[Jim Engh]

Good morning fellas.

As promised in an earlier post, I would like to describe our most current project. It is called Nebraska National and is located 5 miles south of Kearney, Nebraska, just off of I-80. The land is characterized as rolling sand hills and has the type of feel that is very inspiring to my profession. It is in fact considered to be within the Nebraska sanhills, on the southeast edge. On the south part of the project are nine holes of a golf course previous known as Craneview. It has been closed with no upkeep for a few years. I believe that Gene Bates was involved with it originally, but I have yet to speak with Gene about the course. The majority of the natural landforms on the Craneview side had been preserved. Therefore it’s wonderful rolling character remains intact. It is certainly my intent to preserve this naturally rolling character. In an effort to control costs, which on a project is mandatory,  much of the existing irrigation system will be used in place. However, the new nine holes will eliminate all of the long walks from green to tee…… You heard it first here! Jim Engh is designing a golf course with its priority to be easily walkable…..    About half of the holes will be newly placed/formed. All of the green sites  will be repositioned within existing contours or simply reshaped. The original nine will, in general, gain a great deal of width.  As an example, our new ninth hole will consist of a previous par 3 hole connecting with a previous par 4 hole to create the new par 5 ninth. This allows us to use the existing irrigation in place and provides the golf hole that I feel best fits the land and routing.

The land directly to the north, is native and untouched (no center pivot). The rolling character reminds me in many ways of some of the softer Irish links courses. Maybe in the mold of a County Louth or Caste Rock. Certainly the larger hills/dunes on the land will provide drama and excitement, but it is the gentle and quirky rolls and falls of the native landforms that most inspire me with this project. Very little if any excavation will occur over the entire project. In fact, there will be no disturbance to the existing grasses and vegetation. We will mow the native grasses very closely within the proposed fairways and then “slit seed” in our desired mix of Chewings Fescue and Colonial  Bentgrasses. Possibly a touch of Bluegrass? Six of the nine greens will be graded with nothing more than a sandpro. The irrigation system will be “pulled in”, allowing for no disturbance to the native grasses or ground surface. Basically, the quirks in the land, that are impossible to create, will be preserved. Aside from the wonderfully creative aspect of this project, I am really excited that we will construct it for a ridiculously modest cost.

Certainly, it is the exception rather than the rule to be able to create a golf course in such a gentle manner. It is the quirks, odd looks and just weird features that makes golf interesting to me. I look forward to having a blast with this project this spring and summer.

All the best

Jim

[Tim Bert]

Jim - Sounds great!  Thanks for posting.  Would love to see some "before" pictures of the existing nine as well as the terrain for the back nine.

When you say the front nine will add a great deal of width, can you give us an estimate of how wide the average fairway might be as it existed before and how wide you expect it to be when you are done?

Also, when you say it is technically in the sand hills region, do you have any wonderful natural blow-out bunkers that you plan to use as a centerpiece for any of the holes you will create?

[Doug Wright]

Sounds great Jim. Truly minimalistic!

When do you expect the course to open? Is this public or private?

[Jason Hines]

Jim,

I am glad to hear you will be eliminating those long walks between tee-greens on the front nine and if I remember correctly, that is a nice piece of property to the north.  Those old river dunes will make a nice canvas for you to do your work.

I have not been by the site for awhile, but I assume they have closed the feed yard on the east side of the highway?

[Jim Engh]

Tim / Doug / Jason

Most of our site photos are of a reference type. They do not express the nature of the land well. I will work on getting some to post.

In general, the original fairway / playing width was about 120' to 150' with tough native adjacent. We are planning to have the landing areas of fairways in the 220' to 260" with playable native areas adjacent.

There are a couple of natural blowouts in the area. We intend to use them as models for the golf course. We have undertaken study of bunkers at great courses in the area like Sand Hills, Wild Horse and Bayside. We discovered that they each have their own take on the blowout concept. The interesting thing about the process was that upon driving to these places, we became taken by the blowouts along the road. Especially the "youngish" blowouts that had very little depth. It is our intent to just barely scratch the surface to expose sand. These bunkers will have little depth, but great visual contrastand size variation. Their placement will be of a totally random nature, with little or no concern to the playing of the game. Obviously, these bunkers will change with time. It will be interested to see what they become.  

