Des Moines Golf and Country Club

Transcription

Golf pro Arnold Palmer once said, "I have a tip that can take five strokes off anyone's game. It's called an eraser." I need humor like that when I take to the course. Considering its Iowa, you get a lot of rolling hills, some beautiful scenery. Just amazing place. There's no two holes that's the same. Every hole has its own personality. We like to play golf and enjoy playing some of the more challenging courses in Iowa and we think this is right up there with all of them. Back in the '90s, an Ames developer wanted to create a golf course that would merit national recognition in the world of golf. To do that, he searched the rural Iowa countryside and found on this piece of paradise near Rhodes. Golf courses aren't made, they're found. I studied what really created a great golf course. I've been fortunate enough to be a rater for Golf Digest, which means I rate golf courses around the country and I understand what criteria is involved in great golf. And it deals with typography, lay of the land, natural features such as water, trees and elevation changes. After a three-year search, Dickson Jensen found all those features in 2,000 acres of land he purchased from 21 central Iowa farmers. The land still reflects Iowa's agricultural heritage. A golf course architect designed the layout to include three existing farm ponds. The owners also plant and harvest 1300 acres of adjacent corn fields. Even the sheep weren't displaced! Here they're grazing by hole number four. We moved very little dirt. That's what creates a great golf course. Everything you see out there, the pastures that the sheep are in today, that's the exact same pasture they were in 12 years ago. That land, that grass, has not changed. All we did was set in a golf hole right above them, cut it into the earth. Great gold courses are cut into the earth. The scenery is part of the draw for visitors. And just every hole is different. They name each of the holes out here. And so you go in and it's like playing 18 mini courses. We try to make the trip at least once a year. But don't let the pastoral surroundings fool you. The course does have its challenges. I think 9 is extremely hard. Gotta hit it straight, which is not one of my strong suits. Most are memorable for bad reasons as far as my golf game goes, but the last hole probably where you have to carry the water. The greens are always real fast and the bunkers are tough and overall it's a very challenging course. Hearing about all the challenges is kind of intimidating to a non-golfer like myself, but as long as I'm here, I do want to take a swing on this uniquely Iowa course. So I meet up with a Harvester golf instructor. Hey that looked pretty good. I understand you're a teaching professional. Indeed I am. Dan Kaercher. Joe Foote, nice to meet you. Well Joe, I've always been interested in golf as a retirement activity I just haven't gotten quite into it yet. So I wouldn't mind a pointer or two. Well I'm your guy. Okay, where do we start? You start out a little bit bent and you keep it bent at the top it's kinda hard to get the proper - Oh boy! Okay, that's about where we want it. It's on the green. Oh, well that's good. But it's the wrong green. Oh. We'll straighten you out here. Well, obviously I need a lot more practice before I actually start a round on this course! Luckily, I can show you how this course should be played with the Harvester's General Manager, Blake Jensen. Blake is also the son of Harvester owner Dixon Jensen. In addition to the golf course, Blake showed me the rest of the grounds, which include the Club House, a housing development, rental properties, and an outdoor swimming pool with a gorgeous view of the golf course and farmland. Golf and corn, can't get any better than that. And you can't get any better than ratings from the National Golf Industry itself. We've been rated by Golf Magazine and Golf Digest both ever since the course was built about 11 years ago. When it first came out it was in the top 10 public courses in the nation. That one of higher rankings we got. Currently we're ranked in the top 100 modern golf list. Blake says many visitors to the Harvester come from Minnesota, Chicago and the Omaha area, in addition to Iowa. And if the number of golfers grows large enough here, plans do exist to create two more 18-hole golf courses on this same land. But owner Dixon Jensen says he is happy with any number of golfers who come here to experience his rural Iowa golfer's paradise. I'm not after the masses.