Wild Horse GC (pics)

[Tony_Chapman]

Wanted to share these pictures of Wild Horse with you guys. I played there yesterday in a steady 20 mph south wind. What a joy it was. I will post some thoughts on this course later. The last two times I played it, I was just a lurker on this site. Yesterday, I appreciated the course more than ever. Thanks guys.


The first hole. You will notice some black on a couple of these. They burned down the native grass last week on the front nine.


The par 4 fifth. The picture doesn't not do the hole justice. A tee shot downhill to the fairway and a lovely uphill shot to the green.


The greensite of the bunkerless 6th. An excellent par 5 that the architects "found".


The short par-3 11th


The par-3 13th. Wow. This was a short par-4 yesterday.


The closer.

Hope you enjoy. I tried to get pictures of holes that were not on RJ's lovely write up in the "My Home Course" area.

On the bulletin board in the club house, they was a short article about Tom Doak praising the course from the local newspaper. At the end it said, "for the entire transcript visit www.golfclubatlas.com." I thought that was pretty neat!!

[A_Clay_Man]

Thanks Tony! That black grass looks other worldly. But easy to find one's pelota in it? (tanks bill)

That new house behind the sixth should be the poster child for the type of house the rest of the lot owners should NOT build.

One lot is available for 35k at a local realtor. Nice try!

I hope the corporation is taking good care of Josh Mahar !

Just noticed the 4 4 4     nice numbers

Tony, could you elaborate on that wonderful compliment that you gave the website?

[RJ_Daley]

The charred native areas will be greened up by May 1-15 latest.  Tony, it looks like you had the joint to yourself, which often is the case in early spring mid-week.  Were there many dessicated turf areas on greens?

[Tony_Chapman]

Adam - On their bulletin board, it was just a short story from their local newspaper, that Tom Doak was heaping praise on the place. There was a quote from Head Pro Don Graham and then the last paragraph said that it was from this site. They basically quoted a Doak post on the website, I think.

RJ - There were a few bare spots on the green, but nothing major. The course was in mid-summer fast and firm condition in my opinion. And, we did have the joint to ourselves and our tee time was 11:30 on a Sunday!!

[GeoffreyC]

Tony

I love Wild Horse.  Thanks for the pictures. Do you have any pictures of the short par 4 15th?  I think its one of the greatest little holes around and that back left bunker has a golf ball magnet in it.

[Tony_Chapman]

Geoffrey - As I was spending most of my time in the front bunker, I failed to get a picture of the 15th green complex.   You are correct, that is the neatest little par-4.

[rjsimper]

"Native Grass"?  Don't you mean Wooga

[Tony_Chapman]

Just some random thoughts I had playing Wild Horse yesterday.

1. In my golf travels, I have never enjoyed a set of par 3s more than at WH. They each travel in a different direction, allowing for many different shots depending on wind and are of varying lengths (125-210 yesterday). The mark of a good golf course should at least include a wide variety of shot options from the tee box on the short holes.

2. Proctor and Axland did a wonderful job of recognizing the prevailing southerly wind when routing the course. The golfer is presented with birdie opportunities at holes such as 7, 12, 14 and 17 that head downwind. Likewise the golfer will struggle to make par on the normally difficult 8th, 16th and 18th. While playing yesterday, two well struck 3 woods got me to about 60 yards short of the 445-yard 16th and the same two clubs put me in the front bunker on the 505-yard 17th. While the 6 on the 16th was discouraging, the architects gave me and immediate chance to rebound with a 4 on the 17th.

3. When standing on the 3rd tee, the obvious play appears to be playing between the native grass on the right and the centerline bunker complex. On further thought (and because I pulled my tee shot directly over the bunkers), the best view for the remainder of the hole is by placing your drive directly over the bunkers. Genius.

4. The same holds true for the second. The closer you are to the same bunker complex, the better your angle to play a run up second shot.

5. The sixth may be one of the greatest holes anywhere without a bunker.

6. From within 100 yards of the flag, I used every club from 7-iron down to putter.

7. The people Gothenburg have no idea how good they have it.

8. Paving the 1 1/2 miles of gravel that lead to the entrance of the place would be like removing the magnolias at Augusta.

[A_Clay_Man]

Tony - I was just thinking about one of those par 3's. One that really doesn't get mentioned much and that's the ninth. I love that hole. The fall-off on the right and the almost hidden bunker left, make a compelling case for commitment to ones shot choice.

I doubt I would ever be fortunate enough to have the winds we had those two days, way back in ought-two. The first, gusts to, what felt like 45, from the NW, than the next day, had that steady 20 from the south. Once again, blessed the following day with a brisk norwester, chillin at 40 mph, 11.2 miles south of Mullen in the AM. Concluding with a clam sunset at about 70 degrees. AHHHH Nebraska. Thanks again for the neuron stimuli.

[Adam_F_Collins]

The bunkers in these photos have quite ragged edges, this style of bunker used to be quite common (I've seen similar-looking bunker edges in old photos of Jasper, Riviera, etc.) I like them. I like the way they make the bunker look more like a natural scrape. Why are these so uncommon now? Are they too expensive, unpopular, what?

