Spectacular Sand Hills! (Photo Tour - 18th Hole Now Posted)

[Matt Bosela]

After three days at Ballyneal, documented here, fellow GCA'er Harris Nepon accompanied me on the three hour trip north into Nebraska for a date with the truly exquisite Sand Hills Golf Club.

The club had been inundated with rain over the previous week, taking in as much as 5 inches in a one or two hour span at one point but the course played impeccably, with all credit due to the tremendous grounds crew who worked all hours of the day getting the water off the course and tidying up the bunkers.

We were able to fit in 54 a day during our two-day stay and got blessed with ideal weather and sunlight on our last day, giving me the opportunity to get some pretty spectacular photos.

This course is obviously worthy of great discussion so I'll post a couple holes a day in hopes of stimulating some conversation.

1st Hole: 549 Yards Par 5

Perhaps one of the best opening holes in golf and certainly the best that I've played.  The tee shot must be played over the native area to an inviting fairway but the average player likely hits it left more often than not, which is dead here.  The ideal tee shot is hit toward the right fairway bunker which sets up a tough layup shot to a fairway that pinches in around 150 yards or so.  Unless it's howling downwind, I really think laying up to wedge distance is the play, as fairway metals will only hit into the slope and fall back down the hill to a tough pitch distance.

The approach makes the hole - it is played well uphill to a green with a significant false front.  And I mean significant - shots that come up short or spin back will roll all the way back down the hill, leaving the most awkward of pitch shots, the 40 yarder straight back uphill.  I found out the hard way on my first go-around, when my wedge approach spun back down the hill twice on my way to a opening triple bogey.  However, I'd learn enough from that to ensure all my approaches went to the middle of the green and I'd end up making three birdies on this hole over the rest of our stay.  Just a wonderful par five.

View of 1st Hole at Sunset from Ben's Porch


View from Back Tee


View from Left Fairway Bunker


View from Right Side of Landing Area


View from Middle of Fairway


View from 90 Yards


View from Left Side of Approach Area


View from Right Side of Green, with 18th Hole in Background


View of Green from the 6th Tee

[Rob Swift]

Thanks for the pics Matt, it looks amazing. I love the front right greenside bunkers

[Jimmy Muratt]

My favorite opening hole in golf.  Hard to put in words what it's like stepping on that tee for the first time......awe-inspiring.

[Scott Szabo]

Ahhhh the Sand Hills Golf Club - does it get any better than that?  There's nothing quite like the feeling of coming over the hill by Ben's Porch and seeing the course unfold right before your eyes.

The last time I was there I played a match against a couple of young guys who hit the ball a mile.  Both drove well past me and hit irons for their second shots into the right greenside bunker, struggled from there and made 6 or 7.  I laid up to wedge distance like Matt mentions and made birdie.  For me it takes two good pokes to get there in two, but the trouble right and left, coupled with the false front makes  a lay-up almost a no-brainer for me.  I've played it quite well over the years with this strategy.

It plays well in all winds, something that can be said of all holes at the Sand Hills.  Into the wind getting around the pinch at about 125 out can be daunting, and may not even be worth the trouble.  Downwind it would tempt the player to go for the green in two, bringing all that trouble into play.

My favorite opening hole in all of golf as well.

[Matt Bosela]

2nd Hole - 458 Yards Par 4

The club constructed a back tee to the left of the 1st green, adding 40 yards of length for players looking for more of a challenge from the diamond tees.  That tee shot, in my opinion, is the most intimidating on the golf course, as the fairway sits elevated from the tee and you can barely see any fairway from that spot.  Only the longest of hitters can get the ball into the wider portion of the fairway past the dunes on the left.

It's a much more inviting tee shot from the other decks but this golf hole is a bear no matter where you play.  The greensite here is absolutely spectacular, with the right side built up into a dune and featuring a dramatic falloff both to the left and down in front.  The false front here, especially on the right side, comes into play often, making shots into a back or middle right hole location exceptionally difficult.

You could spend 30 minutes on this green and never tire of the shotmaking possibilities.  For example, the pin position indicated in the photos is back right - if you are on the left side of the green, you can try to lag it up to the hole or try the more exciting approach of hitting it well past the hole, up the bowl and watch the ball come back 20 feet to the pin.  There's the same feature on the left side of the green as well, making putting here a blast.

