Similar green complexes, similar land movement… and that’s pretty much where the similarities end. The Nat is ~1,000 longer, par 72 vs par 70, and far more forgiving off the tee. If you hit it crooked off the tee at the deuce you are not going to have a good time, as most wayward tee balls are lost balls/OB. The general vibe/hang between the two are lightyears different as well. Let’s just say there’s a reason the deuce men’s league is ~150 guys and the Nat gets maybe 15 for theirs.
@VinnyG, Ben is probably referring to the Junior membership, which is indeed $2,000/year (at least this year), carts included, no F&B mins, etc. It’s definitely the best deal in the city by a wide margin. IMO the full membership is also a good deal, but I also live in Parkville so I’m a captive audience (and don’t feel like paying double that to play the Nat when all my friends are at the deuce or members at both).
I totally get people not liking the Deuce, I thought it was the stupidest course I’d ever played after the first like 10 times playing it. But I personally like that it doesn’t really let me take a hole off (other than 8/9), it keeps me locked in if I want to actually put together a good round. And the routing makes for a great gambling course, if that is your thing.
for $2k/yr? maybe from the city, but probably not from OP. not that you’ll find anything cheaper down here, but to me proximity is extremely important. I’d go south to Sycamore or Creekmore before the duece. there’s too many times I’ve got an hour or whatever and I can go hit some balls, work on short game, etc that would be 100% consumed by drive time.
if I lived north I’d look at tiffany. I played with a guy that i think said his membership there was $250/mo. that seems like a good deal to me.
I walked Hillcrest for $44 on Memorial Day morning, and was pretty happy with everything. I think their website only shows the riding rate on the booking page, but a walking rate definitely exists.
I’ve been playing out at Hillcrest after work quite a bit recently. You can walk 9 for $24 and don’t need a tee time after 3:30. Very impressed with the conditioning of the course, the greens are in really good shape and the tee boxes/fairways are solid as well. I’m not a huge fan of the front 9 (especially holes 1, 2, and 9 but really 1 would be fine if it wasn’t the first hole). But considering how impossible it is to get onto Swope after work these days (there’s a league every single day it seems like) it’s been a solid option. It still is overpriced on the weekends but for $24 to walk 9 it isn’t too bad. I prefer Swope’s layout, but it’s just extremely crowded out there these days (good for the course, bad for me getting to play there).
Since absolutely no one wants to start with a 250 yd par 3, I’m surprised they’ve never flipped the 9s there. Current 10 is a decent opening hole, and is probably long enough that you won’t get early pace of play issues from people trying to get on in two.
Arnold Palmer once said that the 1st at Hillcrest was the toughest opening hole he ever played. That’s the urban myth anyway. I’d just own it if I were them. This is our thing. Enjoy.
I still want to buy Hillcrest and make it the one course in KC you have to play if you’re in town. I think it has that potential even after playing it only once.
Flipping the 9s is the most obvious of many obvious things to do. I still haven’t worked out in my head how to deal with 9 and 18 however. One idea involves a “shared fairway” between 9 and 10 and moving the cart paths around. The holes wouldn’t play into the same landing zones, but I haven’t done that much research to figure out if tee balls from 9 would be plunking people on 10 as they’re walking down after their tee shot. (BTW - This is the how the problem with modern equipment manifests itself)
The only public course in Lawrence (other than The Orchards, which I can’t speak on) is Eagle Bend. Other than that, Lake Shawnee isn’t too far away — some cool holes, but can be a little gimmicky.
Played Blue Hills for the first time today. Really enjoyed it. Gave me old Alvamar public vibes, but better. I could definitely see myself playing there everyday.
I wouldn’t mind being a member! Not sure if we are in a place financially right now to be members somewhere, but my dad has been wanting to join a club and liked it.
Wild. I was thinking that KF had done the last round of bunker stuff, and wondered if they might be coming back to give it the whole “Moraine” treatment.