[Ran Morrissett]

https://golfclubatlas.com/the-harvester-club/

Golf and family have strong, positive connotations. Historically, the greatest golf family may be the Parks of Musselburgh but many other family connections have enriched our game. Having lived in Southern Pines for 20 years, I have been watching the Bell family nurture Pine Needles, Mid-Pines and now Southern Pines. More recently, I learned about Gamble Sands from a couple of family members and spent time with the Mourgue d’Algue family behind St. Emillion in France. There is the Nicklaus family of course and watching the Keisers progress things at Sand Valley has been rewarding. Yes indeed, ‘family’ and ‘golf’ go hand-in-hand, which is my way of introducing the Jensen family that owns The Harvester Club in the middle of Iowa.

The course has been around for 20 years, first as a public venue and since last year a private club. My friend, Keith Foster, did the original work and was given the opportunity by the father, Dickson Jensen, to enhance it once The Harvester went private. I never saw the prior version but persnickety judges like Tom Doak and Joe Andriole were fans so that says something.

Today’s version shocked me on several levels. One, the scale of the place is immense. Two, the green keeping practices were state of the art (defined as hard playing surfaces that release the ball) and the course is faultlessly presented with the greens pushed out to their extremes and the mow lines allowing short grass to carry balls well away as designed. The Jensen’s desire that there be fewer rounds has helped their uber talented Green Keeper achieve such optimal playing conditions. Three, the course is a stunning study in contrast, courtesy of the green playing surfaces, tawny natives, and the bright blue 60 acre lake, along with a couple of watering holes for livestock from farming days gone by. I don’t know what I had expected but it wasn’t this dramatic and hopefully the profile’s 35+ photos convey what I found so mesmerizing.


The mighty two shot 9th at Harvester.

Sometimes, the world ‘quaint’ can be used to describe a family business. Not here, this is big time. The patriarch of the family started the business when his five children were young and now they are integral to the day-to-day operations. In fact, one is a plus handicap and the others are tidy players in their own right. People have embraced the national membership model and the membership is filling-up, even in a pandemic. It is an American success story with the Jensens pouring so much thought and effort into the project and now vigilantly look after it like a hawk (it is Iowa 😉). Peace and quiet pervade and with the facilities offering just what you need and nothing that you don’t, it makes for the perfect retreat.

Vaughn Halyard has done a ton to awaken many a GCAer to the charms of golf in Iowa. Visiting Omaha, across the border, Cedar Rapids, Davenport and here was one of the most rewarding trips I have been on in a very long time. Leaving, I turned to Luke Reese and said, ‘Wonder when we can get back here?’ He responded, ‘I was just thinking the same thing.’ That’s the power of great architecture wrapped in a great experience – that’s The Harvester.

Best,

[Jeff Schley]

As a U of Iowa alum I'm biased to Iowa and so very happy to see this course upgraded. Haven't visited as of yet, but did consider joining for a time as I go back to Iowa each year when home to Chicago. I'm very impressed with the photos, particularly hole 8 with it's infinity green par 3 and a brute of 235 from the back. Also what I think is a signature hole in 9 with the green build into a great ridge and bunkers falling off to the right and forcing a carry short winding the fairway around it. Quaint photo from the fairway. I have heard they have been successful with membership as of last year and hope it continues. With great cottages making it a destination, if you build it they will come.

[Tom_Doak]

I have heard they have been successful with membership as of last year and hope it continues. With great cottages making it a destination, if you build it they will come.

I am glad to hear that the place is having some success because when I was there four years ago, it was struggling.  In the previous model it was too far out of Des Moines for the locals, and had not enough traffic from other places.  One of these days I will go through the review and see how much the course has changed or not changed -- it didn't really need to change -- but this is not the week for that!

[Evan Fleisher]

Excellent write-up, Ran!


My one (and only) play of The Harvester was back in 2002 when I lived in Dubuque and made the trek West for a few rounds in the area.  I was stunned by the course then, and these picture show just how well the course has matured and grown into its current incarnation.


Hoping I get the chance to once again travel West and experience this wonderful (and stunning!) golf course.

[V_Halyard]

I have heard they have been successful with membership as of last year and hope it continues. With great cottages making it a destination, if you build it they will come.