This hole was my nemesis for sure, as I didn't make a par in six rounds.  I hit the green only one time in regulation - I proceeded to four-putt for double bogey!  Toughest hole on the course from the back tee deck and one of the great holes I've ever had the pleasure of playing.

Tee Shot from Back of Diamond Tees (458 Yards)


Tee Shot from Regular Diamond Tees (418 Yards)


Approach from Centre of Fairway


Approach from Slightly Right of Centre


View from Right Side of Green, showing tremendous false front


Closeup view from Back of Green, looking back down fairway


Longer view from back of green, showing the slope and short grass around putting surface

[Eric Smith]

That green looks ho-hum...

just kidding Kenny!!

[Harris Nepon]

I'm not sure I'll ever get to experience anything like Sand Hills again.

I found the first hole to be the best opener I've played, as most have said. I personally don't come across many par 5's that I can't at least be up near the green chipping in 2. No matter what I did I couldn't get to this green. With the wind, against it, no wind, didn't matter. As it was Matt's best scoring hole of the trip, it was my worst. At least on #2 I always got the stroke back. 

Great first 2 holes.

[Gene Greco]

   Matt:

       I just visited Sand Hills last week and the course had just the right amount of "crispiness" throughout.

The greens were like an ice rink and there was plenty of roll on all our shots.

The pics appear to represent that fact: A fair amount of brown hue where Kyle (the super) is just giving the grass enough water to stay alive.

Was this your experience while you were there or did the heavy rains slow things down a bit?

           Gene

 

[Mark Chaplin]

is it a good drive? I notice the buggy.

[Matt Bosela]

   Matt:

       I just visited Sand Hills last week and the course had just the right amount of "crispiness" throughout.

The greens were like an ice rink and there was plenty of roll on all our shots.

The pics appear to represent that fact: A fair amount of brown hue where Kyle (the super) is just giving the grass enough water to stay alive.

Was this your experience while you were there or did the heavy rains slow things down a bit?

           Gene

Gene, I thought the conditions were remarkable for a course that got hit with that much rain in such a short time.  It also poured heavily the entire first night of our stay yet the course played very firm and fast and the greens rolled very fast and true.  Again, I can only say how lucky you are to have such a great crew working at your club.

[Matt Bosela]

is it a good drive? I notice the buggy.

Mark,

We had just come from Ballyneal, walking 54 a day there.  The only way we were getting 54 in at Sand Hills without our legs falling off was by taking the buggy

More holes coming tonight...

[Ben Sims]

   Matt:

       I just visited Sand Hills last week and the course had just the right amount of "crispiness" throughout.

The greens were like an ice rink and there was plenty of roll on all our shots.

The pics appear to represent that fact: A fair amount of brown hue where Kyle (the super) is just giving the grass enough water to stay alive.

Was this your experience while you were there or did the heavy rains slow things down a bit?

           Gene

 

Gene,

Maybe you can comment.

Out of curiosity, how large is Kyle's maintenance staff at the club?  I am very ignorant about the maintenace practices of the prairie courses versus those of other more mainstream locations.  And, maybe it's just me and my opinion, but the course shows a remarkable maturity in these photos when I compare them to other shots I've seen of the golf course course.  You already touched on it above, but it even looks crisp and bit more tight than I thought it was from those photos.  

Huck and Spaulding are starting to wear on me a bit with their opinion of SH--in a good way.  Every time I see it, it looks better.

[Harris Nepon]

Our fore caddie the first day was telling us all the caddies for a day prior had to work a full day helping the crew to get the bunkers back in shape. I believe i saw 4 or 5 guys working on the 18th biunkers for a full day. As you will see in Matt's pictures, the place was immaculate.


 

[Michael Taylor]

This is going to be an epic thread of an epic golf course.

