Sign Up for August 12-13, 2022 Return to the Birthplace of Strapped Event:
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I forgot about Iron Horse, I do like the layout down there. I’m on the opposite side as far as 18, hate that you’re forced to lay-up. I prefer the short par 4 on the back 9, forget which hole it is though. I actually have not thought it’s in as good a shape as Shoal, Winterstone, Adams. And you’re right, at $89 a person Iron Horse is a LOT for not an elite public course. Winterstone is owned by the individual that owns all of the rock quarries around it so their funding for the course maintenance is outstanding for a public track.
11 is the short par 4 on the back that’s drivable but also has split fairways for the layup option. I haven’t been out there during pandemic times, but they had flooding and drainage issues in previous years so I could see increased traffic not being super kind to the conditions out here.
- Hillcrest
- Shoal
- Stone Canyon
- Dubs
- Drumm Farm (GreatLife can eat a bag though)
That is about all I can rank based on the amount I’ve played other courses around here. I’m big on playing new places but I don’t get out enough to garner a lot of opinions.
I am playing Winterstone this weekend though and would appreciate any tips!
- Shoal Creek
- Falcon Lakes
- Sycamore Ridge
- Swope Memorial
- Stone Canyon
Unless things have changed considerably since I moved 2.5 years ago.
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For me it’s:
Shoal Creek
Swope
Hillcrest
WinterStone
Sycamore Ridge
Stone Canyon
Ironhorse
Adams Pointe
Falcon Lakes
St. Andrews
Deer Creek would crack this easily with just any kind of maintenance/recon of their bunkers. Tiffany Greens is so so, decent shape, but how many holes do you remember from that place? Maybe 3-4?
This argument is a hamster wheel because these courses are all variations of mediocrity excepting Swope and Hillcrest, which with a reno would become Top 100 courses in the country.
It’s long been acknowledged that KC has lots of good golf but no great golf.
I’m listing mine for the southwestern corner of the metro which I’ve pretty much limited myself to this past year. I’ve played a lot more courses then what’s on this list but don’t feel like the understanding is good enough for me to fairly place then within context of others. Here it is:
Sycamore Ridge
Ironhorse
Fred Arbanas
Heritage Park
West/South OP
South/North OP
St. Andrews
North/West OP
Deer Creek and Tomahawk Hills are in the area too but I neglected them this year since condition last time I went was awful. Falcon valley can probably get an honorable mention since it’s pretty neat but just a 9 hole course.
Arbanas is fun I like it a lot. Tomahawk is kinda dumb if yer askin me.
Falcon Valley and the OP Westlinks gotta be the best 9-holers in metro KS. Sunflower and Dubs come in behind Lakes and St. Andrews for me.
It’s pretty deceptive and underrated, Saint Andy’s. Even the blah holes like 3,7,9,16,17,18 have crazy interesting greens. A couple forced carries, but Saint Andy’s is fun.
Not really long at all, but you’ll hit every club in the bag.
And every group. The biggest drag is that it’s packed. If you can get on early, it’s a breeze, but any tee time after 10am, even on the weekdays, will result in a 5-hour round.
We need to ban carts. Or at least sharing carts.
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I really enjoy WinterStone, a lot of the JOCO guys on here probably haven’t played it or played it enough, it’s usually in phenomenal condition and is a solid layout. Has a lot of down hill holes that lead to elevated green sites. Favorite holes out there are #2, downhill par 3, #9 a downhill par 5 where you can attack the green in two but there’s water left and a lot of sand trouble, #12 is a 100 yard par 3 with a huge green with lots of slope, and #18 is a solid finishing par 4 with water down the left side. Hardest hole out there is #4, very tight par 5. For public courses Missouri definitely has better selection than the Kansas side but for private Kansas is much better.
I’ve never played the OP courses or St. Andrews because they’re pretty much impossible to get on without a patron card and I’d rather spend more time playing Swope or Hillcrest.
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I’ll add that St. Andrews is the best of the OP bunch, and every time I’ve been there it’s in way better condition. Swope is for sure better than either, and Hillcrest is a better layout, but was in rough shape when I saw it in Oct 2019. You’re not missing anything besides a 5hr round by skipping the OP gaggle.
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I’ve got to try to defend OP a bit here. As far as which course is more interesting, St. Andrews vs any combination of the OP nines, I would agree St. Andrews is more memorable and has holes that standout more. But I do enjoy playing a course that penalizes bad drives in ways other than making you lose a golf ball in a penalty area.
As far as time to play goes, I’ve played probably close to a third of my rounds this year as OP (since I live nearly within walking distance of the place) and the rounds can last 5 hours for sure, but only maybe a quarter of them have been that way. Most are in the 4.5 hour range give or take 15 minutes. And that doesn’t seem any slower on average than any other public golf courses in JoCo…
For getting a tee time, you definitely have to be a patron to get a four person tee time at a time you want and you have to book it when they become available 7 days in advance. I usually play as a twosome and am pretty flexible with the time I play over the weekend and usually have no trouble booking a tee time on a saturday for two people 2 or 3 days out.
A patron card runs $40 and knocks $4-8 off your greens fee so you can make that money back if you play 5-10 rounds there that year. Also, this patron card works at St. Andrews and gets you a discount at their driving range, which I think is the only lit range in the area and, for me, rivals some private club practice facilities if it wasn’t for their mats and cheap range balls. You get a discount at the OP driving range too but its a disgrace and for some reason busier than the St. Andrews one.
this is a fair criticism of SA in a number of spots. However I feel like the firmer conditioning and better layout are a good trade. I used to play at OP all the time, but there was ZERO chance of getting a sub 4.5hr round because of that stupid wave system and 8min tee times.
We’d be first off on south, finish in 1.5hrs, then sit on North for 30+min and take 2.5hrs to play that 9. I think you’re right about it being fairly normal to slightly slower than pace at other public courses, which was a big motivating factor to going private.
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just came here to post this…
and evidently, as we saw earlier in last newsletter, young neil and the boys have additional content out in The Backyard at BCN… possibly WWOG with @sundaybag
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I’ve been in a few of those spots at Swope before, but thankfully not in a single round.
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Hello KC crew… New member from the River Market area 
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Welcome! Not that you got a small initiation in the First Nest Post thread, time for some KC specific questions:
- What is your favorite public KC golf course?
- What is your favorite KC BBQ place?
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Dub’s Dread - But I haven’t played a lot of golf yet in KC… Been on the road for 5 years since I moved here doing construction management. But I did play in a league for 2 straight years at Indian Creek in Omaha so that’s my favorite within a “short” driving distance to KC for now. Moving back to work from KC for a while so looking forward to getting out a lot spring/summer 2022
As far as bbq, SLAPS is king to me. The baked potato casserole is maybe my favorite bbq side from anywhere in the entire KC area
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erroneously posted in another thread:
Anybody interested in a season-ending meet up? Swope? Black Friday?
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