[A_Clay_Man]

Adam, Very good questions all. The answers lie within the cyber halls here at GCA.com

While preferences are varied, the standardized maintenance has become so standard, it fails to inspire, those that prefer the clean lines of low-cost maintenance are missing the boat on the subliminal effects of texture. At wild horse, any added expense to either the bunkers or the low-mow surrounds, is justified becasue they are integral to the course's intended playability.

[Adam_F_Collins]

So it's the expense. Funny, from the layman's perspective, the smooth lines look more expensive...

They should try saving money somewhere else. Those bunkers really add so much.

But what about places where money seems to be less of an obstacle? Like Augusta and Riviera? They've done away with the rough edged bunkers - Are they THAT expensive to maintain?

[rjsimper]

Tony- I STRONGLY agree with you about point #8 you made...something about getting off the interstate and hitting that unpaved road makes it just feel right...

[DPL11]

Adam Collins,

The clean bunkers are more expensive to maintain than the ragged, natural pits. Constant edging, fertilizing, and primping is needed on the present day bunkers that so many clubs prefer. All that is needed on the natural variety is raking and an annual haircut.

I think as clubs got carried away with maintenance, the natural look was a bit too shabby for most and slowly disappeared.

Many archies are bringing back the old fashioned look, and some think it is getting over done, but I am not one.

This is what they should look like


Doug

[Don_Mahaffey]

Doug,
In some cases the clean look is less expensive to maintain then the "ragged" look. Have you ever tried to maintain a bermuda grass course with ragged egdes? I can assure you that the time and training that goes into an edged bunker is a lot less then the effort that goes into maintaining the natural look with bermuda. It's a little tough to make a generalization that "this is what they should look like". In the right area with the right grasses, absolutly, but one size doesn't fit all.

[A_Clay_Man]

Don- Interesting about bermuda. What is it about that grass that makes it so time consuming?

AdamF, As Don points out, generalizing is a dangerous proposition around this varied game, because there are always exceptions. But, if you ask me, the REASON, so many high-end clubs have the clean look is ignorance that leads to preference.  

One of the realities of life is that money does not buy class or taste.

[Scott_Burroughs]

Adam,

I'm not a turf guy (and I didn't stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night), but Bermuda (and other warm season grasses like Centipede and Zoysia) is technically a weed.  It grows sideways (spreads) more than it grows taller.  Also requires less water, hence the use in hot climates.  Not sure that answers your question.....

[Tony_Chapman]

Adam Clayman - I do have a picture of the 9th green. I will try to post it later. Your remark is right on as we walked from the right I said to my dad. "How would like to put 50 balls down in that falloff and see how many different shots you can hit."

Adam Collins - Funny you mention Riveria. Someone may correct me on this, but I believe Coore and Crenshaw helped with the restoration of the green complexes there and the architects for Wild Horse (Axland and Proctor) helped with most of the work.

Cheers

[Adam_F_Collins]

Tony - True, that's actually what prompted me to pose the initial question, I saw the old photos compared with the new - and I thought, "Man, the old bunker style was so much more visually intimidating...and natural-looking"

I wonder if Coore and Crenshaw wished they could have restored them to their original appearance...

[Brian_Gracely]

Just curious....

How does a course go about burning the native grasses and control it from spreading to other parts of the course, especially in windy areas?  

Is this something that is normally done in the plains states, or unique to Wild Horse?  

Does it make make the grasses grow back any differently (thinner or thicker), or is it just needed because mowers can't navigate anything that thick?

[Tony_Chapman]

Brian - The main reason for burning the grass is to promote the health. Often in Nebraska you will hear the farmers talk about, "buring the ditches." This is normally done every year or two to let the grass start over since it never gets mowed.

Secondly, the fire controls itself. In fact, when I talked to the pro shop attendant, the course was open for play during the burning. The fire controls itself, because it stops when it gets to the short grass. There isn't enough grass to keep it going.

At Wild Horse, it was my understanding they burn the front nine this year and the back nine next year...so on.

Hope that helps.

[Matt_Ward]

Speaking of great bunkers -- the fairway bunker on the left side of #8 is truly a terror. Sort of reminds me of the roach motel -- roaches (golfers) go in but they don't come out!!!

Visually the bunker is a knockout but it's placed in the right spot as well for those who bail left. You also have to be a bit lucky to get through the high grass the brackets the bunker and to secure a level lie.

Well done indeed!

[A_Clay_Man]

And Matt, the next shot into #8, left, is where you want to go. Using the grounds kickplate, is likely the only way to hold the green from that distance.

Re native areas; At WH the playability of the nether regions is also key to the core principles that make it GREAT.

I actually uped my rating of this course, this year.

WTG Guys!

[Mike_Cirba]

Great pics, WONDERFUL course, but still a little disappointing to see some housing intruding on the views since I've been there.  

[DPL11]

Doug,
In some cases the clean look is less expensive to maintain then the "ragged" look. Have you ever tried to maintain a bermuda grass course with ragged egdes? I can assure you that the time and training that goes into an edged bunker is a lot less then the effort that goes into maintaining the natural look with bermuda. It's a little tough to make a generalization that "this is what they should look like". In the right area with the right grasses, absolutly, but one size doesn't fit all.

Don,

I should have been more clear about grass types, but I was making the argument for cool season turf. Up here it is definitely easier, and more economical with the "let it be" look.

Doug