We expect to begin when the ground freeze ends, first part of March? We should be completed this summer and open late spring/early summer 2010.

The course will be considered to be daily fee with memberships available.  

They have infact closed the feed yard.

[Bill_McBride]

The terrain at Castlerock is varied and generally interesting, so if that comparison holds up, it should be fun to play and walk.  

The most interesting holes at Castlerock played up into hillsides, with the greens gently benched into the slopes, one a bit of a punchbowl.  The tee shots were across the axis of the valley up the hillside, so there was a forced carry to cut off as much as possible.  Very interesting and challenging!

[RJ_Daley]

http://maps.live.com/default.aspx?v=2&FORM=LMLTCC&cp=40.591992~-99.089384&style=h&lvl=15&tilt=-90&dir=0&alt=-1000&phx=0&phy=0&phscl=1&encType=1

I hope the link works.  Unfortunately, Google Earth doesn't really display the contour or elevation in its very limitted display.  I'm sure we all look forward to another selection of a golf course along the I-80 corridor as another alternative to play. 

The only think that I regret is that there is so much land out there that is even 'more' ideal than this land tract.  I beleieve Ron Whitten first started to talk about this Sand Hill area from the perspective of his boyhood in Kearney.  He refers to the more dramatic Sand Hills north of Kearney as the "Irish Alps".   But, one takes what they can, and I hope that Mr. Engh has a successful project out there.  In these times, we all should hope for many commercial successes and be glad there is any work for the GCAs to keep going with.  Obviously, this course is a half remodel and half new design, so we can see with interest how Jim Engh tackles that.  Good Luck!

[Jason Hines]

I have an idea from Dick's link,

Jim, you should put a fountain in that cow pond!!!!!

[Damon Groves]

Recently played Wild Horse and Ballyneal so very much looking forward to this new course.

Thanks for the info Jim.

[Kalen Braley]

Jim,

This sounds awesome indeed and thanks for chiming in with the info and details about the project.  If you need any help posting pics, I've posted quite a few on GCA.com and can help if needed.

Thanks,

Kalen

[Jim_Kennedy]

Jim Engh,
You're a lucky man.

[Forrest Richardson]

Sounds like a great opportunity.

http://www.kearneyhub.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=19468332&BRD=268&PAG=461&dept_id=577571&rfi=15

[Mike_Cirba]

There are a couple of natural blowouts in the area. We intend to use them as models for the golf course. We have undertaken study of bunkers at great courses in the area like Sand Hills, Wild Horse and Bayside. We discovered that they each have their own take on the blowout concept. The interesting thing about the process was that upon driving to these places, we became taken by the blowouts along the road. Especially the "youngish" blowouts that had very little depth. It is our intent to just barely scratch the surface to expose sand. These bunkers will have little depth, but great visual contrastand size variation. Their placement will be of a totally random nature, with little or no concern to the playing of the game. Obviously, these bunkers will change with time. It will be interested to see what they become.  

Jim,

I think the idea of random placement is an intriguing one, and I'll be very curious to see how everything works from a strategic standpoint once in play.

Good Luck with everything and I have to say that I'm heartened to hear of any and all projects moving forward in today's economic environment.

[Tommy Williamsen]

It is pretty exciting to see all the activity in the Colorado and Nebraska sand hills.  Who knew it was there besides Dick Youngscap?  He may go down as one of the true visionaries in the game.
I hope that the clubs also work as diligently at cultivating good relationships with the locals as he did.

[Jim Engh]

Bill…..Absolutely right. Much like  Castle Rock, the terrain will have the variation from rugged to mellow. One of the things that I love most about Irish links golf is that variety. For example, Inniscrone has some of the tallest  and steeps sand dunes that I have ever seen. Playing between them provides a sense of drama and magnifies the insignificance of human scale. I find myself, upon first experience, taking in only the large and grand elements. Yet the open holes on the flatland become very much more appreciated because the human scale feels more dominant. I notice the small nuances and gentle features. It is that kind of experience that I really dig. 

