Randy's Golf Travels

(June 14^th) Day 9 – Brooks Golf (all 27 holes), Okojobi,IA,

AND Brandon Golf Course, Brandon, SD, drove 115 miles

A short drive north from the motel got me to Brooks Golf, a (now) 27 hole facility that was established in 1932. You can play any combination of nines to get an 18 hole score and I wanted to play all 27, so the lady in the Pro Shop told me if I played the Blue Course, then the White Course, then the Yellow Course I should be able to cruise right along. I was never held up until 4^th hole of the Yellow course so I would say she got it right. It was $ 90 for all 27 with a cart, a fair price and well worth it.

All the nines have four sets of tees. The Blue nine ranges from 2681 to 3371. The White nine is similar in yardage to the Blue and both are par 36. The Yellow nine is shorter ranging from 2365 to 3187 and 35 is par for the nine. There are too many slope rating combinations, but from the white tees the BLUE/WHITE course is 6365 yards, rating of 69.5 and a slope of 120. The other combos are all a little shorter and slightly easier.

The Blue nine is Parkland style. Lots of big trees, fairly wide fairways and gentle slopes, so it was easy to navigate. The White nine’s first three holes are mixed in with the Blue nine and you have to watch the signs to get to the correct next tee box. Starting on the fourth hole the White nine becomes a links style course with no few trees, rushes growing at the edges of ponds and a few intimidating tee shots. It's a totally different look for holes 4 thru 9. The Yellow nine may be the shortest, but it’s only par 5 is the longest on the grounds @ 560 yards & a bear! It crosses a wide pond at one point and if you’re not in the right position you just have to lay up and its's a long shot to the green from any lay up. spot. The Yellow nine also gives you different looks as the fairways on most of the par fours are angled so you are not hitting a straight away tee shot most of the time. The Yellow also has the longest par 3 on the grounds (180) and the other par three is 169 from the white tees. I like the architecture of this nine.

Nice facility! There were a LOT of juniors taking a big group lesson and that is good to see. I enjoyed the course, would recommend and all three nines were enjoyable. The course was in pretty good shape, but it shows some wear and tear. I was there on Monday morning and all the maintenance people were going full bore, but were never in the way and actually took alternate routes to mow and stay away from golfers. I don’t think I have experienced that before. I suppose it’s because with such a big golf course and they had plenty of places to go.

After golf I drove north into Minnesota to catch I-90 and headed to South Dakota. This would be the first time I saw any Washington St. license plates since I left Oregon. I had planned to play in western South Dakota (Rapid City), but now that everyone is traveling I couldn’t get a tee time at either golf course I was considering (on a Friday) AND the lodging prices were higher than anywhere else I had tried to book at that point, so I passed.

The golf course in Brandon, SD (about 4 miles west of the Minnesota border) and it was my second choice for eastern South Dakota. I felt good enough after my 27 holes at Brooks to play again after about a 90 minute drive. SO I DID!

This is a nice track, a very good muni and they were undergoing repairs on cart paths and sand traps at the time I was there. They course had been flooded out the year before and when they finished rebuilding the cart paths they would move on to repairing the bunkers. The bunkers had no maintenance (and little sand!) and were treated as free drops as were any lies on the cart path repairs. Despite the maintenance work, this is a fine golf course.

The course features a good variety of holes on mostly flat land that sits well below the clubhouse. The hardest walk would be up the path to the clubhouse from #9 (#10 tees off from above) and from #18 when you're finished. There are water hazards on 14 holes, though most of them would require an extremely errant shot to get into. There are lots of large trees and doglegs which give the course it’s character and the greens were good and fairly quick. The four sets of tees yardage ranges from 6376 to 5067 and 71 is par for the course. I played 5897 yards, the blue tees here, with a 68.2 course rating and 117 slope. I enjoyed the course and chatted with a group of regulars in the lounge after my round. I DO recommend this golf course, but maybe wait until the repair work is done, next year or the year after. Green fee with cart was $ 37.50 with tax! I ALSO enjoyed a couple of beverages in the lounge here. Nice spot to have a beer after a LONG day of golf and only a few miles (6) to drive to my lodging for the night in Sioux Falls.

I was a bit tired after 45 holes! On my trip last year I know I played 36 holes at least twice, but hadn't done it in more than a year & I don’t know if I’d ever played 45 in a day before. I’m no spring chicken, but the old body handled it better than I could hope.

Randy’s golf course ratings play again could recommend Price

Wine Valley (Walla Walla, WA) 5 YES YES $$$

Raccoon Creek (Littleton, CO) 4.5 YES YES $$

Brooks Golf (Okoboji, IA) 4 YES YES $$

Awarii Dunes (Kearney, NE) 4 YES YES $$

Lake Panorama Nat. (Panora, IA) 4 YES *1 YES $$

Brandon GC (Brandon, SD) 4 YES YES $

Rivers Edge (Burley, ID) 3.5 ?? YES $

Birch Creek (Smithfield,UT) 3.5 no good golfers only! $

Buffalo Golf Club (Buffalo, WY) 3 no no $$

Pryor Creek (Huntley, MT) 3 no no $ Johnny Walker Course (there’s also a Country Club course, but you need to play with a member!)

*1 = would play again if a different yardage was offered, with slope and course ratings

Not a lot of selection from Brandon's website & Brooks pictures are all snipped from flyover videos of each hole. They have all 27 and they are on YouTube, but this is all you get from me.

Brooks Blue nine #9