Crank up the Van Morrison in Parker, Colorado (Turn it up! Turn it up! Radio!) because Jim Engh should be celebrating yet another Best New Course Award, and this time it’s for an instant classic, Awarii Dunes, the first world-class public golf course in the fabled Nebraska sand hills region.
For years golfers have regarded Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw’s Sand Hills Golf Club in Mullin, Nebraska as a golf Holy Grail as venerable as nearly any major championship venue. Sadly, for most golfers it’s also nearly as hard to score a tee time as a major championship venue. Now there is a public venue that takes the golfer through some of the most astounding golf terrain in the World.
“Sand Hills, Dismal River, and Ballyneal are clearly three of the greatest golf experiences in America because of the remarkable solitude and the size of the natural sandy dunes which are perfect for golf, but those courses are also private and somewhat exclusive,” began AWITP correspondent Rodney Zilla. “Awarii Dunes is a proper rejoinder for the public access golfer, and when paired with Bayside or the new courses in Valentine, the Nebraska sand hills region may start to become a more accessible destination for every golfer. In fact, every golfer should try to get out here and play at some time in their life. It’s as wonderful an area as the Oregon Dunes.”
The look of the courses is a bit of a departure for Engh, whose past triumphs have featured a completely different appearance, particularly when it comes to the bunkers. In the past, his trademark look has been what he calls “muscle bunkers,” squiggly shapes with mounded sides. At Awarii, he went with a natural, “blowout” feel that replicates what windblown sandscapes look like.
“It was one of those sites we don’t often get. Typically, when we build our courses in the mountains, we try to use the existing exciting landforms that we find on the property. But it’s tough in the mountains to build a playable golf course,” explained Engh.
“Awarii was completely different. There was a nine-hole course there before and we used three or four green sites, but we completely rebuilt everything trying to use the long ridges and huge dunes that naturally exist there,” he continued. “For people that haven’t experienced golf in its truest form, it’s a wonderful chance for them to come to see it. As for the golfers who have seen it before, they will accept it and its odd nuances. Most importantly, we were cost and budget oriented, so we got done under budget and on time, and people can come play here at a really fair price and have a great time.”
HOLES OF NOTE
Jim likes number 12. “It’s a wild ride, between 560-580 yards and with wonderful contours and landforms you play up and over and around. It’s a little mind-bending, but that can make great golf, and it’s true to what you’d find in Scotland or Ireland.
I like number nine, with it’s thumbprint depression in the green, a bit if a cross between Ballyneal and a “Short” hole as built by C.B. Macdonald, Seth Raynor, or Charles Banks.
WAIT ‘TIL NEXT YEAR!
Next year Cabot Links comes on line. It should be a great battle between that course and Streamsong, a Doak and Coore/Crenshaw 36 hole facility opening next fall for best new course.
FOR THOSE OF YOU THAT WERE CURIOUS
Awarii means “Windswept”
PAST WINNERS
2010 – Old Macdonald
2009 – No award (Woods Scandal pre-empted most Awards)
2008 – Chambers Bay
2007 – Lederach Golf Club
2006 – Black Mesa (award was then listed as “Best Public played”
