Rural Nebraska golf courses garnering national attention

Will Andersen farmed with his dad near Homer, Nebraska after finishing college. All that time, Andersen said he wanted to ask his father one question.

Can we build a golf course?

But Andersen knew he couldn’t ask right away.

The Andersen farm is north of Homer, which has a population of about 530. The village is south of Sioux City, Iowa, and sits at the base of the “Danish Alps,” a hilly area in far northeast Nebraska.

Six miles down a winding gravel road, Landmand Golf Club emerges through the trees. The modestly sized clubhouse is perched up on a large hill. The clubhouse looks out over the Missouri River Valley and a seemingly boundless golf course.

Landmand, which means “farmer” in Danish, rapidly went from a hidden gem to the most renowned public golf course in Nebraska. It’s one of several new courses in the state catering to avid golfers.

The course, which gained traction on social media and earned recognition as the best new public golf course of 2022, sold out all of its 2025 tee times in less than an hour.

Building something 'pretty damn amazing'

Andersen played golf in high school for the Homer Knights. In fact, he encouraged the school to start a golf program, already dreaming of sharing the Andersen farm with the world.

“I definitely wanted to build a golf course in high school, but that was a pipe dream,” Andersen said.

The Andersen farm started with Will’s great grandfather, who moved to Nebraska from Denmark in 1913. The family previously worked on farms owned by others, until his grandfather took a chance.

“My grandfather built our farm by taking low ground that was by the Missouri River that no one farmed at the time,” Andersen said. “It was just trees, and there were always floods, because the Missouri River wasn't channelized at that time.”

More than a century later, the hills and valleys of the Danish Alps still cause the youngest Andersen to fear flooding, but for entirely different reasons.

When it came to asking his dad to create a golf course on the land that’s been in the family for three generations, Andersen laid the foundation in 2015.

“I'd been back long enough and worked, probably, long enough for my dad, to feel like I could ask him that question,” Andersen said.

Working on the farm his whole life meant his dad didn’t have the chance to play golf. Before Landmand, the family owned a nine-hole course in nearby Dakota City called Old Dane.

“That's really the only background my dad had on golf,” Andersen said.

The two visited The Masters Tournament in Augusta, Georgia. Yet, the elder Andersen thought a new course near Homer wouldn’t work, suggesting the family would likely have to sell it after just a few years.

“He didn't think we'd make enough money,” Andersen recalled

Andersen chipped away at his father’s hesitations by assuring him the course would be state-of-the-art, and they wouldn’t need to take out a loan. The family already owned much of the equipment it needed to build a golf course.

After years of trying to convince his father to build the course, Andersen finally heard some encouraging words in 2018. He was playing at the Stocker Cup, an amateur tournament in California.

It was played at The Preserve Golf Club, a prestigious course full of wildlife. Andersen’s father was inspired.

“On the way home, he goes, 'If you can build something like that, we'll do it,’” Andersen recalled.

Andersen’s dream was close to reality. “I go, ‘I don't know if it's going to be that good, but I would like something that's architecturally pretty damn amazing,’” Andersen said.

The next step was choosing an architect and location.

Many architects thought building on the steep slopes of the Andersen farm was crazy.

“They were a little concerned,” Andersen said. “It's just not conducive for good golf, because the valleys were too deep, the hilltops were too high.”

Enter Rob Collins and Tad King.

“I kind of knew they were the ones, because as they showed up here, instead of being concerned, they got really wide-eyed,” Andersen said.

King and Collins reveled at the opportunity to transform nearly 600 acres of empty pasture into Andersen’s field of dreams. They didn’t compromise on size, creating one of the biggest greens in the country on hole 17.

Where Nebraska golf stands

“The scale of that golf course is unbelievable,” said Ron Whitten, an editor at Golf Digest magazine from 1985 to 2022.

Whitten grew up in Omaha. He graduated from Papillion-La Vista High School and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

Whitten called Nebraska one of the “last frontiers” of golf, while writing for Golf Digest. At least that was the case before Sand Hills Golf Club was built near Mullen in 1994. The course proved people would travel, if the course was good enough.

