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Sand Hills, USA |
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The Sandhills region of Nebraska is a huge meadow, which extends to some 20,000 square miles but amidst the cowboys and the grazing cattle, lies a magnificent sandy tract of golfing ground, which is otherwise known as Sand Hills Golf Club.
 Sand Hills Golf Club is a club to respect and those in the know admire their non-commerciality and that is a delightful break from tradition in these days of the perennial money-go-round. One hundred golf holes might easily have been laid out on this amazingly natural piece of land, but Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw settled on just eighteen. But make no mistake, they settled on the best possible routing and each and every hole at Sand Hills is very special indeed. The "Golden Age of Architecture" inspired Ben Crenshaw and Bill Coore to set up together sharing the philosophy that traditional, strategic golf is the most rewarding. And, when Sand Hills opened for play in 1995, they must have been quietly delighted with their achievement.
Sand Hills has only a few lucky members, and surely each and every one of them must belong to another golf club. Why? Because Sand Hills is closed for eight months each year… overplayed it is certainly not!
With wide, generous fairways that wind their way beside huge dunes, Sand Hills is a big course on a big scale and it’s tempting to open your shoulders. But beware of the sand. You will need to be either an extremely good golfer or a very lucky one to avoid the crater-like bunkers at Sand Hills Golf Club. | |
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If the above course review article is not accurate, let us know by clicking here |
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 |  | | Average Reviewers Score: |   | | | I had the opportunity to play Sand Hills in July of 2011......while the design is definitely challenging it leads me to believe that some of the best holes are ones that were left on the design table. With Coore and Crenshaw designing and doing a layout that incorporated over 100 holes I fear that the front 9 is decidedly weak considering..... That being said it incorporates a little bit of everything into its design and as a result plays tough.....the terrain is beautiful and the back nine is a much better loop than the front..... My issue isn't that Sand Hills is a great course.....it is indeed. I only question it's ranking in relation to other courses that I have been lucky enough to play over the last few years....... Kingsbarns, the Bandon courses and Whistling Straits all are better courses in my opinion.....while it could be said that the water plays into how they are reviewed I can't believe that if you took any of them and placed them in an inland location that they would be at least as good as this course.....In fact Ballyneal just down the road is at least as nice of a design as sand hills......and the accommodations and service there are exponentially better.... My own personal opinion is that Sand Hills is a Top 40 course but is nowhere near a Top 10 course...... |
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| 19 February 2012
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| Great course that lives up to all the hype. No frills, simply great golf.  The mix of holes and the flow from hole to hole is flawless. Long par 4's have big greens, short par 5's have teeny-tiny greens. And the greens themselves have the perfect amount of undulation/speed mix. The course is darn near perfect. However, it is important to understand prior to playing it that it is no frills, traditional golf. If you are looking for man-made beauty and extravangance (on the golf course or away from it), you will be disappointed. Sandhills is pure golf at its very best! |
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| 19 August 2010
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| As a mad keen golfing Brit living in the states for 2 years there are some courses that I consider ‘must plays’: Bethpage Black, Pebble Beach, Pacific Dunes are some of the top public courses (hopefully by next Wednesday I’ll have played them all) and amongst the long list of private courses which I dream of playing sits Sand Hills. Last Monday that dream became a reality! Through a friend in Kansas I met a member who kindly ‘sponsored’ me to play there. I took his advice, well as much as I could, and stayed a night and ate supper there. It was fantastic and we were treated like royalty by the extremely professional staff. The accommodation cost $100 per person and there is a cheaper motel option for the cash strapped in nearby Mullen. The food in the club house is sensational.
