Hmmm…from the perspective of “it’s the same hole over and over,” maybe. But I would suggest (and I’m going to take sh*t for this) that Goodman is the Torrey Pines South of Omaha. It’s a muni that has a reputation of being incredible for a muni, but I think the course is just okay. The greens are provocative, there are some REALLY great moments on the course (love 9 and 18 as tough tests to finish each side, I think 17 is just a fun par 3 and doesn’t play long enough from any tee to make it too hard to hit the right level of the green with a good shot, etc…). But overall, I think the course is just okay. The front (to me) is solid, but on the back, I think 12-16 is just a snoozefest.
Plus, the course is also VERY close to some great breweries (NBC, Kros Strain, Pint 9), and in that sense it feels a little like being in San Diego.
Relative to its stature on this message board, I’m way out on Johnny Dogleg. Too many weird landing areas and angles, too many severe slopes in pinned areas on greens.
Yeah, I just don’t get the obsession with it. I’d rather play Benson. And honestly…I’d rather play Elmwood. I really have a soft spot for fun shorter courses where you can leave driver in the bag. There are some greens on that course that have almost as ridiculous pin positions as Johnny, but being so short it’s a good test of leaving wedges/pitches in the right spots. And if I’m being totally transparent, Spring Lake is fun, too.
If there were a “Strapped: Omaha” I’d lobby hard for them to avoid Goodman.
Nebraska Golf Association old and new logo.
I think it’s tough to judge right away before you’re used to it. The old was pretty generic and you had to be pretty close to it to know what it was. The new one, well, I wouldn’t blame some Nebraskans if they were suffering from corn fatigue but what else distinctive do we have? Armchair graphic design: I don’t think the text integrates into the image very well. Maybe it should be the “ground” instead of just chopping through the middle. Or separate the Neb | Golf with the stalk in the middle.
I like the new logo, but I would have hoped for more. I think (totally biased) that we have one of the most recognizable states in its shape, so something with the outline of the state would have been high on my list of ideas if I were spearheading a logo change at Nebgolf.
I do like the rebrand of the name to just Nebgolf, though. I had been calling it that for years because of the URL for their website.
Just looking at it now again, I think I see what I don’t love.
The name through the logo sucks. Totally sucks. I think the logo without the name would have been kind of epic, or put the name at the bottom. But how the name cuts right through and breaks the logo into two pieces is bad.
Edit- you have the same criticisms that I wrote before carefully reading your whole post
I agree, something more like that would look better ( be gentle, I did it in 2 min on my phone just to see if I would like it better). I think the text under would look better on apparel.
I think Benson and Johnny are both great options for pubilc golf! I like the array of muni golf the city has difficulty wise. I probably favor Benson more just because it is closer to my house. Johnny’s greens can get pretty wild and if you are having a rough putting day… woof
I know they’ve restructured (multiple times?) before to let owners in/out, but it feels also like a place that just can’t make it as a private club, I think it could be really really successful following the prairie club model
Public/private seems like a great model for those types of “destination” resorts, especially when you have multiple courses and amenities that are member-only. I’d have to think the public component helps to get the word out and market to new potential members as well.
They have pretty much already gone to a semi-private model in the last 3-5 years. All of the new members referenced are just paying an annual fee with almost all of it going to future usage for greens fees and lodging. Not a bad idea to get people to make the trip if they are prepaying.
I would think Kuemper will highly upgrade their day to day operations from lodging to billing. The last couple years their day to day operations have gotten a lot worse. I would assume this would get solved right away.
The question is will 2023 be the third year in a row the golf courses are dead?
The owner offices in my building, and from what he’s said they have pretty decent snowcover out there, maybe that means a better transition into spring and summer?
That’s the thought, minimal snow cover and wind led to very dry conditions and desiccation of the turf in 2022.
Snow cover provides protection from wind desiccation and soil moisture. Fingers crossed we get appropriate spring rains to help transition the turf from dormant to growing.
The sand hills (area) courses had terrible winter kill last year.