Pup

[Matt Bosela]

3rd Hole - 216 Yards Par 3

The first one-shotter at Sand Hills is a beauty, with options even available off the tee.  The hole has been designed to accept a low, running shot in from the left side, as the green features a dramatic hillside on the left and everything slopes away from that to the right and to the back of the green.  So you can play the hole as it's designed or take the modern approach and try to fly it directly to the flag.  I found that you want to be past the flag here in order to leave yourself a make-able uphill putt.  Too often, I was in the middle of the green and short of the flag.  That would mean me aiming ten feet left while also barely breathing on the ball on 30 footers just to ensure I didn't go ten feet past.

Tee Shot from Back Tees


Closeup View from Behind Flag - you can really see the undulations here and the significant drop from the front left to the back right


Long View from Behind Flag - must be the biggest green on the golf course


Another View from Behind and left of Flag

[Jason Hines]

Man that green looks slick.... I love that place.

[Matt Bosela]

4th Hole - 485 Yards Par 4

Like the 2nd, this hole features two 'back' or diamond tee decks, with one at 485 yards and the other at 449 yards.  The tee shot is played downhill and you likely want to favour the right side in order to set up a better look at the green.  Doing that, of course, comes with a cost if you miss, as there is a big bunker flanking that side of the fairway.

The most notable feature on this world class hole is the 30 foot deep bunker short and left of the green.  Let me just say you do NOT want to be in there unless you're taking a photo for posterity.  Look up hazard in the dictionary and there should be a photo of that bunker that goes along with it!  The green sits elevated from the fairway and features dramatic falloffs both in front and to the right, with a very large collection area to the right with short grass everywhere.  Shots can be played left of the green and will filter back toward the middle of the green so even if you go right on your approach, the smart shot is to play your pitch long past the hole and it should come back a bit off that slope.

Tee Shot from Back Tees (485 Yards)


Tee Shot from Diamond Tees (449 Yards)


Left Side of Fairway


Middle of Fairway


Right Side of Fairway


Left Greenside Bunker - Avoid at All Costs!


Left Greenside Bunker - only slightly more acceptable!


Just in front of Green


View from Collection Area Right of Green


View from Behind Hole Looking back toward Tee


Different Angle Looking Back up Fairway

[Harris Nepon]

Matt, these pcitures are awesome.

[Mark McKeever]

Awesome pictures.  The two pictures of the players in the greenside bunkers really illustrate the difficulty of some of the shots out there!

Mark

[Phil McDade]

Is this course too difficult for most golfers?

[Tom Huckaby]

Is this course too difficult for most golfers?

Oh my no.  It is from those back tees, for sure.  But it's just like skiing or snowboarding.. only experts should tackle the double diamonds, right?  The middle tees are VERY manageable for all;  the short tees, I watched a 12 year old kid make lots of pars.

[Steve Kline]

This is an awesome thread. I love C&C!

[Chris Flamion]

I saw the picture of someone hitting out of the bottom of the bunker, and laughed......so awesome.

Chris

[Phil McDade]

Is this course too difficult for most golfers?

Oh my no.  It is from those back tees, for sure.  But it's just like skiing or snowboarding.. only experts should tackle the double diamonds, right?  The middle tees are VERY manageable for all;  the short tees, I watched a 12 year old kid make lots of pars.

Tom:

In looking at various photos of SHills, I see:

-- Lots of forced carries off tees;
-- Extraordinarily penal bunkers;
-- Deep hay not far from mown fairways;
-- Very difficult chipping areas near greens.

I'd note, from what I've seen in pics, that it looks considerably more difficult than Ballyneal or Old Macdonald.

What am I missing about the lack of difficulty in this course?

[Tom Huckaby]

Phil:

You're likely missing these things:

1) from the middle or short tees, the carries off the tee are very manageable, if not non-existent
2) there are a few extraordinarly penal bunkers for sure, and those are death... but they too can be tacked around... they also don't exist on EVERY hole... you're just seeing some of the killers so far...
3) the hay is not that deep, or at least it hasn't been the three times I've been there.  The pics here were taking after an period of extraordinary rain.  One trip there I played 5 rounds with the same golf ball.. and I am decent, but not that good.
4) the chipping areas can be difficult, if one forces lob wedges off of them... they are all very manageable with the putter.

I would say that from the back tees, it is a very difficult course - far more difficult than Ballyneal at it's longest.  But from the shorter tees, it is comparable.  I have not been to Old Macdonald.

Hopefully that helps.

TH