It is easy to be too effusive when writing reviews but in the case of Sand Hills it really is difficult not to be! The golf course was tremendous, the par 3s and 5s in particular, although my favourite hole was 8: a great short par 4. The greens were fantastic; pure, sensual and quick; rather like I imagine putting on a Cuban cigar rollers thigh might be! The $195 green fee was great value for money and although I only played once it’s actually a daily fee. Although most only play 36 you could play more if you had the appetite! Initial I walked off the course somewhat nonplussed. I hadn’t scored as well as I felt I should have and I was cold and soaked to the skin. However, after a great burger at Ben’s Bar (the half way house), a warm shower and several hours reflection as I drove north to Badlands National Park I came to realise what a great track it is. Great variety, relatively straight forward off the tee and, as with any half decent links course, extremely well defended greens. A short game is required if you’re going to score well at Sand Hills. Is it a top 10 course? I’m not sure. But it is a great trip, probably a once in a life time experience and one that I would whole-heartedly endorse to anybody who gets half a chance. |
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| 27 June 2010
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| Response: | | | mitchell | 31 August 2010 | | A cigar roller's thigh indeed. Where did you golf in the badlands? |
| | | I recently had the unexpected privilige of playing this unbeliveable golf course. The setting, facilities and golf course all recieve your Albatross rating.
I cannot possibly say more. I have played the very best. Thanx Larry. |
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| 11 September 2009
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| | Sand Hills is one of the great golf courses in the States and is literally a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for many of those lucky enough to play this course. There's no denying the perfect natural setting for golf. I was slightly disappointed by the lack of a ground game due to the overly green conditions. The greens are some of the fastest and smoothest I've ever putted on, but do lack much in the way of interesting internal contours with the exception of a couple holes. Most putts break less than 2 inches. The back nine and par 5's are world class. |
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| 30 July 2009
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| Two golf pro's played here... Overrated. To much dismay Sand Hills is said to be this and thought to be that, what it is and has and what all other courses don't... Sand Hills has some and lacks some. A friend and I played 36 holes here last June, along with Ballyneal, Dismal River and Wild Horse. While Ballyneal was the only pure links course of the bunch Sand Hills does have its selling points too. Location, location, location, great location! Great Views! Parts of Nebraska are beautiful and this place has It. The burgers at Bench Porch were one of the best we had ever tasted (a must try)!
The course is primarily or is entirely bent grass which we saw as appealing to the novice golfer with an untrained eye or the weekend warrior that might be either a club membership collector or the course raters that visit. As for the super fast greens which are over watered (as is the whole course), and the greens which for high handicappers are almost unplayable to the point even for a scratch player those greens in high winds are not approachable with a full shot or reasonably fair to putt on. In regards to the approach shots the greens are too small. The course has a few well designed holes which are visually keepers of the "Wow" factor but overall for the deign wise person it's an overrated golf course.
The club allows the deathly round ruining rough to grow clear up to the edge of the fringe. This growing method punishes well played shots of all golfing abilities. Fairway widths average a mile wide (60 yards plus). One of the odd things with the club is the clubhouse, it looks like a trailer, the locker room is no more or less than your local muni and the dinner we had was just ok for the type of club that is Sand Hills. One other thing is the gas carts / buggies they are loud, that with the long ride to the first tee take away from the overall experience. The golf course is very good but for where it is in most ranking lists, please, overrated. The review is coming from two golf pro's who have played all over the world from Hawaii, California, New York, Florida, Scotland, and England, studied golf design along with other designs by Coore/Crenshaw. Again this is a very good golf course and makes for an excellent day out but please course raters get it right. There are just too many average holes. |
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| 30 December 2008
