SAND HILLS, MULLEN, NEBRASKA

Photos by Elliot DeBear

This is the sleeper course of the USA. Thank you for posting!!!

Sand Hills is INSANE.

Don't forget about Dismal River either which is just down the road.

Amazing pictures. Thanks for posting.

For those with experience at both places, how would you compare Sand Hills to Prairie Dunes (in Hutchinson, KS)? Which is better and why? Also wouldn't mind a comparison to the Prairie Club. How does it stack up against Sand Hills and Prairie Dunes?

That looks amazing, hopefully I can make it out there soon! Thanks for the pics.

Never played Sand Hills, but did play Dismal River. Both are private...so you'll have to know someone with a membership to invite you. There is a lot of nothing out there in Mullen...but that's part of the appeal...it really makes for a completely isolating golfing experience. Just you, the ball and the golf course!

[quote name='scratchswinger' timestamp='1335542081' post='4800550']
This is the sleeper course of the USA. Thank you for posting!!!
[/quote]


Not sure you can call a course ranked #1 in the nation by one of the big golf publications multiple years in a row a sleeper (Ranked the #1 modern course by GolfWeek).

[quote name='Skaffa77' timestamp='1335569061' post='4802948']
Never played Sand Hills, but did play Dismal River. Both are private...so you'll have to know someone with a membership to invite you. There is a lot of nothing out there in Mullen...but that's part of the appeal...it really makes for a completely isolating golfing experience. Just you, the ball and the golf course!
[/quote]

I liken playing Sand Hills to playing on the moon.

It was one of the best experiences of my life, I will never forget it.

This is the sleeper course of the USA. Thank you for posting!!!

 

Not sure you can call a course ranked #1 in the nation by one of the big golf publications multiple years in a row a sleeper (Ranked the #1 modern course by GolfWeek).

That's what I was going to say.

Another great linksy sandhills type course, also in the middle of nowhere and in GolfWeeks top modern list is Ballyneal. It is a "must play" if you can get on (also private.) Ballyneal photo tour

Ballyneal #8 at twilight

Ballyneal #3 par 3

Ballyneal #4 from tee

I played my first two years of college golf in Nebraska. We got to play both Dismal and Sand Hills. It was like playing the Old Course to me. One of those times you will never forget and will be able to recite each shot you played.

[quote name='act0fgod' timestamp='1335581579' post='4804068']
[quote name='scratchswinger' timestamp='1335542081' post='4800550']
This is the sleeper course of the USA. Thank you for posting!!!
[/quote]


Not sure you can call a course ranked #1 in the nation by one of the big golf publications multiple years in a row a sleeper (Ranked the #1 modern course by GolfWeek).
[/quote]
I was more less referring to the fact that Sand Hills is unknown by most all golfer's.

One of the top 5 courses I would like to play before I die.

I have this dream trip planned out where I start in KS at Prairie Dunes and end in CO at Ballyneal with Sandhills and Dismal River in between. It would be a lot of road time, but I am sure I would get over that. The only things standing in my way are my lack of access and my wife. I think getting access will be easier than talking my non-golfing wife into spending a week driving around the prairie from one remote location to another.

Sandhills is on my bucket list.

I can kind of attest to the guy that said this is a sleeper..I had never heard of it, but wow. That course looks like it's just waiting to eat somebody's lunch. What bubble have I been in to miss this kind of course?

I have this dream trip planned out where I start in KS at Prairie Dunes and end in CO at Ballyneal with Sandhills and Dismal River in between. It would be a lot of road time, but I am sure I would get over that. The only things standing in my way are my lack of access and my wife. I think getting access will be easier than talking my non-golfing wife into spending a week driving around the prairie from one remote location to another.

You can do a trip that is the next best thing by visiting some excellent public courses in that area.

(i} Wildhorse. Gothnberg, NE

(ii) Prairie Club, Valentine NE (two oourses and a par 3 course)

(iii) Bayside, Ogallala NE

These are three of the best public courses in the midwest. Wildhorse and Bayside are excellent value.

Then try to end the trip by getting on to Ballyneal :-)

Bayside #3 - This course is a hidden gem

Wildhorse #1 from tee

Prairie Club - Disclaimer - I usually only post my own photos. I did not take this one

Heck, even those public courses look beautiful!

The Sand Hills region out there in Nebraska has amazing soil that makes perfect for nice, firm, and fast golf courses.

"[color=#525156]The Lodging Information booklet points out that because of the excellent sand particles, the cost per Sand Hills green was $300 as neither drain tile/gravel under the greens nor special greens mix were required. Put in perspective, the average cost of a USGA specification green is approximately $40,000.[/color]"

I should post some pics I took of a trip I took with a few guys for a weekend last year out to Wildhorse and Dismal River! The same golfing buddies are talking about another golf trip this summer...think we will be trying the Prairie Club up in Valentine, NE.

As someone else mentioned, Bayside is another really nice course in Ogallala, NE. I made the mistake of walking it in the middle of the summer (a few years back) and think I started suffering minor heat exhaustion on the last couple holes.

There's another course just outside of Kearney, NE called Awarii Dunes (iWildhorse is on the other side of the interstate).

[quote name='OK_Golf' timestamp='1335555634' post='4802002']
Amazing pictures. Thanks for posting.

For those with experience at both places, how would you compare Sand Hills to Prairie Dunes (in Hutchinson, KS)? Which is better and why? Also wouldn't mind a comparison to the Prairie Club. How does it stack up against Sand Hills and Prairie Dunes?
[/quote]

Coore and Crenshaw have been consulting at Prairie Dunes since the 80's and PD inspired their work at Sand Hills. I won't get into which is better, as I'm a biased member of one, but I'll say they are both can't miss golf experiences.

