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| The captivating 118-yard Par 3 11th hole at ArborLinks |
“This immense river waters one of the fairest portions of the globe. Nor do I believe that there is in the universe a similar extent of country. As we passed on, it seemed as if those scenes of visionary enchantment would never have an end.”
--Meriwether Lewis, Voyage of Discovery Journal
The words uttered by Captain Meriwether Lewis resonated in my mind as I cruised south down highway 75 towards Nebraska City. I had just finished reading a biography on Lewis and Clark’s mission by Steven Ambrose entitled “Undaunted Courage,” and I was inspired to explore.
To Discover the Undiscovered.
Every year, we all succumb to temptation and review the high-gloss golf industry magazines to read about their annual national course rankings. The usual suspects are always featured, along with an even more extensive list of newly discovered “gems” that ultimately had the right marketing budget to attract golf course raters to buy a ranking. For the purist, it is a brutal reality of our business when one finally understands the overall hypocrisy of course ratings, and how they are earned for all the facilities outside of the top echelon.
The sun was just rising over the fields in late October. During harvest season in Nebraska, dust from combines is complimented by the scent of burning wood from an open fire. A dusty gravel road off of the highway would soon guide me towards an understated and un-discovered golf club.
ArborLinks is located roughly 45 minutes south of Omaha. It is a modest club featuring an 18-hole course, quaint clubhouse, and on-site guest lodging. I must admit that there is a special place in my heart for this Club: My first day in the golf business was walking down the first fairway back in 2002 while the grass was still germinating. It originally opened as a public golf course tied in with an expansive hotel and conference center, but following a few years, it was converted to a private club catering to a regional membership.
Over the past 10 years, I’ve had the privilege of playing a number of Palmer-designed courses. Although the King is a huge influence to both me and millions of others with his take-no-prisoners style of play, his golf course design has always left me wanting more. With that said, ArborLinks in my opinion is one of Palmer’s best designs. I also believe that its one of the best undiscovered remote clubs in the area. The fact that the course is designed by Palmer will immediately cast a scowl from the golf purist society. The national media hasn’t picked up on the story because it doesn’t sit in the famed Sand hills region of Nebraska and wasn’t built on a mega-budget by high-society people. Has ArborLinks chosen to be quiet and bide its time for people to discover, or has this mystery been by choice? The Club deserves to be discovered and recognized by the golf community. It also serves as a wonderful example of a design firm stepping outside of its comfort zone by completing a modest project while utilizing design philosophies and practices that truly showcase the property.
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| Rugged bunkers shape a cape-style 5th hole at ArborLinks |
The initial mission of ArborLinks was a joint venture between the National Arbor Day Foundation (founded in Nebraska City), Landscapes Unlimited, and Palmer design to design and constructs a low-impact design which could revive the original elements of the land while operating on a sustainable budget with limited usage of outside water sources and pesticides. Furthermore, the course was to serve as a living library to agronomy students through the use of different grasses, agronomic practices, and construction of both USGA and California-style greens. In its initial stage, the ambitious plan gave ArborLinks a unique place in the market, but as time went on, the focus on a private club transition and the courses’ architecture took over. Within the design, each hole was named after a different tree which represented a planting demonstration during the project. In the future, I hope that they are able to get back to some of these missions as I feel it would be a great feat for the game of golf, but the jury will remain out on this concept.
When you take time to truly discover the differences of Palmer’s design philosophy versus his typical master-planned layouts, the design value for both the land and construction budget is amazing. For the few articles written about ArborLinks, holes 11, 17, and 18 are always the quick candidates. For the purpose of this article, I strongly recommend that all players who visit the Club pay special attention to the series of holes 12-15, as I think they represent a number of critical deviations within the golf design fundamentals that Palmer design showcases.
Hole 12: Planetree Place
Par 4, 414 yards The dogleg features a large waste bunker on the right-hand side and dictates an accurate tee shot. Visually, the hole will appear long to the player and make it feel a daunting challenge to make par. The ideal tee shot is to aim at the left tip of the waste bunker and execute a careful draw. The approach features a need to hit a cut which should navigate around the protecting bunker or allow for a run-up on the closely-mown area. As the first demonstration from Palmer’s departure from his comfort zone, the right-hand side of the green features a knob with closely-mown grass which provides a multitude of options. Praise goes out to the superintendent and his crew for maintaining the turf in a manner that is both aesthetically pleasing and receptive of the ground game as the architect intended.
Hole 13: Hazelnut Hill
Par 4, 428 yards This is quite possibly the most under-rated hole on the property. The serpentine hole is all about angle of approach. A drive over the left bunker leaves you with an un-abashed view of an elevated green that runs from back-to-front. I do wish that Palmer group had continued their theme of a low-mown area to the left side of the green-it would have offered more penalty but rewarded creativity on the recovery. The difference in angle from the drive is stunning. A drive to the right will leave the player with a blind shot over a large bunker that is deceptively short of the green by 15 yards.
Hole 14: Redbud Run
Par 3, 210 yards A recent addition of 2 deep bunkers of the right-side has turned this hole from average to spectacular. In addition, a tee box stretching out the hole to over 200 yards is aesthetically pleasing, but unrealistic for 95% of the players. Regardless, the challenge it delivers from the yardage with wind is terrific. The green features three subtle placement areas and demands a high quality shot off the tee. Nothing more, nothing less. With a predominant westerly wind facing the player, this hole always proves to be a critical turning point in the match.
Hole 15: White Pine Wall
Par 4, 454 yards Simply put, this is the finest hole on the golf course and one of the best in the state. A slight grade from the left offers the players the ability to take advantage of a generous fairway on the left side and let it release and roll to an ideal finish. Playing into a south wind, the course’s largest defense, this hole is a beast and should be celebrated if par is achieved. The approach shot features both a shallow entry point along with a green showcasing a subtle ridge through the middle that will challenge the players in each round. As is the case with the entire course, its subtlety on the green complexes perfectly compliment the windy conditions which are normally played at the Club. The greens are consistently rolling at a perfect 11-12 on the stimp meter, and would be unplayable if large undulations were featured. The overall shot value on the approach game throughout the round is of the highest value. Furthermore, a tightly-mown area on the left side allows for creative recovery on such a difficult hole. The bunkering surrounding the left-side of this approach is nothing short of art. Palmer’s group has created an unforgettable set of bunkering throughout the layout.
The Verdict
Some secrets are quietly waiting to be discovered. In my opinion, ArborLinks will continue to mature in its solitude until people begin finding it. The on-site lodging quarters and dining are both fitting and satisfying for the mission of the Club. The course conditioning and overall attitude towards both members and guests are friendly and understated in a way that does not represent artificiality. The Club knows who it is, and does not try to go outside of its bubble with un-needed distractions. Links Confidential has discovered the undiscovered, and may those dedicated enough towards the journey be rewarded with the same.
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| The renovated back tee of the 3rd provides spectacular angles |
