JGSGOLF

My wife and I had been shopping around for golf course memberships and recently ended up at Prairie Highlands. The golf course is really well kept, and has plenty of challenging holes - without being gimmicky. There are multiple holes that force you to think hard about your tee shot rather than just mindlessly grabbing the driver. Accuracy off the tee is very critical as the rough is extremely thick in certain areas, and some of the fairway bunkers are deep enough where your only play is to chip out. Greens are fast and break pretty true, and members/staff do a good job of fixing ball marks. The course plays 7100 yards from the tips, 6300 from the blues, and 5700 from the whites, so there's a lot of variety there as well.

The club house is pretty plain, but I've been told they are looking at renovations in the future and expanding it. I just hope that doesn't raise dues too much as it is EXTREMELY affordable at the moment for the quality of the course. 9.8/10.

First off, I've played tons of courses in Kansas City and this is hands down one of the most beautiful tracks in Kansas City. The staff and members are very friendly, and there are all the amenities one would expect from an elite country club. My girlfriend and I were playing a comp round set up by the membership coordinator. Unfortunately we can't afford the membership so this might be the last time we play here.

My first impression was how difficult the pin placements were. A course marshal informed us that there was a par 3 tournament in the morning, and acknowledged that the course was configured as difficult as possible... Aside from tee shots, don't plan on having too many approach shots that aren't on a severe slope. I drove the ball exceptionally well for myself and landed on most fairways, only to watch my ball roll off into extremely thick rough which was a little frustrating. This course definitely rewards accuracy, and punishes most misses. The front 9 is quite a bit more forgiving than the back in my opinion.

All things considered, this is a great course. I'm sure I would play better if I was able to play the course consistently.

Shoal Creek really is a great course. Challenging enough, but not too terrible or gimmicky. The rough is VERY thick and you are almost guaranteed to drop a shot if you find yourself in it.

My girlfriend and I were paired up with two others that were very nice and great golfers, very fun to play with them. Only complaint; there were no marshalls on the course and the group ahead of us were insanely slow so pace of play was poor. Obviously not everyone will experience this. Otherwise it was a great round and I definitely plan on returning.

It is a little pricey but they have pretty fair twilight rates. We were able to get 18 in with the slow pace with a 3:30 tee time.

Deer Creek has really gone down hill since being taken over by Great Life. Most sand traps were un-playable, absurd amount of ball marks on greens (staff and players not interested in fixing them?), and the fairways are extremely average with lots of areas under repair. We didn't see a single marshal on course so pace of play was awful. To make matters worse the group behind started hitting into us. We also got paired up with two older guys that were really drunk and obnoxious, one of them threw his club on multiple occasions - which was terrible.

This is a real shame because the overall course layout and architecture is actually pretty good. There aren't any boring holes, but some are a little tricked out.

There are plenty of other great courses in the area - I would play those. In a pinch, I'd play here again and just hope for a better day.

I live in and grew up in southern KC and never really considered playing anywhere north of the river. I decided to google best golf courses in KC, and stumbled upon Shoal Creek. On the front page of their website they say "ranked 2nd best golf course in Missouri, 2006", which I found a little funny and surprising it isn't consistently ranked.

Due to COVID, walking rate was $25 for 18 holes, which is an unbelievable deal for a course of this quality. Ended up walking over 7 miles though, which is something to consider... Anyways, the fairways and greens here are outstanding. Not too hard to where you can't be precise around the greens, and not soft enough to where your ball turns into a fried egg when you lob one on. You DO NOT want to be in the rough, I am not sure what grass it is, but it is very thick and can totally ruin your score on a hole. The scenery on the back 9 is much better than the front as there are some construction projects on neighboring lots.

In summary, would recommend to anyone looking to play a challenging and well kept course.. If you don't mind walking 7+ miles, wait until post-covid.

-J