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| Response: | | | Harry | 19 August 2009 | | Overrated for the design-wise person? Few good holes? Are you serious? If YOU were a design wise person, you'd know Sand Hills is probably the greatest design achievement of modern golf course architecture. It has everything that makes great (and classic Golden Age -) design: Strategy, Minimalism, Variety, ground game etc... Coore/Crenshaw thought of every aspect, they went into every detail.... overrated for the design-wise person, that's a joke. | | | Fred | 18 November 2010 | | Totally agree with this review. Course is OK but not nearly fantastic enough to be ranked anywhere near a top 50 course in the US. Ballyneal, Rock Creek Cattle Company, all the Bandon Dunes courses are at least as comparable as this course. Additionally, the accomodations are sub-par, basically motel level, and the staff was rude and condesending. Golf for me is the total experience. The Wow factor and history are a big part of it. Worth playing once, check it off the list and move on to the next. | | | Max | 07 November 2011 | | It is only #1 modern design because a magazine says so Harry, not because it is earned. 80 yard wide fairways, soft bent grass conditions that don't lend to a "Links" ground game, deep unplayable rough just off the fringe on many greens, the ridiculous (out of place) false front of #2, the tiny greens on most holes in a really windy location, ...it just doesn't add up to the shrine to golf that the press upholds. Sand Hills compared to your local muni is a masterpiece but when compared to Ballyneal just down the road it is fast food. Essex County Club in Mass. is light years better than Sand Hills and it gets no respect in the rankings. The ranking are largely bought off through advertising in these magazines or marketing in other ways. Sand Hills looks great from the tee boxes then you drive out to your ball and it is completely different. There is no strategy there by and large. The course is hyped for the sole purpose of having a mystique to sell to future members. At least the burgers at Ben's porch are good! |
| | | I appreciate the design aspects of golf and if you’re like me, take a minute and find the original sketch pad Core and Crenshaw used when they were walking those hills for 6 months before breaking ground. There are approximately 130 holes sketched. To scale that down to 18, could not have been easy. There are no slope or course ratings as the Nebraska winds change the course – every day. They use a lot of local help and the people from that part of the country are people who know what hard work is like - and know how to have fun. My father was born and grew up not to far from there. He pushed cattle through those hills when he was growing up. The look on his face the first time we went (father’s day 2003 – the longest sunlight day of the year!!) is hard to put in words. The fairways are enormous and there are a few holes you can reach from the tips, but if you're spraying it even just a bit and the wind is blowing – I’ll just say you'd better have the flat stick working or you're going to post a huge number. It really doesn’t matter though – enjoy the 1 mile trip on a dirt road to the first tee and Crenshaw’s porch – order a bloody mary and take a deep breath.. The look from on top of the valley is something that you'll never forget |
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| 20 November 2008
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| | As a lover of links golf, I was somewhat sceptical of a magazine article which said that Sand Hills was a course good enough to stage the British Open but having managed to arrange 4 days golf there in July 2000 I was blown away by the sheer magificence of this course. The only thing missing was the sea. It had everything a golfer could want !!! and some !!..A golf course that far exceeded the magazine's boast, for in my opinion, if you took the best collective 18 links holes in GB/I and made it into a course it would NOT be as good as the 18 that Sand hills has to offer..(and before you ask..Ive played all the Open course's and most other great links courses around GB/I).. The condition was immaculate, tees and fairways as smooth as silk, and greens that ran to 13 on the stimpmeter. Off course, the clubhouse is superbly appointed (well stocked bar !!) and has a superb restaurant. The accomodation is excellent, a series of log cabins perched along the banks of the superbly named Dismal River. (Staying here is a must,as the nearest accomodation is a 2hour drive away).The one drawback about Sand Hills is its location, described by the club as drive to the middle of nowhere and turn left! but for the avid golfer it all adds to the adventure. Try to get a game and enjoy it. Six years on and I still remember everything, yes, it was that good. |
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| 19 September 2006
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| Response: | | | Paul Jensen | 16 June 2007 | | I agree. Seeing this course for the first time was an experience I will never forget. Simply amazing. | | | Bill | 17 August 2009 | | I played Ballyneal, Sand Hills, Wild Horse and Dismal River. Ballyneal may be the best. Dismal River the bottom. | | | Max | 08 November 2011 | | How can you host a British Open on Bent grass? That would be called the US Open. The course looks one way and plays another. The setting is one of the best in golf no question. I have played over 40 courses in GB&I and Sand Hills isn't cracking their Top 50 there. |
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