Swope Memorial GC
This summer I am trying to play a lot of the local courses I have never played before. This weekend I played Swope Memorial Golf Course for the first time. This is one of the KC metro’s oldest courses, opened 75 years ago in 1934. It was designed by the famous designer AW Tillinghast. Being an older course it is a little shorter, 6274 from the tips and 5770 from the white tees. That being said, it was not easy. There was a lot of elevation changes and a strategic layout. On the first hole, a 344/372 yard par 4 uphill. If you land on the right side of the fairway, your ball will roll down the hill to a collection area, leaving you a 250 yard 2nd shot instead of 170 yards. There is very little water but a lot of bunkers.
There were a couple of things that were surprising. One, on a Saturday afternoon in the middle of July, the course wasn’t busy. They space their tee times by 10 minutes which helps reduce the congestion. There were groups ahead and behind us, but it often felt like we had the course to ourselves (except for the pair that teed off into us on the 7th hole, but that is the only time). Second, I saw a marshall on the greens fixing ball marks. I thought the greens were in great condition and this is probably why.
We walked the course and didn’t feel too worn out at the end. I shot a 102, which is about what I expected. I’ll do better the next time I play. I had a great time and I really liked the course.
Here is a shot from the 17th fairway. In the distance you can see the KC skyline.
This entry was posted on Sunday, July 12th, 2009 at 9:51 pm and is filed under Golf. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.