“That's part of what makes Nebraska unique is it inspired a whole new kind of destination golf,” Whitten said.

Sand Hills Golf Club ranks No. 8 for greatest courses in the United States, according to Golf Digest.

Sand Hills was the first domino in the chain of resort-style golf in the middle of nowhere. It inspired other renowned courses across the country, including popular properties on the unoccupied portions of Oregon’s coast, Whitten said. But it’s the hilly terrains and strong winds of Nebraska that remind golfers of the game’s origins.

“The courses that have been developed in Nebraska over the last 30 years are the closest thing to golf in Scotland,” Whitten said.

Golf in Scotland started with links-style courses, which is the predominant layout for Nebraska’s nicest courses.

Links golf is characterized by open spaces, little to no trees and shaggy grass off the fairways. And sand, don’t forget about sand.

“The best golf is played on sandy soils,” Whitten said, which can only be found on the coasts or in the Nebraska Sandhills.

Building and maintaining links-style courses in the Sandhills is cheaper and more efficient than most places in the United States, Whitten said.

The designers of Sand Hills Golf Club in Mullen, Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw, advocated for “minimalism, or lay of the land architecture,”

“They feel mother nature does the best job of creating golf holes, and it's our job as golf architects simply to identify those," Whitten said. “I called it the most natural golf course in America, if not the world, and I still believe that."

Typically, golf construction involves moving lots of dirt. But Coore and Crenshaw only adjusted the topography on four out of the 18 holes.

Even though Sand Hills inspired a new era of golf resorts and destinations, Whitten said there’s still room for growth.

In 2023, two of the top three courses in Nebraska were new, according to Golf Digest, and more high-level courses are just opening their doors.

CapRock Ranch, a private course near Valentine, comes in at No. 2. According to Golf.com, it was the No. 46 course in the country for 2024.

Checking in at No. 3 was Landmand, which has catapulted to the top public spot in the Cornhusker state.

That gives Nebraska two top 100 courses. Prior to Sand Hills' existence 30 years ago, Whitten said the state had none.

The 2025 rankings for Golf Digest will come out this month, Whitten said. He used to organize the survey that built the top 100. Landmand and CapRock could crack the Golf Digest top 100 nationally, because of how picturesque those places are on first impression.

Nebraska is gaining recognition but is largely kept secret compared to the historic coastal courses.

“But … if you're looking for that escape, to truly get away from it and to slow down, there aren't many better places than the Sandhills of Nebraska, to really get off the map,” said Erik Matuszewski, editorial director of the National Golf Foundation.

Nebraska will likely never host a major tournament, because its appeal is being away from the big cities, airports and hotels that big events require.

Matuszewski said the state is similar to Missouri, in terms of resort-style properties, with Nebraska slightly more well-rounded.

He added the foundation tracks the number of players and courses by state. Nebraska ranks 35th in the country in total golfer participation, in line with the state’s population. But it stands 26th in the number of golf courses, Matuszewski said.

That imbalance is likely due to the out-of-state demand for places like Sand Hills, and the fact that 57% of courses are smaller, nine hole facilities. Nebraska is one of just seven states with more nine-hole courses than 18-hole facilities, Matuszewski said.

When it comes to new courses overall, Nebraska is on the cutting edge.

Whitten, the former Golf Digest editor, has played many courses across the U.S. He said Nebraska has become a destination.

“I think, at least in terms of golf development and the notoriety that's developing across the continent, it’s right up there with any state,” Whitten said.

Nebraska is one of few states building courses away from residential developments, Whitten said, and there’s still room for the state to grow in the wide open Sandhills.

New course, new technology

Nebraska has been a leader in groundwater management, according to Justin Apel, the executive director of the Golf Course Builders Association of America, based in Lincoln.

Golf courses need lots of water. From 2003 to 2005, golf courses used more than 2 billion gallons of water per day or about 0.5% of the U.S. daily water usage.

