Tournament Club of Iowa

[Nate]

Tadashi.....I hit driver on about 5 of the holes and you know how much I like to hit driver! I would hit 'em on par 3's if I could...LOL! For the most part, this was target golf. You had to hit your spots and if you missed you were looking at bogey at best. It was a great challenge both off the tee and on the greens.

 

[Chunkylover77]

Great review Hawk. Man that place looks sick. Maybe one day I will be in Iowa and can play this beauty

 

[JRod]

This course is awesome in that birdies are for the taking but you can put up a double or worse in no time. The tee shot landing areas are pretty forgiving yes but you miss on the wrong side of the fairway and you're hitting a 205 yard approach shot with forced carries on to small greens. Is there a lot of fairway? Yes. Are the approach shots easy? Hell no.

 

[WessCook]

Great review Hawk.
This course really made you pick your tee shots wisely. A couple holes you had no choice but to go with no more than a 3 hybrid off the tee and even if you pured it you were a long iron into the green.
This course truely is a gem in my book and if I'm ever back in the area it will be top of the list.

The plate of sliders from the restaurant were phenomenal! 4 monster sliders for $6 was a deal.

 

[Jman]

Great review Hawk. Man that place looks sick. Maybe one day I will be in Iowa and can play this beauty

Chunky, it was a blast to play.

For me I really enjoyed getting to play out of REAL sand too! lol

 

[#Cookie]

This course is awesome in that birdies are for the taking but you can put up a double or worse in no time. The tee shot landing areas are pretty forgiving yes but you miss on the wrong side of the fairway and you're hitting a 205 yard approach shot with forced carries on to small greens. Is there a lot of fairway? Yes. Are the approach shots easy? Hell no.

Haha, from reading this me thinks you no likey number 12. It is the number 1 HC hole for a reason I suppose.

I was damn lucky to play it even for the weekend. Demanding tee shot to a perched green that offers zero forgiveness. You did have an All American par on Saturday though.

 

[Jman]

Great review Hawk.
This course really made you pick your tee shots wisely. A couple holes you had no choice but to go with no more than a 3 hybrid off the tee and even if you pured it you were a long iron into the green.
This course truely is a gem in my book and if I'm ever back in the area it will be top of the list.

The plate of sliders from the restaurant were phenomenal! 4 monster sliders for $6 was a deal.

Those sliders were GIGANTIC dude.

I agree, its one that if I'm in Iowa and near it, I'm going to go play it again. Would be an awesome one to live on too.

 

[JRod]

Haha, from reading this me thinks you no likey number 12. It is the number 1 HC hole for a reason I suppose.

I was damn lucky to play it even for the weekend. Demanding tee shot to a perched green that offers zero forgiveness. You did have an All American par on Saturday though.

That hole is brutal. That and the 600 yard 17th. Ugh.

 

[Nate]

That hole is brutal. That and the 600 yard 17th. Ugh.

It's so inviting looking at it off the tee..........but then you have to finish the hole.

 

[IceyShanks]

It was pretty dead for a Sunday though. Nice course for something like this outing, but I think the locals think it's a little on the pricey side. Not sure how many people were there besides us, but the parking lot was kind of empty. It was busier on Saturday, when the college games were going on.

Wow that actually surprises me a bit, there are courses that aren't that nice around here in Nebraska and they charge way more than that. Too bad, maybe that's why the clubhouse looked so bare on saturday!!!

 

[Mulligan9111]

Absolutely my favorite hole from a visual stand point was the 17th. Just an amazing view and a tough hole.

The course was in amazing conditition. There were only a couple spots on the whole course that had some "under repair" markers, which is quite incredible considering the weather we've had this year. This was one of the tougher courses I've played. I think a combination of not really knowing where I needed to be as well as just not swinging the best led to my worst round of the year with an 85. While there seems like a ton of fairway, finding it as well as being on the right spot in the fairway, was just not very easy. And the approach shots were just a great test of golf. If you were aggressive and executed right, you were rewarded, but if you didn't execute a lot of the time you had a tough up and down a head of you. Thinking back, I can't think of one hole that was unfair/no fun. The greens were very receptive and you could fire at the pins if you so chose to. The greens also rolled incredibly smooth.

Also the par 3's were among the best I have ever played, I really liked all of them.

Cost wise I thought the course was pretty inexpensive. I'd imagine if this course was in Lincoln or Omaha, NE it would be in the $75+ range.

 

[Tadashi70]

I know you're not asking me, but I wouldn't consider this a resort course myself. Most of the resort courses I've played are typically pretty playable and quite forgiving in certain areas to be able to cater to all levels of golfers. TCI doesn't seem to care, they just threw a tough ass track right in the heart of corn country and good luck! That's not saying it was unplayable though, it was tough in spots but you could get around it especially if you had already played it once. Made a big difference as a lot of the shots are semi blind and you're forced to hit to targets that you're not always comfortable with.

