Eastern Kansas is not Western Kansas. That seems obvious but most of this week I had been looking at Kansas as a monolithic waste land of heat, humidity, over farmed earth, and Sonic drive ins.
Eastern Kansas is still hot and humid but the scenery slowly changed to rolling verdant hills. The promise of golf and family are also making the horizon that much sweeter as well.
I beat myself up yesterday reaching Hutchinson Kansas. Hot and “breezy” I did not enjoy my self. But today should be different. 35 quick miles to Sand Creek Station.
This is one of the “treat” courses I have been looking forward to. I also went slightly out of my way to make sure I had a chance to play here. Billed as private golf for the public Sand Creek Station is in Newton KS.
On arrival their customer service reputation was confirmed. The staff was able to slot me in for a tee time and pointed me to the cart barn for a place to park Alister. I thought Mariah Hills was a good value but somehow I got 18 holes walking, two sleeves of balls, a yardage book, a beer, and a soda for under $50.
This course is not particularly set up to walk. Hole 1 is easily a quarter if not half a mile from the clubhouse. The staff offered me a ride but I felt like the walk may loosen me up from the morning’s ride.
The course is expansive and well maintained. The course theme plays on its location next to the railroad but the trains were not a distraction and the theme was never over the top. More of a nod to the properties history.
As far as architecture goes I would say it plays more like a resort than a private club. Private golf is typically a stern test and offers a pace of play that public courses cannot. Here the fairways are wide and receptive and the hazards are there more for scenery than being putative. Also, my round took 5:45 so they miss the mark on speed of play as well.
The fairways were very wet from rain over night. All day long I was taking significant divots the size of dollar bills but the drainage on the course works well and my feet stayed dry. The greens are measured in acres. This was a welcome change from the small greens on the last few courses. The greens were in great shape and not overly fast.
As for variety, the hole layouts were long but offered many ways to reach the green. The marketing literature touted holes based on Scotlands best courses including a replica “Road Hole” from St. Andrews. I was looking for it but I did not find a “road hole”. They also had a Redan hole. Unfortunately playing the white tees took all of the typical issues out of play. Despite this I enjoyed the holes for what they were and if I had not been looking for specific layouts I would have been quite happy with the balanced risk reward layout.
I was disappointed with the sand traps. It had rained the night before and I took that into consideration but they were not up to the standard of the rest of the course. The sand was hard as concrete and it looked like it had been months since they were properly raked. For all of the work that was obviously being done to make this course beautiful the bunkers were a serious let down. Luckily they are placed mostly for visual effect and I only visited two with a club in my hand.
I know I am sounding critical and that is not my intent. This is easily the best value and most fun layout I have played in Kansas. It proved to be just the reward for all the hot miserable riding the past few days. It really isn’t far from KC, Topeka, or Lawrence and I would recommend playing it if you are in the area.
