Nature's Wrath

Raw, Rugged,  and Pure: This is Ballyneal

He was alone in the dimly-lit club captivated by the most beautiful woman he had ever seen in his life. As he looked out onto the stage, they exchanged eye contact which created an insatiable desire for exploration. She was sexy. She was mysterious. She brought out a feeling of excitement that he hadn't felt since he was 14 years old staring at Megan in his civics class wrestling in his mind images of a torrid love affair.

She crept down the runway with her seductive eyes drawing him in closer and closer. A bead of sweat which was the by-product of his excitement dripped down his left temple which was pulsing with excitement as his heart pumped blood through his veins at rapid pace.

The tips of her fingers grasped the bottom of his chin and demanded a long, deep stare into her eyes.

"You know you want me" she mouthed as she held his face just inches from her lips.

He wanted her right then and there. Whoever he was as a man before he walked into the club was irrelevant at this moment. He had seen the best and was now being offered a taste. His stream of consciousness was broken as the music stopped and the sleazy waitress who had been serving him drinks interrupted the moment and asked him if he wanted another round. He turned his head towards the waitress and quickly declined so that he could re-connect with his Siren.



The Stormwalker: "Double D" surveying the trouble coming from above

And she was gone.

This is how our group felt when we we woke up inside the well-appointed lodge at Ballyneal. The previous day featured 6 hours of driving, a quick stop to enjoy a sun-soaked day of golf at Wildhorse, the feel of being lost on a remote 2-lane highway off of I-80, the grand arrival to a remote club, and the chance to play an evening round before dinner.

Sounds pretty good doesn't it?
Well, it didn't work out as planned. Nature's wrath had other plans. Sunshine was replaced with wall clouds. Tornadoes touched down within the area. We saw sheets of golf ball-sized hail drill the golf course and the buildings for a solid half hour. The golf course at Ballyneal had taken a hit. Rupert O'Neal, the owner of the club could only watch in disappointment as nature's wrath exacted its fury on us and his golf course.

There wasn't any more golf to be played at Ballyneal for our trip. That's the bad news.

What very little we all got to indulge at Ballyneal, what I can tell you is this: its good. Its damn good. Designed by Tom Doak, Ballyneal offers a sincerely rugged layout that takes advantage of the Chop Hills for which it is laid upon, and made me feel as if I was walking through several holes at Ballybunion with its firm fescue from tee to green. Many of you have read about the course being walking only, having no tee markers, and no yardage on the sprinklers. As someone who is in the business, I was worried about arriving to a place that had been victim of a marketing company trying too hard to be pure with throw-back marketing bullshit. It works here. Although we didn't get to see but 5 total holes (the 6th was played at rapid pace before the wall cloud arrived and the staff rescued us), the heavy roll of the terrain added with the perfect turf conditions has LC wanting more....for which a return trip is warranted.

The glorious 5th Hole complete with a producing funnel cloud



I don't think giving the readers a full review of our experience is justified as the staff and course weren't able to give us the show that I know they are capable of delivering. But from what we saw, played, and felt, Ballyneal is a very special place for which I DARE to say may even exceed my favorite home of golf, The Sand Hills. I reserve judgement on this decision until a full experience is had, but it has that type of potential.

As we left the property feeling un-quenched for our golf appetite, my cell phone rang and it was my father in the car ahead....he had good news to shed in light of our crazy past 16 hours:

"We're going to Sand Hills."

Wildhorse. Ballyneal. Sand Hills.  A rota of golf courses toured within 30 hours that would make anyone shiver. Good things do happen in a crisis, and through our hail-storm survival, the sun was shining in a different spot that day.

The 4th at Ballyneal--One of the very best



Discovering the Chop Hills: Ballyneal Golf & Hunt Club

From the moment I stepped off the 18th green at Pacific Dunes in 2007, I knew that I had to have more. Tom Doak headed inland to work with the Chop Hills of eastern Colorado to create Ballyneal Golf & Hunt Club. Throughout the years I have heard great tales of this walking-only course complete with fine fescue greens and a major focus on firm turf conditions and a demand for a solid ground game. Links Confidential will be heading out to Ballyneal in a few weeks to soak in the course, the caddies, and yes, a few beverages at what has been called one of the best 19th holes in golf: The Turtle Bar.

On the way out, we will be stopping at Wildhorse again for a "second examination" of one of my favorite stops along with viewing a site of a possible "Camp Links Confidential..." more on that later my friends.

A first walk into Eden: Wildhorse's Opening Hole



I sat transfixed staring onto rolling links land blending in with an endless prairie and blue sky. Jim Morrison and The Doors were slowly playing their interlude into "The End" in my mind. According to the news, the end of the world was supposed to be taking place at anytime on this day while I was sitting on the 15th fairway. If The Rapture was to begin today and the world was coming to an end, I had just found my entrance to the afterlife, and its was located in Gothenburg, Nebraska while at Wildhorse Golf Club.



