New course in the Nebraska Sandhills

[Brad Tufts]

Got it, I stand corrected.


Maybe there isn't permission to cross-market more than admitting the PC exists nearby.

[JWL]

Tom
Is that NW Ireland new course you mentioned, SP by any chance?    Great piece of property.

[PCCraig]

How is Dismal River doing? Now that there is no 5th Major we don't hear reports and I assume most of the posters here quit their memberships. Why?

Curious as to how the new ownership changed the club and if its going well

I know someone at my club here in Minnesota who joined for no initiation (waived) and something like $3,000/year in dues...with $1,500 of that being prepaid usage (rooms, food, etc.). Sounds like they need members and those members need to use it a lot to make it work in their new model.

[Jeff Schley]

How is Dismal River doing? Now that there is no 5th Major we don't hear reports and I assume most of the posters here quit their memberships. Why?

Curious as to how the new ownership changed the club and if its going well

I'm there in August and look forward to seeing the facilities as I won a charity auction for a couple days there.  That sounds VERY cheap.  Ballyneal is 3k a year, but I think 20k initiation or thereabouts now.

I know someone at my club here in Minnesota who joined for no initiation (waived) and something like $3,000/year in dues...with $1,500 of that being prepaid usage (rooms, food, etc.). Sounds like they need members and those members need to use it a lot to make it work in their new model.

[Jim_Kennedy]

Are the hot dogs $12.00? 

[Jason Hines]

The website and brochure read as the project is still in the conceptual phase and no doubt the names and groups associated with this project can produce.


Based on some of the past history in the area and industry for that matter, I just don't know how eager I would be to be an "investor" vs. a member at this point if your main message is that SH is full - come join us.

[Ryan Hillenbrand]

How is Dismal River doing? Now that there is no 5th Major we don't hear reports and I assume most of the posters here quit their memberships. Why?

Curious as to how the new ownership changed the club and if its going well

I'm there in August and look forward to seeing the facilities as I won a charity auction for a couple days there.  That sounds VERY cheap.  Ballyneal is 3k a year, but I think 20k initiation or thereabouts now.

I know someone at my club here in Minnesota who joined for no initiation (waived) and something like $3,000/year in dues...with $1,500 of that being prepaid usage (rooms, food, etc.). Sounds like they need members and those members need to use it a lot to make it work in their new model.

Good info.. That sounds like a great deal if you could get there a few times a year. Maybe they're going after the UK model of low dues, many members. I'd think it'd be celebrated here.

[Daryl David]

How is Dismal River doing? Now that there is no 5th Major we don't hear reports and I assume most of the posters here quit their memberships. Why?

Curious as to how the new ownership changed the club and if its going well

I'm there in August and look forward to seeing the facilities as I won a charity auction for a couple days there.  That sounds VERY cheap.  Ballyneal is 3k a year, but I think 20k initiation or thereabouts now.

I know someone at my club here in Minnesota who joined for no initiation (waived) and something like $3,000/year in dues...with $1,500 of that being prepaid usage (rooms, food, etc.). Sounds like they need members and those members need to use it a lot to make it work in their new model.

Good info.. That sounds like a great deal if you could get there a few times a year. Maybe they're going after the UK model of low dues, many members. I'd think it'd be celebrated here.

Many members and low dues (UK model) won't work unless your members all live near the club.  Problem with private destination clubs is you can't expand the membership beyond the limits of the lodging even if you could find that many willing to join. Hard to have a 1000 low dues members and then tell them there is no room for them on the few times a year they want to come.

[George Pazin]

Y'all are a bunch of negative Nellies.


Looks interesting to me. One paragraph written by a marketing exec isn't going to affect me one way or the other. And I've never counted the number of doglegs in any routing before, not about to start now.


Love the old pic with Gil and Geoff.

[Garland Bayley]

Not to nitpick a course that hasn't even been built yet, but 5 doglegs-right in the last 7 holes, 3 of which play in the same direction back-to-back-to-back. That looks odd.

'Bout time someone built a course for right-handers. That left-handers course in Augusta, GA is wearing a little thin.

[Sean_A]

Are the hot dogs $12.00? 