Thanks the answers guys. The pics are deceiving, it looked pretty generous off the tee. This is now on my list of courses to play. Need to schedule a trip to see my Iowa based clients.

 

[Nate]

Thanks the answers guys. The pics are deceiving, it looked pretty generous off the tee. This is now on my list of courses to play. Need to schedule a trip to see my Iowa based clients.

Here was the 11th hole shot from the tee box; tight landing area but still needed to hit it 220-230 off the tee.

 

[White Rhino]

This track was flat out gorgeous. Its what JB and I talked about throughout the round on Saturday and the same with JRod and I on Sunday. I'd play it again in a heartbeat, just awesome.

+1 I would absolutely place this again and again... just an amazing course!!!

I loved the scenery. It was beautiful.

I loved all the trees and the different elevations.

Nice recap Hawk, glad you all had such a good time. I would expect nothing but great service in Iowa. The course looks spectacular and very challenging if you're not in the right spot off the tee. I don't recall ever seeing greens that big before, they look huge!

I said that myself on the first and second hole.. my god some of them were ridiculously huge!!!! But alot of fun. Also I noticed the pace varied a bit based on being in the sun or the shade.

 

[White Rhino]

Here was the 11th hole shot from the tee box; tight landing area but still needed to hit it 220-230 off the tee.

I ended up on the hill on the left on Saturday and that was the beginning of my back 9 explosion.

 

[Howzat]

Terrific review as always Hawk. Great pictures as well. The course was very challenging but there is an opportunity to score well if you can keep the ball out of trouble. Several very tough pin placements and the course is packed w/ risk vs. reward opportunities. Thanks again Hawk for putting the whole weekend together.

 

[bhilln]

Not a lot to say about this course that hasn't been said already, but what a great course. Staff was super friendly; great conditions and fantastic layout. The course really made you plan out your hole and play the course. Tee shots generally gave you a few options to pick from with well guarded greens. The elevation changes were fun and made you think in your club selection. Pic's don't do it justice; add in the weather that couldn't have been better makes for such a great place.

If your in the area, do yourself a favor and check this spot out. Really couldn't have asked for a better place to spend the weekend.

 

[White Rhino]

Thanks the answers guys. The pics are deceiving, it looked pretty generous off the tee. This is now on my list of courses to play. Need to schedule a trip to see my Iowa based clients.

Iowa weekend part 2?!!?!?!? hehehe

I might fly back for it!

 

[livegolf]

That looks fun to play! I love golf course photos

 

[Hawk]

I was thinking about the pictures I got of the course and noticed that I didn't take any of the harder holes. That was right around the time GG and I were struggling pretty bad to get something going. I wish I could have gotten 6, 7, 12, 16, and 17 on camera. Those holes burned me both days.

 

[fairband]

I wish I would've had one more day to stick around, the deal on the cart for all you can play Mondays $59. Absolute steal for this course.

 

[JRod]

I wish I would've had one more day to stick around, the deal on the cart for all you can play Mondays $59. Absolute steal for this course.

Seriously. That would be awesome.

 

[TRyan]

I wish I would've had one more day to stick around, the deal on the cart for all you can play Mondays $59. Absolute steal for this course.

Wow. I may have to try and make this happen at some point. I would get in at least 36 at this place no problem. If only for the views

 

[TripleBogieTim]

Great Review Hawk, I would definately play this course again and again....a really fun track with plenty of risk/reward shots...lots of forced carries, I would really consider this a shot makers course. As some have said, some of the fairways were very generous...but if you put it in the wrong place you ended up with a 215 yard forced carry 2nd shot with heavy thick greenside rough.

Here are a few pics I took

1st hole from the King Tees...extremely elevated tee shot

Another Shot of the first hole from the tee box at the Palmer tee level and zoomed in a little.

Tee Shot on the 2nd Hole

Zoomed in view from the 2nd tee...from the Palmer tees it was a 240 carry to clear that 1st bunker.

The Signature Hole from the King Tee Box...freaking beautiful....that's Nate on the Palmer tees ( I made par on this hole both days BTW )

Zoomed in on the same hole

Zoomed in so you can see how long the green is

Full view from the King Tees

Has to be the prettiest hole I have ever played

Dont Remember the hole....Brad (Duey's Friend) hitting his second shot

Random hole....perfectly manicured bunkers

When we got to the 18th tee box Sunday, somebody had started signing balls and putting them in the tee marker...cool idea so we added ours to it

Close up view

 

[Tadashi70]

What a beautiful course, I'm floored by the size of the greens. Nice pics Tim!