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Mark Young
Newton
2008-03-13
$31 (cart not included), played on Saturday, November 2007 at noon
Despite being off-season, this course was still in excellent shape and pretty green for mid-November. It has some substantially lengthy par 5s, even from the white tees. Number 10 is billed as the longest hole in Kansas and the card says it is 640 from the champ tees; I played it from the white, into the south wind, and it was plenty long at 555. The course has some housing development, but not yet a lot, so you can enjoy a lot a holes with nothing but nature around you. The stretch from 8 through 11 presents as much variety as you can cram into four holes, from a 400+ par 4 and that incredibly long par 5 to two short par 4s around 300 which are anything but easy due to routing and greens with elevation change. I really liked the old-time ambience of some of the holes, possibly because they don't yet have a lot of houses. If you are in the Newton/Hutchinson area, don't pass on Sand Creek; you can spend a lot more and get a lot less at better known venues, but you'll kick yourself later.
Would travel: 0-10 Miles, Vacation Worthy
Bottom line: I would play again, Better than average course for the area, Ranks with the best in this price level, Fair priced based on quality and competitive area pricing
Condition of Course, Difficulty, Layout, Price, Ambiance, Staff
$31 (cart not included), played on Saturday, November 2007 at noon
Despite being off-season, this course was still in excellent shape and pretty green for mid-November. It has some substantially lengthy par 5s, even from the white tees. Number 10 is billed as the longest hole in Kansas and the card says it is 640 from the champ tees; I played it from the white, into the south wind, and it was plenty long at 555. The course has some housing development, but not yet a lot, so you can enjoy a lot a holes with nothing but nature around you. The stretch from 8 through 11 presents as much variety as you can cram into four holes, from a 400+ par 4 and that incredibly long par 5 to two short par 4s around 300 which are anything but easy due to routing and greens with elevation change. I really liked the old-time ambience of some of the holes, possibly because they don't yet have a lot of houses. If you are in the Newton/Hutchinson area, don't pass on Sand Creek; you can spend a lot more and get a lot less at better known venues, but you'll kick yourself later.