Harvester Golf Club (Iowa) Keith Foster Redo Re-Opens - Update July 2019

[V_Halyard]

UPDATE July 2019
Harvester reopened last week (July 2019) and I was able to convince a crew of midwestern based GCA and rater types within driving range of the middle of “Iowhere?” to join me for a heat wave enveloped visit.  Here are some updated thoughts. Harvester Golf Club of Rhodes Iowa was a publicly accessible daily fee, now private modern track designed by Keith Foster.

We spent some 19th hole time with the owner as he had also finished his 18 hole walk with one of his weekly games. He shared that roughly two years ago, they stepped back and reevaluated the direction of their golf investment. They built an outstanding stand-alone 18 hole facility, in Iowa, deep in Iowa. With the Sand Valleys, Prairie Clubs and other Mid-west multi-course super destinations online, they occupied a business space not quite on the resort destination radar. Still, as the owner shared with our group, they loved their land and golf so decided to go all-in, and make a leap to “Greatness”. This would likely exceed the privately owned/publicly accessible, rural daily fee golf psyche of the area.

Resolute, they moved forward with a creative regional/national, private club model and called Keith back in to re-envision the entire property. It was a scrape. They re-grassed all the fairways, cut 1000’s of trees and created an airy heathland track that is challenging, sprinkled with whimsy and spirituality.  It has an expanded routing, new features, tee areas, green pads, practice facility, clubhouse and vistas. Foster channeled Raynor, Fownes, and Foster. There are big, subtly sloped, Raynor-esqe greens, Fownes-ian features and a host of new strategic decisions to be made on almost every approach. The greens are big and bold yet free of ridiculousness.  It was quite fun. Their membership model has proven robust.

IMO, this may be some of Foster's most inspired work. It was being grassed and grown-in during what I am guessing to be a particularly… "interesting" time of his life. Great mix of new features, cleaner lines of play, newly joined fairways and elevation changes.  The new version also cleared clumps of trees resulting in dramatic new big-sky reveals. There is some water, not too much, and none of it overly forced. Once mature, surrounds can be roughed or shaved providing a multitude of conditions and difficulties. There are risk/reward/disaster/smart play options, a Scottish style burn, and a closing horseshoe par 5 that pays ode to the King at Bay Hill. The result is a testament to architectural investment in great golf. It also speaks to the quality of the current Midwestern golf architecture game.

I am a bit saddened that this outstandingly reimagined track leaves the public access column. In defense of the proprietors, they worked hard to make that model work. I would bear witness that the level of Foster’s architecture and management’s immaculate conditioning regularly exceeded the regional daily fee player aptitude for, and appreciation of great golf architecture. This is not a “cart-ball-cooler-of-Coors-carry-ins-with speakers blasting” kind of track. (My description, not ownership) Fair to say the excellence was lost on some of the clientele. (Again, my observation, not theirs) So they went private and made it exceptional.

It was every bit of 95F degrees with heat index of about 200 degrees Fahrenheit. (what ever ‘Heat Index’ really means) Even in that blast furnace, it was tempting to take another lap. If you are of a mind to get to Iowa, go there. Any of you that are close to Keith Foster, please tell him well done. Regarding Photos... Rather than Me stroking out trying to post photos here, I would direct you to their YouTube site and encourage you take a digital walk about: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCG6CPasxz4S9G5myQ6UJuSA

[Adam Clayman]

While it may take awhile for me to visit, I appreciate you informing about this exciting development.


In all the years I've been on gca, I don't know if I'll ever lose the opinion that one should only build golf, for golf's sake. Not renumeration.



 

[Mike Sweeney]

In all the years I've been on gca, I don't know if I'll ever lose the opinion that one should only build golf, for golf's sake. Not renumeration.

Sing it Clayman !! Now there are two

[Mike Hendren]

“...sprinkled with spirituality” requires elaboration, please.


Bogey

[V. Kmetz]

This is the architect who was convicted of trading in protected/rare animal species ephemera?


Sorry... too soon to forgive and be ingratiated with the discussion of his work.

[PCCraig]

This is the architect who was convicted of trading in protected/rare animal species ephemera?


Sorry... too soon to forgive and be ingratiated with the discussion of his work.

 






Thanks for the thoughtful post on the Harvester, Vaughn. Much appreciated. Would love to see it sometime soon.

[V_Halyard]

This is the architect who was convicted of trading in protected/rare animal species ephemera?

Sorry... too soon to forgive and be ingratiated with the discussion of his work.

 

Thanks for the thoughtful post on the Harvester, Vaughn. Much appreciated. Would love to see it sometime soon.

Thanks Pat. The beauty is everybody gets to air thoughtfully articulated opinions on GCA. It's not that I didn't expect to get some blowback.
(Batshit Crazy get's bounced. LOL). Plus, if we disqualified courses with conflicted social history past or present, I could start with historically racially restricted clubs, or classic courses built with conscripted former slave labor. *!Poof!*, away go many privates and much of the Golden Age. Those who know me likely don't have to guess my thoughts on a Trump course.

Admittedly, I visited based on my history with the course and the management. I also chose not to focus on Keith's recent history but his involvement cannot be ignored. From a purely architectural GCA reporting perspective, he did one hell of a job. Personally,  I’d play a Foster well before a Trump course... partly is my aversion to Fake Fountains... Partly
I do offer my full respect for VK's opinion, luckily, in this case, it is a private course so nobody will be forced to protest playing there for a work outing.  

[V_Halyard]

“...sprinkled with spirituality” requires elaboration, please.


Bogey

Its a special place with the ownership and they had some features incorporated to reflect their personal views. I leave it there for you to visit and chat with them!

[Wayne Wiggins, Jr.]

Has Iowa become a must-visit now? Davenport... Cedar Rapids CC... Harvester... Wakonda (it's being worked on, right?)? Plus, arguable the best cheeseburger I've had in a long time can be found at Francie's near the airport.

[Peter Flory]

Seems very out of character with everything else that I've seen there.


Interesting project though. 

[Tyler Kearns]

Has Iowa become a must-visit now? Davenport... Cedar Rapids CC... Harvester... Wakonda (it's being worked on, right?)? Plus, arguable the best cheeseburger I've had in a long time can be found at Francie's near the airport.

Wayne,


All excellent courses.  I'm not sure anything is being done at Wakonda, I certainly didn't notice anything different watching it on TV this summer then when I visited it 2 years ago.  It certainly has the potential to be even better than it already is.


Tyler