12 bucks!  Thats cheap. I saw a dog in an East Lothian restaurant for 12 quid!  I guess there is a first time for everything...and no, there were no takers for the dog.

Ciao

[Blake Conant]

In addition to this, Tom Lehman and Chris Brands built a 10-hole course in Valentine that opened in 2017.  A really great story, as the town course, Deer Park, closed in 2012, yet the locals and neighbors still wanted something reasonably priced to play.  City donated the land I believe, which is closer to town than the old course and looks like a good piece of ground for golf, too.  I haven't been up there to see, but the Nebraska Golf Association had a couple pics and it looks fun.  Here's the website.  Certainly go play and support if you're around Prairie Club this year!


http://www.valentinegolf.com/

[V_Halyard]

First thing I thought was-a Sandhills trip looks intriguing-then this gem....
"International turmoil is unlikely to abate, a deterrent to those who trek to the vaunted British courses, an experience ever more expensive, cumbersome, and dangerous"


piss poor and/or poorly written negative marketing strategy.

Our Dangerous trip to Scotland:
We hit the lottery. We hopped a train from Inverness to rush to St Andrews as we had hit The Old Course Tee Time Lottery and gleefully changed our plans. As we were sharing great trip stories with our Scottish seat mates, we mentioned we were taking two trains and a bus to make the tee time.

Our new Scottish train acquaintances paused, silence then some mumbling about ScotRail (which to that point was on time to the minute). One scowls, twitches and then insists HE will take us to St. Andrews in his car at the next stop, Dundee. Just need to drop his wife at work. “Can’t leave this up to ScotRail”(we were on time so far but didn’t argue...)

We get to the car, his wife has a gently confused “WTF are these people?” look on her face. He shares our TOC tee time story, she JUMPS out of the car and begins moving HER things laughing, “Well, come on then!”

They were intense and insistent:
“We canNOT, will not risk you missing that tee time” (We)

True story. Best trip ever. No offense to Nebraska but given the opportunity to venture back into the international dangers of golf in Scotland, let me get my kilt.

[Sven Nilsen]

I think you would be more likely to get yourself shot by pissing off some redneck at a gas station on the trip out from Denver or any other airport than you would be to have anyone do anything to you besides recongnize you are a visitor and kindly offer you a beer in the UK or Ireland.

On all of the drives I've had through the CO/NE/KS corridor, the one thing that stood out the most was the civility of the locals.  It almost seemed mandatory to give a small wave or two-fingers off the steering wheel acknowledgement to every passing car.  I haven't seen that kind of simple comity anywhere else.


The comment above is as ignorant as the marketing material it derides.

[Lou_Duran]

On all of the drives I've had through the CO/NE/KS corridor, the one thing that stood out the most was the civility of the locals.  It almost seemed mandatory to give a small wave or two-fingers off the steering wheel acknowledgement to every passing car.  I haven't seen that kind of simple comity anywhere else.

Amen!

15+ years ago, Dick Daley picked me up in Omaha en-route to Wild Horse and Sand Hills.  We got to the course as it was getting dark and noticed that a tire on his Bronco was going flat.  One of the course employees saw us struggle changing the tire, and he took over from there while we went in and ordered dinner.  Noting that the tire was in bad shape, he told Dick where it could be fixed or replaced, and offered to take it in while we were playing golf the next day.  As I recall, someone took it in, got it fixed at a very reasonable cost, and would not accept a gratuity for his assistance.  We encountered this friendly, selfless treatment throughout our visit.  And while I am a big fan of the folks in the UK and the RoI, their counterparts in Nebraska do not take a backseat- they are among the most friendly, generous people I've come across.

As to the new course, there can be no comparison to the UK model as its remoteness and cost structure wouldn't allow it.  I think very highly of Dismal River, but in addition to the annual fee and transportation cost, add $300-$500+ per day for lodging, food, and drink.   I know a local N. Ireland golfer who plays at RCD for under $10/round!  Watermelons and grapes.     

[Kalen Braley]

According to this, Nebraska is 18 out of 50 for Public Safety....not bad 


https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/rankings/crime-and-corrections/public-safety


P.S.  I just think its unfortunate the author felt the need to put that paragraph in..