I am glad to hear that the place is having some success because when I was there four years ago, it was struggling.  In the previous model it was too far out of Des Moines for the locals, and had not enough traffic from other places.  One of these days I will go through the review and see how much the course has changed or not changed -- it didn't really need to change -- but this is not the week for that!

You are correct, it was great but it is now spectacular. The business move to private was a sad loss for the public play but the regional public play market's golf aptitude was probably not quite in alignment with the quality of the course. Having been familiar with all versions, you will find the difference stunning. Go back.

[PCCraig]

Looks pretty spectacular.


Is the water more or less in play than it used to be? Looks like a lot of forced carries now.


(Un)Related, they did a really nice job with their clubhouse, cabins, etc.

[Jason Thurman]

To Vaughn's point, as I read through the profile, I can immediately recognize all the holes and the routing and general shot requirements look to have changed very little. But the level of refinement also shows clearly.


I loved The Harvester in its previous iteration, and I would have loved for it to become a Midwestern bastion of public golf. But I also love the idea of The Harvester: Pure Golf Club. The "lowest common denominator" element of a public course's audience that Ran's review alludes to always felt like it hurt the Harvester experience. A lovely walk, walked by virtually no one. A great course for competitive play, but without the busy tournament and game culture of a true club. A setting worth savoring before and after a round, left unsavored by trunk slammers. A place that begged for a firm and fast presentation that its clientele might dismiss as unfair.


I hope they crush it, and I hope to return and see it for myself.


I posted some shitty photos of the previous version in this thread back when the closure of v1.0 was first announced on this site: https://www.golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,59505.25.html. Not great pics, but they illustrate a few changes. 5 seems like it was a little shorter before, and you can see the lack of shared fairway with 6. I recalled 14 being a longer par 3, but the idea of shortening it a bit from the members' tees and asking for trajectory control in a windy location makes a lot of sense to me. It usually plays a bit downwind, correct? It always did for me anyways. You can also compare the shaping at 17 with the new bunkering in Ran's profile.

[Jason Thurman]

Looks pretty spectacular.


Is the water more or less in play than it used to be? Looks like a lot of forced carries now.

Let me answer as a guy who hasn't been there to see the renovation yet!


On the holes in the profile where you can see water, the placement and degree to which it's in play haven't really changed (other than to the degree that conditions are faster and firmer now). And really, Ran shows photos of pretty much all the holes that touch the lake, so I can't imagine anywhere else where the impact of water would really be more acute than it was previously.


The course has a few forced carries. Obviously at 3. The approach to 6. Over the stream on the second shot at 9. Across the lake at 17. And then the stream at 18. I think that's actually a comprehensive list. Five forced carries. Two fairly lengthy ones from the tee on par 3s, one rather short one that most players will tackle as the third shot on a not-too-long par 5, and a stream to cross 150 yards or so before the end of each nine.


Water is definitely in play, and definitely part of the course's challenging-but-sporty character. But it's presented in a way that's reasonably manageable for a reasonably skilled player, playing within himself. The average 30+ hcp public course golfer might have lost a lot of balls out there, but a bogey golfer who makes decent swings on the two forced-carry par 3s can cut a deal to negotiate the hazards at a safe level of risk elsewhere.

[mark chalfant]

Ran,


Thank you for this superb profile of a golf region that I love! The story of Jensen family is inspiring. The Harvester's terrain, variety, textures, and green sites all look exceptional. Davenport and Cedar Rapids are truly superb. I am hoping to visit Perry Maxwell's course in Ames before long. Although it needs to export "a few trees" far far away, The Wakonda Club layout is a superb Langford and Moreau design. Iowa should not be a "flyover state" for golfers who value great architecture.

[Buck Wolter]

I'm a huge Keith Foster fan -- hoping he finds his way back to GCA. Dickson also had Foster build the Iowa State Golf practice facility in nearby Ames which the No Laying Up guys visited -- at about the 11:00 mark in this video - the ultimate backyard.  https://youtu.be/t_DYdeZn_1k

[Doug Siebert]

I played it a few times over the years, every time the fairways allowed little roll due to over irrigation. Sounds like they've got that sorted, so it sure would play very different from what I remember even without the renovation. Hopefully I'll be able to check it out someday.

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