Best practices have been adopted in all 50 states to minimize their environmental impact.

Whitten said one advantage of links-style courses is they use less water.

“They're probably irrigating 40 acres of fairways and greens,” Whitten said.

Off the fairways, links courses don’t water native grasses, like "fescue" in the Sandhills. Multiple golf managers and writers said watering fescue would make it too thick and impossible to find a golf ball.

Building and managing a course in the Sandhills is more economical and efficient than city courses, but Whitten said those practices may not be the answer everywhere.

“I found every golf course is different,” Whitten said, “where one place is desperately trying to find enough water to keep their grass alive, another place is dealing with too much water.”

One new course in the otherworldly Sandhills is running with new technology to manage water use.

Tyler Hadden is the general manager at GrayBull Club, a private course north of Maxwell that officially opened its doors May 1.

The new facility is going for a “rustic elegance” vibe, Hadden said.

It’s owned by the Dormie Network, which also has properties in Texas, North Carolina, New Jersey, Indiana and Virginia, in addition to Arbor Links in Nebraska City.

Zach Peed, whose family runs Sandhills Global, a magazine publisher based in Lincoln, runs the Dormie Network. This is the first golf course Dormie has built. Its other courses were bought and renovated.

“The Sandhills were appealing because it's a phenomenal place to play golf,” Hadden said.

The property contains 15 cottages that can accommodate 60 people per night. “We're a stay and play operation,” Hadden said. The goal is to provide as many amenities as possible for the members who can afford it.

GrayBull aims to attract a national audience.

“We'll probably be really close to 50-50, maybe even less locals,” Hadden said.

It’s also a night and day difference in building the course, compared to northern Michigan where Hadden grew up. While one course may move 80,000 square feet of dirt on one hole, Hadden said they didn’t push that much soil on the entire course at GrayBull.

“We were gifted with some really good natural terrain,” Hadden said.

During construction, not one tree was removed because… there weren’t any. Hadden said building a new course from the ground up meant his groundskeepers are gifted with leading irrigation technology.

“You can just hit a button from 100 miles away and [start] one sprinkler head,” Hadden said.

More precise sprinkler usage saves water. And as a links-style course, Hadden said GrayBull doesn't want to be “lush.”

“We're not supposed to be incredibly green. We want to play fast and firm and dry,” Hadden said.

He didn’t have specific numbers on water usage at GrayBull.

The advanced sprinkler system did more than keep the fairways pretty. It also prevented disaster. Last year, a wildfire burned grassland north of Maxwell and nearly torched GrayBull while it was under construction.

The head groundskeeper turned on the sprinklers to quench the flames and avoid a major setback.

What Landmand means to the community

While GrayBull wants to cater to Dormie Network’s members, Will Andersen, hopes Landmand can be a gathering space for the people in the Homer and Sioux City area.

“To have something right here in our backyard, I thought would be pretty dang amazing,” Andersen said.

That includes farmers in the area, for whom Andersen saves tee times each year.

“That was our goal, to have a place that this area could get behind and come up and play golf and not feel pretentious or snooty or uptight, because we just aren't,” he said.

The Andersens don’t farm anymore. They rent farmland to locals to spend more time managing Landmand.

Andersen said he’ll measure success by maintaining his “pipe dream” course.

“My dad said ‘This is kind of a legacy thing for you,’ and maybe it is,” Andersen said. “But for right now, I'm more concerned about keeping it open and keeping it going.”

He worries about heavy rains washing out the valleys at Landmand, which makes it tough to sleep. He doesn’t get to play often, because he’ll find work that needs to be done.

“It’s like a child. It's growing up,” Andersen said. “I want to make sure that it's all right.”

Just like his father would say, those restless nights are all worth it, especially when he gets to look out over the flowing hills of Landmand’s fairways.

“It is a dream to me that I got to do this,” Andersen said, “and my family was nice enough to let me do it and trusted me.”