Sand Green Golf Courses!

BY BRENT MAYCOCKCreated July 29, 2009 at 4:46pm
Updated July 29, 2009 at 5:31pmThroughout our tour of golf courses in the year-plus we've been doing this, we've brought you all kinds of courses.

Great nine-holers and outstanding 18-holers. Hidden gems and tremendous bargains.

Now, we bring you something totally different.

In early July, the tour took myself and Tim Bisel to Leonardville Golf Course. What sets it apart from the rest of the courses we've visited is that it's one of the few remaining sand greens courses left in the nation.

I'd played a sand greens course just once, playing at Cottonwood Falls Country Club west of Emporia when I did a summer golf tour while at the Emporia Gazette. Tim had never played one before.

Essentially, it's pretty much the same as a regular course, except obviously for the green. Putting on sand - which is really a coarser, pebbly sand closer that's somewhere between sand and gravel - is a unique experience.

For one, there's no break to read. You take the rake provided greenside, which is two-sided, and smooth a path from the hole to your ball. All that's left after that is just making sure you stay in the path and hit it hard enough to get to the hole. When you're done on the green, you flip the rake over and use the grooved size to rake away your path and footsteps, working away from the hole.

Greenside play is also quite unique. You pretty much can attack the pin because the ball is going to stop relatively quick. It definitely makes one's short game look a whole lot better.

I chipped in on one of the holes with a shot that would have raced past the hole on a grass green.

The course itself had a pretty good layout. The first two par-3s would be challenging on any course, measuring 223 and 212 yards. The only par five on the course requires a layup before a pond that's about 250-275 yards out, making it a true par 5. In fact, it ranks as a par 6 for women.

There is only one set of tee boxes, which is a first for any course I've played. There is also no cart rental, so unless you bring your own, you're hoofing it.

The course is well-maintained, mostly by volunteers. And you can't beat the price of $6, which is good for however many holes you hope to play.

Afterwards, you can stop in at Nelson's Landing, the bar in Leonardville owned by the parents of former Kansas State standout Jordy Nelson.

TOUGHEST/SIGNATURE HOLE

In talking with groundskeeper Larry Pritchard, he opted to go with No. 2, which is the 223-yard par 3, though an argument could be made for the par-5 No. 4 that requires the layup off the tee for all but the truly long hitters. No. 2 is a challenge because the hole slopes right and the green is somewhat tucked back in to the right. If you go right at the green and come up short, the chances of your ball staying in the fairway are slim. Hitting the green and keeping it on with a long iron, hybrid or 3-wood is also tough.

HOW GROUNDSKEEPER LARRY PRITCHARD SAYS TO PLAY IT

There's a hedgerow of trees to the left of the green and you want to aim at them. That way, if you're short, you won't end up in the thick, wooded area to the right. From there, it's an easy approach to the green if you come up short.

HOW BRENT MAYCOCK PLAYED IT

I'm not good with my hybrid off the tee, or the ground for that matter, so I hit a 3-iron. I knew I was going to be short, but I thought I'd gone far enough left to avoid the trouble right. Nope. Instead, my shot hit the middle of the fairway hard and shot almost straight right. I thought I might be able to find it just on the edge, but signs warning about the existence of poison ivy immediately squashed those ideas. I just dropped, chipped short of the green and then chipped in.

Well, at the request of a fellow WRX'er, I am going to dedicate this post to what I usually play- Sand Green Golf Courses.

 

I will add future pictures, videos of the sand and how it affects the ball, etc.

 

This thread will be updated many times in the next week with more and more info.

 

 

(cjonline.com)

BY BRENT MAYCOCKCreated July 29, 2009 at 4:46pm

Updated July 29, 2009 at 5:31pmThroughout our tour of golf courses in the year-plus we've been doing this, we've brought you all kinds of courses.

 

Great nine-holers and outstanding 18-holers. Hidden gems and tremendous bargains.

 

Now, we bring you something totally different.

 

In early July, the tour took myself and Tim Bisel to Leonardville Golf Course. What sets it apart from the rest of the courses we've visited is that it's one of the few remaining sand greens courses left in the nation.

 

I'd played a sand greens course just once, playing at Cottonwood Falls Country Club west of Emporia when I did a summer golf tour while at the Emporia Gazette. Tim had never played one before.

 

Essentially, it's pretty much the same as a regular course, except obviously for the green. Putting on sand - which is really a coarser, pebbly sand closer that's somewhere between sand and gravel - is a unique experience.

 

For one, there's no break to read. You take the rake provided greenside, which is two-sided, and smooth a path from the hole to your ball. All that's left after that is just making sure you stay in the path and hit it hard enough to get to the hole. When you're done on the green, you flip the rake over and use the grooved size to rake away your path and footsteps, working away from the hole.

 

Greenside play is also quite unique. You pretty much can attack the pin because the ball is going to stop relatively quick. It definitely makes one's short game look a whole lot better.

 

I chipped in on one of the holes with a shot that would have raced past the hole on a grass green.

 

The course itself had a pretty good layout. The first two par-3s would be challenging on any course, measuring 223 and 212 yards. The only par five on the course requires a layup before a pond that's about 250-275 yards out, making it a true par 5. In fact, it ranks as a par 6 for women.

 

There is only one set of tee boxes, which is a first for any course I've played. There is also no cart rental, so unless you bring your own, you're hoofing it.

 

The course is well-maintained, mostly by volunteers. And you can't beat the price of $6, which is good for however many holes you hope to play.

 

Afterwards, you can stop in at Nelson's Landing, the bar in Leonardville owned by the parents of former Kansas State standout Jordy Nelson.

 

TOUGHEST/SIGNATURE HOLE

 

In talking with groundskeeper Larry Pritchard, he opted to go with No. 2, which is the 223-yard par 3, though an argument could be made for the par-5 No. 4 that requires the layup off the tee for all but the truly long hitters. No. 2 is a challenge because the hole slopes right and the green is somewhat tucked back in to the right. If you go right at the green and come up short, the chances of your ball staying in the fairway are slim. Hitting the green and keeping it on with a long iron, hybrid or 3-wood is also tough.

 

HOW GROUNDSKEEPER LARRY PRITCHARD SAYS TO PLAY IT

 

There's a hedgerow of trees to the left of the green and you want to aim at them. That way, if you're short, you won't end up in the thick, wooded area to the right. From there, it's an easy approach to the green if you come up short.

 

HOW BRENT MAYCOCK PLAYED IT

 

I'm not good with my hybrid off the tee, or the ground for that matter, so I hit a 3-iron. I knew I was going to be short, but I thought I'd gone far enough left to avoid the trouble right. Nope. Instead, my shot hit the middle of the fairway hard and shot almost straight right. I thought I might be able to find it just on the edge, but signs warning about the existence of poison ivy immediately squashed those ideas. I just dropped, chipped short of the green and then chipped in.

 

 

 

 

 

Articles on Sand Greens:

Course Review of Leonardville- http://cjonline.com/...s_a_small_price

State Championship Sand Green Golf (Sports Illustrated)- http://sportsillustr...13243/index.htm

 

More to come, stay tuned!

 

All comments welcome!

That looks like it could be pretty fun. I wanna try it sometime.

I've played numerous times on a sand - green, located in Sandstone MN, as I've posted before on this site. This course did it only to save money, it threw my putting of for several weeks after playing on sand-greens. I found the style more toward a bocce texture and had to use a heavier putter to "power" the ball to the hole

The yearly Sand Green Classic is coming up in Fayette, MO........Co-defending champion here......just saying.