Sand Hills pics just because...

[Tim Bert]

... it's probably feeling a little left out with all the attention being given to Ballyneal.  I'm looking back on some of my pictures from earlier this summer.  I still haven't had much time to organize photos, but I thought I'd post a few of the ones I enjoyed the most.

First light.  On the first day, I was up at the crack of dawn.  I had to grab a cart and go take a peek at what I'd be seeing a few hours later.



The wonderfully contoured 2nd green.



The 4th green as viewed from the moster pit.



Looking back on the 14th really brings out the movement of the fairway.



17th green - wide angle from afar.



17th green & 18 in the distance.



17th at the end of the day.

[Jimmy Muratt]

Wonderful pictures, thanks for posting them.  It just doesn't get any better than Sand Hills.

I love the pin positon pictured in your photo of #2 green.  It just sits on that little plateau taunting you as you play your approach.  A slightly misplayed shot a little short or left and the ball funnels away.  #2 is one of my favorite holes on the course.

[Brian Joines]

Thanks for sharing. What a beautiful place!

[Nick Church]

Simply majestic.

[Jim Franklin]

the 14th is my favorite green site there. great pics.

[Doug Ralston]

To each their own.

I would definitely love to play it once. But I must admit this is not my idea of beautiful land. I understand that many of you see it differently. I just like trees. An mountains ...... how could any place be truly beautiful without mountains? Flat sandy scrub ....... I just don't know.

But definitely the course is worth one good play. They should put one good shade tree beside each tee, of course; to wait under while the group in front plays  .

Doug

[RJ_Daley]

I wish I was one of you wiz bang techies who can do photoshop.  I'd paste in a big live oak dripping with spanish moss at every tee on Sand Hills GC.  Also, some attractive paths lined with petunias and other lovely colorful plantings.  Wow, that would be pretty.

Doug, no offense, but I guess you just don't see the allure of the long view across the wavy sea of prairie and native grasses, with light and shadow dancing across the contours, crystal clear air, and no one and no structure on the horizon to spoil your feeling of solitude and connection with the land.  To each his own...

[Adam Clayman]

I'm with the Mayor on this one, but that's not to preclude all trees on every course everywhere.

Putting trees on this landscape wouldn't be a huge crime, if the course was built closer to the river, where there are trees. But, putting trees on this course, as it exists, would be like having teets on a bull.

[Mike_Sweeney]

Doug,

I appreciate your comments. Too many people hold back these days, and I hope you don't get killed for slaying a sacred cow on GCA.

Growing up on the East Coast and basically always near the ocean, the two trips to Sand Hills are without comparison.

The first I flew to North Platte. When you land, it is pretty much as you would expect, flat prairie land. Then you start to climb in the car up to Sand Hills, which is actually the foothills of the Rockies in some ways. There is no place like it on earth that I have seen. The only place that I can really compare it to is the Baltimore Canyon (Atlantic Ocean) 120 miles off of Cape May, and it is not at all like that.

The second time, I drove from Denver so that I could play Wild Horse. I was also surprised how pretty sections of that drive (including the Ballyneal area, did not see the course). I doubt that I will get my Connecticut girl of a wife to vacation in Nebraska, but I do love the space that you get out there.

[Jim Franklin]

And who needs teets on a bull?

[RJ_Daley]

Jim, perhaps another confused bull...

[Tom Dunne]

They should put one good shade tree beside each tee, of course; to wait under while the group in front plays  .

Doug

Right, because Sand Hills is infamous for its rack-'em-stack-'em mentality, 6 minute tee time intervals and 5 and a half hour rounds....

 

[RJ_Daley]

Here's all the shade you need pardner...

[Doug Ralston]

LOL Mr Daley ...... good solution!

Actually, I couldn't resist the little chide. I have been across the open plains, and it is indeed beautiful. I admit I love mountains more, but I find I must tease those who truly seem to think golf ONLY fits with open, flat, sandy lands.

Besides, with those long views, you can still hope for that exceptionally clear day when you can see the Rockies from there.......

