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Mahoney Golf Course
Played On 08/12/2017Made strides within the last few years
Anyone that has been somewhat familiar with the city courses over the years knows that Mahoney was always last in the pecking order when it came to choosing which course to play, but within the last few years something has changed and the course is in significantly better shape than it has been historically. You still have six par 3's to contend with, and regarding the layout, 5 of those par 3's are roughly the same length. Two of the par 5's are copies of one another as well. While that is not normally a great thing, each of those par 5's is still fun to play.
The driving range leaves a bit to be desired if you are a long hitter. It is uphill, but you can get to the edge of the range around 250-275. You do have a large putting/chipping green with a fair amount of undulation to prepare you for the sloping greens on the course. The staff is usually polite, but not overly friendly. Pace of play is going to be slow with all those par 3's so account for that.
Overall this is a nice course and the last few years it has had some of the best conditions even during the hot, dry, and windy summers we get in Nebraska. I do know they had some turnover with the grounds staff at Mahoney, so it remains to be seen if the course holds up this year and going forward.
Holmes Park Golf Course
Played On 07/27/2017Not what it was
I play a lot of golf at the city courses and have since I was a kid. Holmes always used to be my favorite course. In high school I would play 36 holes at Holmes 5 times a week. I'd say about 3 years ago suddenly the course conditions went downhill and quick. The greens have been consistently dead during the summers. Same with the rough, and parts of the fairways. The greens also tend to have spots of some sort of different grass. I'm not an expert, but something definitely changed a few years back.
The course itself still is appealing. I would consider it the toughest test purely based on the course design itself. Hole 9 can be a monster into the wind or with a cross wind. The pro shop staff are nice enough. The new pro shop building looks nice as well, but is full of a lot of empty space. The driving range is nice, although this last year anytime I hit range balls the balls themselves were in very rough shape. Hopefully they replace those soon.
All in all this course isn't probably one of the better ones the city offers anymore, just because the conditions have left something to be desired, but if you catch it in the spring before everything dries out you should get a solid golf course for a decent enough price.
Pioneers Golf Course
Played On 07/12/2017Good City Golf Course
Overall a very good city course. The condition of the course is always good. The lack of bunkers is odd, but the undulation around the greens compensates for that and makes chips difficult in their own way. Off the tee this is probably the most challenging of the city courses because each hole has trees to account for.
Pro shop staff is always polite, but not the friendliest guys you will run in to. Nice driving range (although it is uphill) as well as chipping/putting practice green.
Only 3 par 5's to go with 4 par 3's which means par 71. You get a drive-able par 4 on the back 9 as well. The back 9, as you approach the edge of the course, offers the most scenic views as you overlook the open fields of Pioneers Park.
This is almost always the most busy of the 4 city courses, so pace of play is going to be the slowest, but you always know what you are going to get. A moderate/easy course, in good shape, that will reward you if you hit good shots.
Highlands Golf Club of Lincoln, The
Played On 06/08/2017Nice course if it's not windy
This course I believe was originally designed to be a "links-style" course. The layout is open and suggests that was the idea. The way the course is maintained does not imitate "links-style" at all though. The fairways are always very soft and green even in the driest parts of summer. The greens, while a little more firm from the wind drying them out all the time, are fairly soft as well. What that means is in the right conditions you can really shoot a good score out there. The fairways are very wide, though if you miss you are almost guaranteed to be in fescue grass, which does provide a challenge should you miss the fairway.
What the course is dependent on to make it challenging is the weather, and specifically the wind. The course is very open and exposed so you consistently are going to have to account for the wind off the tee and into the greens.
The staff is always pleasant, and they always tend to be running on time no matter how busy they are. The practice facilities are the best the city courses offer. There is a very large driving range, that has many targets to work on various aspects of your game. You can even practice fairway bunker shots to the right of the driving range. They have a practice green dedicate to putting, and another one dedicated to chipping so you have more separation between others that are warming up or practicing.
On a calm, or not overly windy day, I highly recommend this course, but if the wind is above 15 or 20 mph it can be a lot to handle.
Woodland Hills Golf Course
Played On 06/03/2017Still a great course
I know that Woodland Hills likes to brand itself as the only 5 star course in Nebraska due to such a rating by Golf Digest a few years ago. That probably is not the case anymore, but the course still has large appeal. I am from Lincoln so it's only about a 20-30 minute drive to get to the course from South Lincoln. It offers a nice change of pace to the courses in Lincoln, and I would say a tougher challenge. The course has much more elevation change tee to green throughout the course compared to Lincoln courses which makes it more challenging.
Whenever I have been out there the course is never overly busy to pace of play is not an issue. That is probably because it is one of the most expensive rounds of golf in Nebraska outside of the destination courses out west. If it's a weekend and you get a cart it will be around $80 to play. Some people wont think that is a huge amount of money if they are out of state, but for Nebraska that is about as much as you will ever pay for golf on a public course.
The staff has always been nice, and while I haven't been through much of the pro shop it looks very nice. The driving range is very nice and a good place to warm up. Same with the practice green. As with all Nebraska courses they can struggle in the summer months if we go without rain for extended periods of time, but the conditions usually remain nice.