RJ…. You are so very correct. The opportunity for spectacular dunes land in Nebraska is incredible! I am however, very excited about the cards that we have been dealt. It is so rare that you are able to “go find the holes” as opposed to “creating them”.

Jason…… funny story about the cow ponds. We had a wetland specialist look at the ponds to give us the thumbs up. He was walking around in the ponds in water boots and picked up an handful of soil from the bottom. He stated that “this pond seems to have a higher clay content than the surrounding areas”, indicating a possibility of wetland. I felt bad when I had to explain to him that most likely, that was a handful of cow SH@#$T that he was holding. 

Damon…..those are three very good golf courses. Looking forward to the challenge.

Kalen….. thanks for the assistance. I will call when I get some groovey photos.

Jim….. you are right. I have been blessed in more ways than I could describe. I am looking forward to a fun summer.

Forrest….. will I see you in Seattle this spring? Wanna stop to play Black Rock on the way up? I hear its’ still open!!!

Mike…… I like the idea of placing the bunkers in accordance with nature rather than a game. Remember, the game was invented as a way to entertain while walking through nature. At Four Mile Ranch, we had no bunkers at all. It is the character of the land that presents the obstacles. You are correct, any project going forward right now is a blessing.

Tommy.....you could not be more correct. I get to spend a great deal of time with visionaries and big thinkers of many backgrounds. That is truly one of the great things about my profession. Sometimes you step back and say WOW! Certainly, Dick Yougscap is that kind of person. In addition he is a nice and classy person.

[Jason Hines]

Jim, Tommy,

There is an element that Nebraska National is starting off with that the other clubs do not have and that is 120,000 people within a 3 county area.  I have made the statement before about the Kearney Country Club and it’s less than desirable course and the rest of the courses in the area are decent to average.  If you build it, they will come.  (Sorry, I've always wanted to say that)

I am going to try to be in Kearney this May and will get to drive around the course and look forward to seeing how things are going.

J

[PCCraig]

Jim-

GREAT story about the cow pond. hahahaha.

[Tommy Williamsen]

Jim, I have played six of your courses and your bunkers generally have a distinct shape and style to them.  From what I am reading, you intend to deviate from that style to a blowout bunker designed by nature.  You also have some of the wildest greens I've seen, especially at Pradera.  It also sounds that you will deviate from that as well.  Is this a change in philosophy or is this truly a matter of the land dictating the design?

[Bryan Bergner]

Jim

What are the soil types that you will slit seed into?  What about the greens?

Bryan Bergner
Assistant Superintendent
Westmoor Country Club

[Garland Bayley]

Who says you can't teach an old North Dakotan new tricks? One more North Dakotan stereotype joke bytes the dust.

Atta boy Jim!

[Jim Engh]

Bill.....Nice to hear from you. Glad that Blackstone is showing a little more of itself to you with each visit. That concept is at the core of my professional beliefs. 

I am glad that you like the fact that I am designing, by intention, a walkable golf course. However, don't be mistaken into thinking that I have changed my stripes. I still, and will always believe that the single greatest thing about the game of golf, is the diversity of the settings upon which the game is played. From desert golf to mountain golf to prairie golf to woodland golf to links golf to ocean golf, each type of golfing experience should be appreciated. That is what seperates our game from the sterile experience of bowling. Some of these types of courses, by nature, do not allow for easy walking and I will always choose to create inspiring golf holes with the use of a cart, rather than mundain golf holes walking. As this discussion group seems to be fairly well slanted  toward one type of golf, my opinion on this matter may not be openly embraced. And thats ok. 

The name of the course was selected by the owner before I was hired. Not my call.

Carne is still on hold for finishing up. Money issues. For the most part, I tired of the bickering that comes with too many cooks in the kitchen. Still involved, but only modestly.

Hope to knock it around with you soon. All the best!!

Bryan.....the soils are a basically pure sand, with a 6"-8" topsoil layer of sand and humus. It really feels just like a USGA greens mix.

