Old Hickory Golf Club

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Old Hickory Golf Club is a special golf course in west St. Louis County, Missouri. It is probably one of the most unique courses in the state. P. D. Dye, Old Hickory’s designer, is a true artist that sculpted this masterpiece out of the mostly flat farm land. As with all art, you will love it or hate it. There is major trouble within striking distance of every shot. There are more mounds on this course than a 1962 Playboy calendar; more sand than the Mohave Desert and more doglegs than a veterinarian specializing is prosthetics. This is golf target practice at its finest (or worst). And, ball position is critical. I personally loved the course, but it is one of those courses that I would expect to find in an upscale resort. If I played this course every day, I would probably develop a tic of some kind. The front nine, in particular, is very tight and compact, almost claustrophobic. The back nine opens up a bit but there are several doglegs around lakes that will coax you to bite off more than you can chew. I was no exception to this little tease. Most greens have multi levels and major breaks but I enjoyed putting on them. Surprisingly, I had very few 3-putts. The fairways were like carpet and the roughs were not as punitive as they could have been. Many of the several hundred sand traps were not as raked and groomed as much as I would have preferred and some of these traps were HUGE. Old Hickory is a course you must play.