In 1995, in the remote Sandhills of Nebraska, Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw changed the trajectory of golf course architecture. Sand Hills Golf Club proved that a faraway course on spectacular land could work. It was a “field of dreams” moment for the golf industry, which had been focused for decades on building in population centers. Developer Dick Youngscap deserves immense credit for pushing the crazy idea of taking golf to the small town of Mullen, four-plus hours away from any major airport.

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Take Note…

• Sand Hills was built on a shoestring budget. Coore & Crenshaw did very little earthmoving. The only green that required a considerable shaping effort was the par-4 fourth green, which benches into the big sand dune and falls off hard on the right side.
• In its original form, the 12th hole did not have a green-side bunker. That was added one year after opening to enhance the strategy of the hole.
• On many properties, creating 18 holes is a challenge. At Sand Hills, the challenge was figuring out which 18 holes to use. Near a staircase in the clubhouse is a constellation map of holes from Coore & Crenshaw’s many routing ideas and efforts. It shows the over 130 potential golf holes in and around the valley where the current course resides.