Location: Mullen, Nebraska, USA | Ranking: #91
Designer: Bill Coore & Ben Crenshaw (1995) | Type: Sand Hills Links | Access: Introduction only
Editor’s Note: Sand Hills Golf Club is one of the great secrets in American golf — a private club built on Nebraska’s Sandhills that looks like Scotland transplanted to the Great Plains. Coore and Crenshaw moved almost no earth; the natural dunes, fescue grasses and Nebraska prairie provided everything. The result is considered by many architects the finest course built in America since Pine Valley. Almost no one has played it. Almost no one will. That exclusivity is itself part of the legend.
Access & Course Information
- Access: Private — introduction through membership essential. Located 5 hours from Denver; 6 hours from Kansas City. The remoteness defines the experience. | Rating / Slope: 74.5 / 142
Championship Scorecard
| Hole | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | OUT |
| Par | 4 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 36 |
| Yards | 395 | 388 | 165 | 525 | 405 | 415 | 175 | 530 | 412 | 3,410 |
| Hole | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | IN | TOTAL |
| Par | 4 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 36 | 71 |
| Yards | 408 | 172 | 415 | 540 | 410 | 422 | 178 | 542 | 425 | 3,512 | 6,953 |
Par 4Par 3Par 5
Key Notes
- No Earth Movement: Coore and Crenshaw used the natural topography entirely — the routing follows the existing dune ridges and valleys without alteration. The result is a course that feels ancient despite opening in 1995.
- The Great Plains Wind: Nebraska’s constant prairie wind is the primary hazard — club selection varies by three or four clubs hole to hole as the routing turns. Links strategy and a low ball flight are essential.
- The Journey: Getting to Sand Hills requires commitment — the nearest airports are hours away. Fly to Denver or Kansas City, hire a car and drive. The Nebraska Sandhills along Highway 2 is one of America’s great undiscovered landscapes.