| Tha ideal course, Sand Hills meet that The course | | | | dirt in spoonfuls to create greens and tees, and in |
| should have beautiful surroundings, and all the | | | | fact so perfect that they didn't even have to |
| artificial features should have so natural an | | | | contour half the greens. This course was, literally, |
| appearance that a stranger is unable to distinguish | | | | already there. It cost practically nothing to |
| them from nature itself, according to the Doc's | | | | physically build it." |
| seventh commandment. The greatest course of | | | | How do you sell national memberships to a club |
| the past half-century is Sand Hills Golf Club. | | | | this remote? Simple. Create a course so pure, so |
| Currently ranked No. 8 in the U.S. and No. 11 in the | | | | varied in its shot demands and so stunning in its |
| world, Sand Hills is a private 1994 creation of | | | | aesthetics that serious golfers will take to trains, |
| architects Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw. Almost as | | | | planes and automobiles — and any other |
| soon as it opened Sand Hills ushered in two trends | | | | means necessary — to get here. |
| that have flourished since: minimalist course | | | | On this greatest course, you should score |
| design, and the Field of Dreams theory, which | | | | yourslef and score the course. Of course, AP2 |
| holds that if you build a truly great golf course, | | | | Irons and R9 460 Driverscan not be missed. |
| people will come see it, no matter how remote | | | | |
| the location. | | | | Some of the most impressive, isolated courses |
| The minimalist movement in golf course | | | | built since Sand Hills' debut surely owe their |
| architecture is the practice of "least disturbance," | | | | existence to the success of this remote |
| a throwback to the ancient Scottish principle of | | | | masterpiece, among them Ballyneal in Colorado, |
| using the land as you found it. In the construction | | | | South Dakota's Sutton Bay, Kauri Cliffs and Cape |
| of Sand Hills, less than 3,000 cubic yards of | | | | Kidnappers in New Zealand, Australia's Barnbougle |
| material was moved. Compare that to the more | | | | Dunes, and the finest golf destination in America: |
| than one million cubic yards dislodged at most top | | | | Bandon Dunes Resort in Oregon. |
| modern layouts. Plus, only $1.2 million was spent to | | | | From the heaving terrain, to the firm, fescue |
| build the course. Shadow Creek, hewn from the | | | | fairways, to the natural "blowout" bunkers in the |
| barren desert of Las Vegas five years earlier, | | | | dunes, to the boldly contoured green complexes |
| cost $40 million. | | | | that allow for endless variety in chipping and |
| Of course, Coore and Crenshaw had terrain that | | | | putting, Sand Hills is the most natural site for golf |
| was a lot more engaging. By the spring of 1993, | | | | in the U.S. Throw in the persistent breezes and |
| two years into their site visits, the pair had | | | | the endless solitude that defines westcentral |
| discovered 130 possible golf holes on the | | | | Nebraska, and you have a golf experience that is |
| property. According to architect Tom Doak, the | | | | second to none. |
| Sand Hills site was "so perfect that they moved | | | | |