on: June 06, 2016, 10:42:35 AM »
Just want to thank everyone for their feedback and suggestions.

The trip was amazing and those courses are truly special.

John Kavanaugh

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Upcoming trip to Sand Hills & Ballyneal
« Reply #34 on: June 06, 2016, 11:16:18 AM »
Just want to thank everyone for their feedback and suggestions.

The trip was amazing and those courses are truly special.


Reading between the lines I would say you were underwhelmed. Nothing to be ashamed of.

Joe Schackman

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Upcoming trip to Sand Hills & Ballyneal
« Reply #35 on: June 06, 2016, 11:21:10 AM »
Just want to thank everyone for their feedback and suggestions.

The trip was amazing and those courses are truly special.


Reading between the lines I would say you were underwhelmed. Nothing to be ashamed of.

Haha I can't tell if you are being sarcastic or not. Oh the perils of internet communication.

Kalen Braley

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Upcoming trip to Sand Hills & Ballyneal
« Reply #36 on: June 06, 2016, 11:32:58 AM »
Joe,

Congratulations are in order.  Being insulted with a back handed compliment is JK's way of welcoming you to the fold..

Mark Bourgeois

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Upcoming trip to Sand Hills & Ballyneal
« Reply #37 on: June 06, 2016, 11:37:52 AM »
Yes, Jason, and when they ran out of sod, they used mud.

I had us lined up to visit the House of Mud on a family trip but the wife guilted us into visiting her cousins instead.  >:(   On the bright side I did parlay that favor into a side visit to the Unpainted Huffhines furniture store.
Charlotte. Daniel. Olivia. Josephine. Ana. Dylan. Madeleine. Catherine. Chase. Jesse. James. Grace. Emilie. Jack. Noah. Caroline. Jessica. Benjamin. Avielle. Allison.

John Kavanaugh

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Upcoming trip to Sand Hills & Ballyneal
« Reply #38 on: June 06, 2016, 12:59:35 PM »
Just want to thank everyone for their feedback and suggestions.

The trip was amazing and those courses are truly special.


Reading between the lines I would say you were underwhelmed. Nothing to be ashamed of.

Haha I can't tell if you are being sarcastic or not. Oh the perils of internet communication.


To say "The trip was amazing and those courses are truly special." suggests something less than a religious experience. I know after my first trip I was ga ga for go go butts. Where's the passion?

Joe Schackman

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Upcoming trip to Sand Hills & Ballyneal
« Reply #39 on: June 06, 2016, 01:33:51 PM »
Just want to thank everyone for their feedback and suggestions.

The trip was amazing and those courses are truly special.


Reading between the lines I would say you were underwhelmed. Nothing to be ashamed of.

Haha I can't tell if you are being sarcastic or not. Oh the perils of internet communication.


To say "The trip was amazing and those courses are truly special." suggests something less than a religious experience. I know after my first trip I was ga ga for go go butts. Where's the passion?

Ha. Okay so not sarcasm... But nothing could be farther from the truth. I held back because I figured there is so much info on here already about Sand Hills/Ballyneal that I probably couldn't add anything new so just wanted to thank people. But here we go!

We had an amazing time.

We went to Ballyneal first and the course was so much fun to play. My dad is an older guy and he's got some game but he doesn't have a ton of distance and so he and I often come away with different opinions on courses. I'm a decent player but I have enough distance off the tee so I don't usually pick up on things that he takes issue with.

Ballyneal had none of that. It was so playable for both of us. Tons of room off the tee and no real forced carries. The greens had much more undulation than we are used too but it didn't feel "circus like". They were just a ton fun to putt on. We had great caddies to boot.

Favorite hole had to be #7, which is probably the cliched choice. The pin was middle back and the first round I was in the right rough about 50-60 yards out. So I pitched it into the slope on the left and watched it run up and back. Second round I drove the green  :) .

Sand Hills was just fantastic. The place was so cool and the people were incredibly nice. We got three rounds in there over a day and a half. The first round my Dad and I got pretty beat up. Adjusting to the green speed took a little time (although apparently they were not running at their full speed). There were  a few tee's at Sand Hills that required a longer carry than is comfortable for my Dad.

The second round was about as good as it gets. We grabbed the infamous burger at Ben's porch and went and changed into shorts. We got back out on the course, just the two of us, and we both played MUCH better. We had a better feel for the course and the wind had pretty much died down so the course was "get-able". My dad mixed and matched tee's so he had a lot more fun. We play most of our golf at home during the twilight hours so playing the last 9 as the sun was setting was, to steal John's term, a religious experience. We both pared the last hole to shoot the numbers we wanted.

We sat out at Ben's Porch for a drink and chatted with a few members and just basked in the beauty of the place.

The third round was a bit rougher but we were the first group on the course and flew. The hangover from the great scores lasted into the start of this round so I tried to play the holes in different ways just to get a better feel for the course.

I think my favorite hole was par 5 #14. Again my Dad and I have different games and he always says to me that he is too focused on not screwing up his next shot to appreciate the architecture of a course. But that hole really peaked his interest. He loved being able to comfortably reach the hole in 3 shots even without a ton of distance but then having to keep his shot short and left of the green to avoid the nasty bunkers. I went for it in 2 twice and laid up once. Just so many interesting options after the tee shot but no easy choices.

Again it was just a really cool example of a hole playing well for all types of games.

John Kavanaugh

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Upcoming trip to Sand Hills & Ballyneal
« Reply #40 on: June 06, 2016, 01:46:34 PM »
Thanks, that was great. Any adventures along the road? There's always a road trip story.

Joe Schackman

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Upcoming trip to Sand Hills & Ballyneal
« Reply #41 on: June 06, 2016, 01:59:12 PM »
Thanks, that was great. Any adventures along the road? There's always a road trip story.

Actually not really! It was uneventful drive other than the usual observation of "holy crap this doesn't look like New Jersey".

I was praying for no flat tires.

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