What’s the furthest north that a course is open? Des Moines?
Looking at the weather I imagine any of the courses in the Des Moines area that are open this weekend will still be open Monday.
So far I’ve seen the following are open:
Waveland (shout out strapped)
Jester Park (grimes area)
The Legacy (Norwalk, couple minutes south of Des Moines)
A.H. Blank
I haven’t looked to see if anything in Ames is open, but it’s 30 minutes north of Des Moines. Veenker and Coldwater are two great public courses in Ames.
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Any word of courses opening in the northern part of the state? Getting reallll antsy and may cross the boarder from southern Minnesota this weekend if need be.
St. Andrews in Cedar Rapids opened last weekend, and is still open, but conditions weren’t great. Some greens had water seeping up still. Gardner in Marion is opening Friday morning. Great course, should be in decent shape if they’re opening.
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Looking at coming down this weekend from MSP to play. Was eyeing up Tournament Club of Iowa, but also was considering not making the full trek down to Des Moines. Are there any decent courses by Mason City?
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If you are coming all the way to Des Moines, TCI would be my top suggestion. I’ll be out there Saturday morning. I’ve never walked it before as its just not a walking course, but going to give it a shot this weekend.
I’m no help for you when it comes to the Mason City area, unfortunately.
Absolutely love TCI, was a little disappointed with all the houses going up last year though. It can’t imagine walking it, if that was my only choice I’d make it work.
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One of my favorite courses around Mason City is Ridge Stone in Sheffield. Here is the link to their website, as they obviously have some new rules for right now:
I haven’t been out to play yet this year so I’m not sure how the conditions are, but its definitely worth checking out if you are making the trip down.
We actually booked a tee time at Mason City Country Club. Looks kinda rinky dinky on their website. Would rather play Tournament Club, but this saves us a couple hours round trip. Anyone ever play it?
I used to be a member there. Not my favorite course, but we don’t have a ton of options in North Iowa. It’s been struggling for a number of years now, but they had maintained the course pretty well. The best feature is the greens, but early season probably won’t show that. Have fun! I’m interested to hear what you think of it.
I am a 319ner. Southeast Iowa. There are several great courses down this way. The 1st of course Spirit Hollow in Burlington. Great track. The Diamond in the rough is Schaeffers Golf Course in the middle of nowhere. Between Ft. Madison and a little town Denmark. This track has some of the toughest greens I have played. Undulating and fast. There is also The Preserve on Lake Rathbun. Another great track. Hope this helps if you ever expand out of the DM area.
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Amana is nice, but the last time I played there last fall.the rough was up to about 4 inches. If you missed the fairway the ball was a tough find. With that being said I found about 50. Alls that day. Most were in great to perfect shape Nd most were top models. Pro V1, Chromesoft, or Bridgestone.
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Anyone in the Des Moines area interested in social distancing on a course for some twilight golf on Tuesday? Fair warning, I’m a hack, it’ll be my first time out, and I still can’t convince myself to play smart, so a 50+ is inevitable for a 9 hole round.
I might be able to join you depending on what time and where.
Y’all may have seen this already, but if not…it is well worth the 30 minutes. It will give you chills, and potentially a couple tears.
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Hello my southern brethren (relatively). MN gui in Cedar Rapids for the evening, where should I play?
The public munis in CR are average at best. Within a half hours drive I would check out Saddleback Ridge, Amana Colonies and Brown Deer, all of which are solid. Amana’s is woodlands, Saddle is a prairie type and BD is a mix of both. In CR, Hunters Ridge and Gardner would be the top two choices
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Thanks man!
My playing partner put the kibosh on it because he’s gotta rent. But I’m rid of him after tomorrow - is Bos Landen any good?