Discovering your inner-spirit with the view from the 17th

 I have been truly blessed in my lifetime to play a number of unforgettable courses all over the country and overseas. Some were built by great men with immense resources. Others by prolific architects who have helped create a legendary club that have hosted events that ring in every golfer's minds. While I stood there on the 15th fairway at Wildhorse, it once again occurred to me that I was taking in a place that was so pure in its simplest form: the design, it's intent, and it's pure honesty. Wildhorse is accessible to all of us who truly relish the game as it should be played, and is operated in a fashion that never overpowers the purpose for one's journey: the golf course. The clubhouse blends into the landscape, while the people serve as ambassadors during your trip to nirvana between 9-hole sessions. Yes my friends, Wildhorse is truly a place where links golf is achieved in its purest strategy and form without being connected to the sea, but provides a sense of solitude only provided in such a place as the Nebraska Sandhills.

Located roughly 4 hours west of Omaha, Wildhorse Golf Club is located in the modest town of Gothenburg, Nebraska. Just 6 minutes from the featureless I-80 west corridor, the visitor is welcomed with a setting that can only be described as humble links land with subdued features. Sandy soil, natural sand "blow-outs" for bunkers, and near-perfect growing conditions provide golfers with green conditions that demand only the slightest draw of the blade to watch a ball roll perfectly on-line to the hole with every attempt. In contrast to so many modern aerial-shot designs, the course demands the player to re-invent his game and utilize different methods of approach that only re-capture your joy of play and shot-making as you did as an innocent child playing long ago.

In my experience, a true test of of great course is to look at your bag at the end of the round and see how many clubs are dirty. In my case, all 12 had seen use during the 54 holes I played. This, in addition to being able to instantly remember each hole 3 days after playing measures greatness. The routing not only demands superior shot-making, but utilizes the wind in each direction during your round which leads to constant creativity and use of intellect. With the wind whipping at a a steady 15mph, the player must avoid the "wooga" (what the locals call the rough) along with adopting the use of the putter in a more liberal fashion: the turf provides you with a perfect setting to execute true links-style shots.

In final, the course utilizes angles and strategies at a level commensurate with such links as Ballybunion and Pacific Dunes. There is always a choice to make off the tee--your journey only begins once you commit to a direction and accept the shot that is given to you by the design. That's the beauty of of Wildhorse: strategy and nature are the prevailing challenges. It is up to your own creativity, conviction, and confidence to achieve a good score.

Holes of Note...OK..they are all good, but here's a few of the finest in my book:





The Green at 15: Small & Nasty



Hole 15:  Par 4, 342 yardsI believe this may be one of the finest examples of what a short par 4 in golf should be. The golfer will be faced with a predominant west wind into their face on the tee shot. Bunkers envelop both sides of the fairway, and dictate the player to hit a 230-yard shot into a receptive fairway. Once arriving to your shot, the narrow green is settled in the most perfect knoll protected by an ominous bunker and closely-mown turf to reject any imperfect shot. Long approaches will meet a bunker in the back of this green which is protected by vegetation. Based on your decision off the tee, the angle of approach from the left-side of the fairway provides the player with the best chance for holding a firm green. Do not even THINK about trying to go for the pins at Wildhorse...you must approach each green taking in mind the release of the ball towards the hole. Therefore, a critical focus on placement to the right of the left-side pin placement is the only chance for reward. If only more architects would relish the short par 4 design concept: It rewards both discipline and execution.



The Beast: The 451-yard par 4 8th hole



Hole 8: Par 4, 451 yardsAnd so there was the beast. This par 4 into the wind gives any player all that they want with a massive blow-out ready to take in errant shots on the left and tapered rough lines of native grass on the right. Add in some severely contoured fairways and you've got yourself a classic. The green site both days featured a pin placement that brought a large mound on the front left portion of the green into play, making par an amazing accomplishment.




Hole 10: Par 4, 408 yards The tee shot demands a solid 240-yard shot....that's the easy part. If you want to talk about greens with serious intrigue, this is it. Massively contoured and into a south wind, your decision on not only club selection, but ball flight is critical to hold this green.


7th hole angle from right-side of approach



Hole 7:  Par 4, 364 yardsSeeing a trend here? Another short par 4 leaves you tempted to take out driver, but a prevailing west wind can bring trouble into play. The beauty of this hole lies in the strategic value of your tee shot: the left side can gain you more yardage, but will leave you with a blind approach, while challenging the right-hand side provides a multitude of options on your approach. The open green site allows for a classic bump and run shot into the green....my many thanks goes out to the maintenance crew at WH for creating a turf situation that both encourages and provides players with the ability to play the hole as it was designed!

In many instances, I have read the overused cliche of "golf is a journey." I could spend the next 14 pages writing about each hole, or I could simply tell you this: Get in your car, head west, and play Wildhorse. Don Graham and his entire staff are committed to providing you golf without any of the other tedious distractions that so many other golf operations have had to stoop to. You won't see a fancy up sell at the counter. No corny hole sponsors on each hole. This is everything that American golf SHOULD be when it is at its best: discover a great piece of land, built a phenomenal golf links, and DON'T screw it up.