Editorial

Great golf courses close at hand

Friday, May 21, 2004

If you want to golf on championship golf courses -- with glimmering green fairways and slippery quick greens -- it's no longer necessary to travel great distances to exotic locations. Because, following a series of golf construction projects, Southwest Nebraska and Northwest Kansas now boast a bevy of courses that compare favorably in quality with courses throughout the nation.

To the surprise of many visiting golfers, the 12-county region of the Golden Plains -- with a total population of less than 40,000 people -- boasts 14 grass green golf courses, as well as a trio of sand greens courses.

To put the number of courses into perspective, think about midwestern cities of 40,000 people, such as Grand Island. Rarely do cities of that size have three or four courses, let alone more than a dozen. But this area does.

As a result of a golfing upsurge which started in the 1960s and continued into the 2000s, Southwest Nebraska now has three championship 18-hole courses -- Heritage Hills in McCook; Cross Creek in Cambridge; and Lakeside Country Club at Johnson Lake -- as well as competitive, well-kept 9-hole courses in Arapahoe, Atwood, Benkelman, Curtis, Enders, Imperial, McCook, Norton, Oxford, Oberlin and St. Francis.

And, for those dedicated to keeping a time-honored tradition alive, there are 9-hole, sand green golf courses in Bird City, Trenton and Wauneta.

Not only is there an abundance of courses in this area, but many of them are of exceptional quality. Among the most honored are the 18-hole courses in McCook and Cambridge. Very popular as part of the "Play the West" golf package, Heritage Hills and Cross Creek draw hundreds of golfers each season from the Front Range of Colorado and the eastern part of Nebraska, particularly Lincoln and Omaha.

It's no wonder. Both the McCook and Cambridge courses are challenging tests of golfing skill. In addition to being named one of America's Top 75 Public Courses by Golf Digest magazine, Heritage Hills' holes annually earn Hall of Fame recognition in Midlands' golf publications. And Cross Creek, with its second nine maturing, is rating high marks, too, due to the course's length, variety and quality.

So, today, we celebrate the area's outstanding courses in the Gazette's annual Golf Guide. The edition, which appears as a part of today's newspaper, includes photos from each of the grass greens courses, as well as a full schedule of this year's remaining golf events in the Golden Plains.

Happy reading. You'll discover that not only is golf an enjoyable sport for area residents, but a tourist attraction for the area as well.

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