Wildhorse is another fantastic course to play! I only got to play it once, and thankfully the wind wasn't blowing. I've heard when the wind picks up, it can get quite interesting.

[quote name='Skaffa77' timestamp='1335714772' post='4810014']
I should post some pics I took of a trip I took with a few guys for a weekend last year out to Wildhorse and Dismal River! The same golfing buddies are talking about another golf trip this summer...think we will be trying the Prairie Club up in Valentine, NE.

As someone else mentioned, Bayside is another really nice course in Ogallala, NE. I made the mistake of walking it in the middle of the summer (a few years back) and think I started suffering minor heat exhaustion on the last couple holes.

There's another course just outside of Kearney, NE called Awarii Dunes (iWildhorse is on the other side of the interstate).
[/quote]

I can't imagine walking the back 9 at Bayside, it must be a quarter mile between certain tees. Last 2 times I played it, the greens were so slow that it wasn't fun.

WIldhorse has amazing greens, wish I lived closer to it.

[quote name='QWKDTSN' timestamp='1335637821' post='4806240']
Heck, even those public courses look beautiful!
[/quote]

There are a lot of extremely nice public courses in our state. Problem is that the best ones are our in the western part of the state and a pain in the a** to get to. Quarry Oaks and Iron Horse are in between Omaha and Lincoln though and Quarry is a Golf Digest Top 100 course in the nation. I actually prefer Iron Horse to it but both are very beautiful and very different from the courses in the western half of the state.

Sand Hills is exactly what you would expect in a Top 10 in the world course. It's pretty damn hard to get on there nowadays.

I've went to western Nebraska last 2 summers to play. Flew into Denver to meet college buddy who lives there and drove over (about 300 miles). The rest of the group (6 guys) drove from Lincoln/Omaha area and it's a similar distance. Sand Hills/Dismal/PC are really off the beaten path. We have played Bayside, Wildhorse, Sand Hills, Dismal River, and The Prairie Club over the last 2 years. The golf out there is terrific. The day we played 36 at Sand Hills the weather was perfect and the wind was down, so it sits in my mind as a perfect day of golf. They day i played Bayside it was so windy i had to lose a dozen balls in the long grass. Wildhorse is a very nice public course. Dismal River, Sand Hills, and Prairie Club are on a different level than Bayside/Wildhorse, no offense to them, but they just are. I haven't played many of the great courses around the world, but i can't imagine a place that is too much better than Sand Hills. I'd really love to get on at Ballyneal one of these years, but don't have a connection there.

[quote name='CPSOX' timestamp='1335714902' post='4810022']
[Coore and Crenshaw have been consulting at Prairie Dunes since the 80's and PD inspired their work at Sand Hills. I won't get into which is better, as I'm a biased member of one, but I'll say they are both can't miss golf experiences.
[/quote]

Thanks for the input! I think I'm really asking is Sand Hills (unlikely I get on) or the Prairie Club (somewhat likely I could make the trip) that much better than Prairie Dunes (may have a connection and definitly much closer to me in Oklahoma) as to motivate an attempt to get way the heck out in the middle of nowhere Nebraska? Now go ahead and give us your answer (even though its biased as you say). I promise I only ask for an invitation once! Ha ha ha.

Thanks for all of the great pics, everyone.

I'm really surprised by the people who like Bayside. I did like the front side, but felt the back was kind of contrived or gimmicky. In fairness, we played it just a couple of weeks after they had opened the back nine and possibly it has gotten better over the years.

I absolutely love Wildhorse, so if Sandhills is that much better, I can't wait to play it. I've had to turn down three seperate inivites over the last few years but I think this year we are going to make it happen.

[quote name='dirtyboy' timestamp='1335791324' post='4814326']
[quote name='Skaffa77' timestamp='1335714772' post='4810014']
I should post some pics I took of a trip I took with a few guys for a weekend last year out to Wildhorse and Dismal River! The same golfing buddies are talking about another golf trip this summer...think we will be trying the Prairie Club up in Valentine, NE.

As someone else mentioned, Bayside is another really nice course in Ogallala, NE. I made the mistake of walking it in the middle of the summer (a few years back) and think I started suffering minor heat exhaustion on the last couple holes.

There's another course just outside of Kearney, NE called Awarii Dunes (iWildhorse is on the other side of the interstate).
[/quote]

I can't imagine walking the back 9 at Bayside, it must be a quarter mile between certain tees. Last 2 times I played it, the greens were so slow that it wasn't fun.

WIldhorse has amazing greens, wish I lived closer to it.
[/quote]

Yeah...the staff was pretty surprised when I said I'd walk it. Front 9 was easy enough...back 9 was a hike. Add 95* weather out there in what felt like a very arid environment without water...not my best experience walking. Golf was fun, but I literally stopped sweating and felt like I was about to lose consciousness when I'd go to mark my ball on the green before putting.

I've got an am tee time at Bayside tomorrow.

Dismal River and Ballyneal are super courses, Sand Hills is superb too. Not too far of a drive here from Northern Colorado. Planning on hitting all 3 this summer with my dad.

[quote name='dirtyboy' timestamp='1335824981' post='4818564']
I've got an am tee time at Bayside tomorrow.
[/quote]

Lucky!

My wife's family is out in Imperial, NE so we go to visit from time-to-time. It doesn't give me much opportunity to golf, but I did make the drive up to Ogallala a couple years back. Hard to justify when you're there for a weekend...a full 18 becomes a 6 hour adventure when you add the drive time.