Doug

[RJ_Daley]

Doug, the two courses in Jackson hole fit the bill for beautiful mountain backdrops, not to mention Banff.  I also love the mountains, and was a trout fisherman before I got so wrapped up with golf in my latter years.  Nothing like a stretch of stream along the Clarks fork above Cody...  But, nowadays I see great places for golf holes, even in those environs.   But nothing says golfy ground more than the sand hills to me...

[jg7236]

Great pictures!

[Doug Ralston]

RJDaley;

Since you love both fishing and golf, let me suggest a place.

Dale Hollow Lake in Southern Kentucky is know for it's incredible beauty and it's bass fishing among the little isles.

It has recently become know for Dale Hollow Lake State Park's beautiful golf course. #6 on GD's Best New Affordables last year, I think you would be VERY pleased. The zoysia fairways are the best I have seen. Even in Winter, when they are brown, you simple do not get a bad lie. The layout is elegant and challenging. Slope 136 from 6900+, and some of the holes are breathtaking. Designed by the Ault Boys, it may be their best course IMHO.  One thing that makes it tough was the limits the State put on cutting trees around the course. It is not the trees themselves that are the problem. It is just that you cannot grow thick rough under them. Many a drive just a little off line goes through the rough and down into the forest beyond. The fairways are quite large, so you certainly have opportunity to score well. Or if you can control your 'stud factor', you can even hit 3-woods and get one of those wonderful zoysia lies that allow a fairway wood easy acces to your ball.

Dale Hollow also has the friendliest staff you will ever meet, is $42 maximum, and incredible deal for a course of that quality. I only rate my 'beloved' Eagle Ridge higher, and that is because I am crazy [so I have been told]. It is very cheap to stay at the Park Facility, where they have quite good food, and very nice views. Ideal vacation spot where so few ever know to venture.

http://parks.ky.gov/golf/index.htm

Doug

[Scott Szabo]

Thanks for the pics.  There is no place like the Sand Hills as far as I'm concerned.

[Doug Siebert]

Damn Doug, you really think it needs trees to improve the view?

I'd have a hard time improving on that, the only thing I would do would be to have a herd of 200,000 buffalo grazing in the distance as there would have been 150 years ago.  Might need a good sturdy fence along the perimeter of Sand Hills if that was the case though, because I'd just hate to have my ball end up in a bison turd!

[Tim Bert]

The flat comments really amuse me.  I understand Sand Hills isn't mountain golf.  I've been to the Canadian Rockies and I've played some mountain courses as well, so I understand that flat is relative.  

At the end of the day, I don't think Sand Hills qualifies as a flat golf course by most normal standards.

[Paul Payne]

Nice pics,

I never get tired of that place.

Trees??

I suppose we ought to have a fund raising in order to start a tree planting campaign for TOC and other needy courses in the Isles.

[Doug Ralston]

Guys; Guys;

I am obviously teasing. Just love having fun with the 'Flat Earth' Golf Society.  

Doug

[Patrick_Mucci]

To each their own.

I would definitely love to play it once. But I must admit this is not my idea of beautiful land. I understand that many of you see it differently. I just like trees. An mountains ...... how could any place be truly beautiful without mountains? Flat sandy scrub ....... I just don't know.

But definitely the course is worth one good play. They should put one good shade tree beside each tee, of course; to wait under while the group in front plays  .


Bill Coore said that the Sand Hills is the best land for golf in America.

Doug, do you think he knows something about golf and golf course architecture ?

[Kevin_Reilly]

Guys; Guys;

I am obviously teasing. Just love having fun with the 'Flat Earth' Golf Society.  

Doug

As another poster once said in a different context, "Ray Charles could have seen you were joking."  Good one.  

[JLahrman]

To each their own.

I would definitely love to play it once. But I must admit this is not my idea of beautiful land. I understand that many of you see it differently. I just like trees. An mountains ...... how could any place be truly beautiful without mountains? Flat sandy scrub ....... I just don't know.

But definitely the course is worth one good play. They should put one good shade tree beside each tee, of course; to wait under while the group in front plays  .


Bill Coore said that the Sand Hills is the best land for golf in America.

Doug, do you think he knows something about golf and golf course architecture ?

He didn't say it wasn't good land for golf, just that he doesn't consider it to be beautiful.  I think everybody is right.