Mountain View Municipal Golf Course
My Review
Mountain View Municipal Golf Course, in Mountain View, Missouri is a very playable course with a couple of very fun holes. I don’t know if it is a southern Missouri thing, but this course also has a hole (#7) with a large tree in the middle of the fairway. There are a few traps and water hazards but not a great number of either. The greens are small, flat and very slow. Overall, I enjoyed Mountain View Municipal Golf Course.
Randel-Hinkle Municipal Golf Course
My Review
Overall, Randel-Hinkle Municipal Golf Course is a good course for a city the size of Mountain Grove, Missouri. There were some nice fairways and some not-so-nice fairways. For my taste, the roughs were too long; unless you do not care about the pace of play you should always be able to easily fine your ball in the rough. The course has no sand but a fair amount of water hazards. The greens are on the small side but held well and rolled true. They were also a little quicker than many of the courses in the area. It also has its share of very challenging holes, such as side-by-side par 4’s, 11 and 13. Both holes have a very narrow opening on your drive. Lee Davis, the superintendent for 20 years, was nice enough to spend some time with me to share the course’s history. Lee is doing a great job with this course, particularly for the size of the budget. I was the first to arrive at the course (at 7am) and Lee had already been out manicuring the fairways for 2 hours.
Mosswood Meadows Golf Course
My Review
Mosswood Meadows Golf Course is located about 20 miles east of Hannibal on the south side of Highway 36 in Monroe City, Missouri. This is a very nice rural Missouri public 9-hole course. The greens and tees are bentgrass and the tees are as nice and lush as any private club in the state. The fairways are a very tight and thick bluegrass; which I liked a lot since the ball really sat up very nicely. The blue tees are 3,300 yards which, for the math impaired, translates into a 6,600 yard 18 hole course. The elevated greens, very narrow fairways, in many places, and green-side bunkers made for a very challenging course. The course is also laid out very well and there were no issues finding each hole.
Heritage Hills Golf Course
My Review
Heritage Hills Golf Course in Moberly, Missouri is the former Moberly Country Club. The club was sold in approximately 2011 to a new ownership group. Overall, the course is well maintain and a fun course to play. Most of the grasses are in good condition and course has a wide range of challenges including the hilly terrain, sand traps and water. The greens are some of the fastest in the region, particularly for a public course. There is a noticeable difference between the front and back nine. It is fairly evident that the back is much newer. In fact, the front nine was built in 1918. It has small greens and the fairways are more narrow. The smallest green was about 2,750 square feet. Conversely, the back nine, which was built in the early 90’s, is much more open, has many fewer trees and the greens are much larger, with the largest at about 7,000 square feet.
Timber Ridge Golf Course
My Review
Timber Ridge Golf Course in Memphis, Missouri was originally built in 1956 with sand greens. The course’s ownership group converted the greens to bent grass in the 90’s. The greens are currently so nice they look fake. Basically, the only flaws in them are the deer tracks from the previous night (true story). The course is short but is extraordinarily well maintained with short and lush blue grass. Except on the parameter or in one of several ponds scattered throughout the course, it is very difficult to lose balls. Bob Newman, the courses superintendent, is passionate and meticulous about the course’s condition.
Maryville Country Club
My Review
Maryville Country Club is located in Maryville, MO, about 40 miles north of St. Joseph (and about ½ mile from the Northwest Missouri State University campus). This is a very well maintained and mature 9 hole course. Since it is mature (i.e. large, unforgiving trees lining most fairways), accurate drives are a must. The roughs are kept at a reasonable length so your ball should be sitting up nicely in most places. The greens were soft but fairly quick, measuring close to a stimp rating of 10. I was accompanied by two club members, Scott Downden and Bryan Long and Chris Bils, a reporter with the St. Joseph News-Press, doing a story on MoGolfTour.com (click on “News” in menu). We were also joined for the last couple of holes by club general manager, Dick Stuntz. Dick also gave us a tutorial on turf management and the potential ground breaking research he is conducting with various grass. Overall, this is a great little course in NW Missouri, not far from the Iowa border, and definately worth playing if you get the opportunity.
Indian Foothills Golf Course
My Review
I played Indian Foothills Golf Course in Marshall, Missouri on a mid-July, very hot day. I played with the two course marshals/rangers, Jack Crisp and Don Sanders. Don is 80 and Jack is 69. This course is the only public 18 hole course in the region and it is a great course, particularly for a small city muni course. The two nines could not have been more different. The front nine is a typical Missouri-style course with tree-lined fairways; the back nine is more of a links style. Most locals prefer the back nine because it is a bit easier. Indian Foothills is a very good value and I will definitely play here again.
Malden Country Club
My Review
Malden, Missouri is about 40 miles SE of Sikeston. It is a town of about 4,000. Malden Country Club, like every other course in the Bootheel is as flat as it could be. The course is a nice community course, with sand and one little lake in front of the second green. The course is fairly mature, with medium-sized pine trees lining each fairway. The greens are slow and are typical of courses in the area: sloped about 4 feet from the back to the front. These greens, however, are a little more contoured and round-ish from what I have seen in the area.
Macon County Club
My Review
Macon Country Club in Macon, Missouri is a beautifully maintained course located amidst the hills and farms in north central Missouri. The course was founded in the early 1900’s and many of the trees are likely original. And, there are a lot of them protecting the already narrow fairways. The membership seems to be friendly and actively engaged in the success of the course. The greens are small but lush and hold very well. The club president, Nic Muncy, was quite the host. This young man can do anything and does so at the club. Besides leading the management of the club, he volunteers his time often to fix and renovate things around the course. He is really an asset to the club.
Pike County Country Club
My Review
First of all, it is never a good sign when the land line of a country club has been disconnected. But, for all intents and purposes, Pike County Country Club in Louisiana, Missouri, is a typical rural country club, with a country-style club house, pool and 9 hole course that has two sets of tees to give their members an 18 hole feel. The course is fairly well manicured, particularly for a club with a waning membership base. If the club received an influx of cash I think I would invest it in turf management, since many of their grasses are in need of some improvement. But, for the most part this is a nice little club of which the members should be proud. Interestingly, Pike CCC had many golf-themed scultures, carved out of tree trunks strewn throughout the tree-lined fairways. These were pretty cool.