Tommy..... Interesting question. If you are paying attention in this business, you will discover that each project has a different approach. I must say that my travels to Ireland over the past 20 years has greatly influenced my perspective to allow me to fully see the potential of a site like the one we have at NN.  Certainly the bunker style that I have developed over the years would not be a natural fit for this project. Much as I decided for Four Mile Ranch, with no bunkers. Then again, if you follow my work from the beginning, you will see a wide evolution of design styles and especially bunkers.  The greens at NN will certainly have their share of "wildness", but will also be tamed and mellow in places. Probably a few more crowned greens than normal, but will certainly have some natural bowls. 

Jason....I certainly agree. With I-80 being right there, I suspect a great deal of visitor play. I also foresee people visiting Nebraska just to play these interesting courses in the sand hills.     

[Tom Huckaby]

Jim:

Regarding this:

I am glad that you like the fact that I am designing, by intention, a walkable golf course. However, don't be mistaken into thinking that I have changed my stripes. I still, and will always believe that the single greatest thing about the game of golf, is the diversity of the settings upon which the game is played. From desert golf to mountain golf to prairie golf to woodland golf to links golf to ocean golf, each type of golfing experience should be appreciated. That is what seperates our game from the sterile experience of bowling. Some of these types of courses, by nature, do not allow for easy walking and I will always choose to create inspiring golf holes with the use of a cart, rather than mundain golf holes walking. As this discussion group seems to be fairly well slanted  toward one type of golf, my opinion on this matter may not be openly embraced. And thats ok. 

Just do understand that while I concur that the SLANT in this forum most definitely goes toward this one type of golf (must be easy walk), there are indeed plenty of us in here who see this exactly as you do and in fact would heartily embrace this opinion.  I know I do.

Thanks for the descriptions of Nebraska National... I've driven by that area several times, I can picture it really well.  This one is added to my "sure hope to see someday" list without a doubt.

TH

[RJ_Daley]

Jim, of course you will bring your own styles and sense of golf design and strategy.  I just wonder if your project might be somewhat in the vane of what we see of the Australian Sandbelt styling?  I think that "look" is also quite interrelated and dependant on the maintenance regime (tight FW mowing up into FW bunkers within wider corridors, backside scruffy, and sharp cut bunker edges into bowels of greens with run away contouring created with pushed up platforms).  I don't think we've seen anything quite faithful of emmulating that out in the sand hills or their boundary rolling to flatish plains.  Some of the courses out there have a few holes that take on a bit of that style (8 SHGC, 7 E green BallyNeal, 15 short par 4 Wild Horse) to identify a few with hints of the Melbourne or Aussie style, but not quite, and definitely not the whole course theme. 

It seems to me that the soils on NN area south of Kearney, with their soil map designation of:
http://snr.unl.edu/soilmap/kenesaw-hersh.asp
suggests that a more tight knit of rootzone weaving might be less crumbly on sharp cut turf edges than the more pure sand characteristics in the more pure typical "sand hills" soil profiles. 

In my several excursions onto some of those land tracts, that is the styling that keeps coming to my mind that may be possible, and yet not seen so far.  What do you think?

[Jerry Kluger]

Jim: I look forward to seeing NN during my annual trip to Colorado and Nebraska.  You obviously see this as an opportunity to perform your magic on a piece of land that lends itself much more naturally to golf.  Is the property closer in character to Wild Horse or Sand Hills?

[Garland Bayley]

...That is what seperates our game from the sterile experience of bowling. Some of these types of courses, by nature, do not allow for easy walking and I will always choose to create inspiring golf holes with the use of a cart, rather than mundain golf holes walking....     

"sterile experience of bowling" "golf holes with the use of a cart" 

Some of us prefer you not call bowling sterile if you are going to sterilize golf with a cart.

If you advocate and produce golf courses where only the transfer between green and tee is done by an assisted conveyance to allow what would otherwise be too difficult a transfer, thereby allowing walking of the holes. And, if you do not demote golf into being primarily played down hill. Then we will accept that you are not sterilizing the game.

North Dakotans! Sometimes they give you hope, only to later send you crashing down.
 

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