My approach to the No. 7 green at Shoal Creek was a bit long, which left me with a short chip to try to save par. But it wasn’t an easy chip. My ball had found the thick rough on the back side of the green, with little room to work with before the pin on a downhill slope. If I didn’t hit it hard enough, I’d leave myself a difficult putt from the fringe. If I hit it too hard, it would roll way past the pin.

So I channeled my inner Tom Watson, lobbed it a short distance to the fringe, and watched it bounce onto the green. It curved to the right and dropped in the hole. I raised my hands in the air and ran around like I had just clinched the 1982 US Open at Pebble Beach. My playing partner laughingly said, “Way to go, Watson!”

That was one of my highlights of playing one of the highest-ranked courses in the state of Missouri. The biggest highlight—other than the course itself—was playing the round with legendary Kansas City sportscaster Jack Harry.

Jack has been extolling the virtues of Shoal Creek for quite some time. A long-time resident of the Northland, Jack plays at Shoal Creek a lot, and for good reason. I’ve known Jack for about 30 years, as we’ve covered a lot of the same teams and sporting events. We spent most of our time talking about many of the great people we’ve met—like Watson—but we also had a great day on a great course.

Shoal Creek is a beautiful 7,011-yard course (from the gold tees) off Highway 152, just west of Liberty. The conditions feel more like “country club” than “city-owned municipal course.” And there is plenty of variation to the terrain, leaving some spectacular views and challenging shots.

“Credit goes to our superintendent, Duane Sanders, and his staff,” head club pro Rhett Fregoe said. “I would say the conditions of our course rival any private club in the city.”

Among the accolades for Shoal Creek are the No. 2-ranked public course in Missouri by Golf Week’s “America’s Best You Can Play”; a 4-star rating in Golf Digest’s “Best Places to Play”; the No. 1 ranking among courses in Missouri by Golfadvisor.com for 2017 and 2018, and the No. 1 ranking among public course in Missouri by the Golf Card Traveler.

But you don’t need someone else’s opinion to recognize quickly that you are playing a great course.

Shoal Creek was built in 2001 by architect Steve Wolford. It is owned by Kansas City Park and Recreation, and, like its neighbor Hodge Park Golf Course, it is operated by KemperSports Management. Club Car Carts are equipped with the Visage GPS yardage and navigation system. Zoysia grass tees and fairways, and Penn G-2 bent-grass greens are kept in immaculate condition. The reads on those greens are true.

Every hole will give you shots to remember, whether you’re a duffer or the club pro.

“My favorite is 15,” Fregoe said. “It’s a good-looking hole. It has the fountain and the pond short of the green on the left. We could set it up to be very difficult by putting the pin on the left side of the green, making you carry the pond and the bunker.”

While there are challenging holes, the multiple sets of tees make it playable for any level of golfer. I had my best round of the season—I think, because you don’t waste time writing down numbers on a scorecard when you can be swapping stories with Jack Harry. The conditions made it easy to recover from bad shots.

Another highlight for me was No. 4. A dogleg right, I went too far right on my drive and was in the woods, though I did have sight of the green. Unfortunately, I didn’t hit it well and I still left myself a longer approach than I first realized. Jack had earlier driven the cart to the green when I told him that I had the clubs I needed.

So there I was, about 20 yards beyond the range of my pitching wedge, but that—and my putter—were my only options. So I swung my wedge as hard as I could and almost holed it. It rolled a couple of feet past the hole for an easy tap-in. As I stood there in amazement, a guy in an SUV driving on the road behind the hole shouted, “Great shot!” This place even provides galleries! I had to admit it was a lucky shot, but it’s the type of shot that keeps bringing you back.

Especially to a course as nice as Shoal Creek.

By David Smale

So you don’t hit the ball as far as you used to? We have a solution.

Hodge Park Golf Course, which measures just 5,707 yards from the white tees, and just 6,181 from the blue tees, offers a good place to test your short game while still being challenged to stay away from the prairie grass that borders most of the fairways.

And with water in play on almost every hole, safety is best found in the wide fairways. The nuances of the course make it a challenge for every level of golfer, including the 300-yard driver.

“This course plays longer than the yardage indicates,” says Tim Underwood who has been the course manager and club pro for the past 20 years. “There are so many doglegs that you can’t really measure it from tee to green. There are a lot of meandering fairways and slopes that make the course play much longer than the yardage on the scorecard.”

One of those holes is No. 10, which is almost a double dogleg. To play this hole well, you need to place your drive in the middle to right side of the fairway to have a good angle at the green. You still may be looking at anywhere from 130 to 170 yards to the green. That leaves a tough approach, as the fairway narrows the closer you get to the green.

The course was built in 1973, so the trees are mature. There’s a large lake in the middle of the course, so keeping the zoysia fairways green is not a problem for greens superintendent Duane Sander and his staff.

“The course is always in good condition, which makes for a fast-paced day,” Underwood says. “It’s easy to walk the course, because it’s not too hilly. And there is plenty to challenge even the best golfer.”

One of Underwood’s favorite holes is the 376-yard 13th hole. Your drive climbs about 50 feet in elevation to the ideal landing spot, where you can finally see the pin. It also doglegs to the right, meaning the opportunity is there to cut the trees and have a short chip for your second shot. But that’s not something that very many golfers challenge successfully. The trees are thick and tend to swallow golf balls.

“If you can hit it over the trees you can cut about 30 yards off the distance, but most people don’t have that in their bag,” Underwood said.

Other hole that presents a challenge, even to regulars at Hodge Park, is No. 15. Two big trees in the middle of the fairway make almost every second shot difficult. The trees sit at the bottom of a valley between two pretty steep hills, so it’s hard to drive it past them. They’re both full of leaves and they sit within 100 yards of the green—that sits back up a hill—so hitting over them is difficult. To make it even more treacherous, the lake on the right eliminates the opportunity to avoid the trees altogether.

For the most part, if you can keep your drive in the wide-open fairways, the course is pretty forgiving. There are only three sand bunkers on the whole course, so “straight” is the most important club in your bag.

Hodge Park and nearby Shoal Creek are both owned by the city of Kansas City and managed by Kemper Sports Management. Hodge Park is just west of Liberty, just north of Highway 152.

Monday-Friday walking rates are $28, with seniors just $21. Between 1-4 p.m., regular rates are $22. After 4 p.m. the regular rates drop to $17. You can opt to play just nine holes for $16.

Weekend regular walking rates are $31, from 1- 4 p.m. they are $22 and after 4 p.m. to $17. You can play nine holes for $20 prior to 1 p.m. After 1 p.m. that drops to $17. After 3 p.m., seniors pay $17.

To ride a cart for 18 holes it’s $16 per person, and for nine holes it’s $10 per person. It’s okay to ride two in a cart now.

Hodge Park also has a “Play Until Sunset Rate.” The price varies based on the time of the year (check the website for current rates), but golfers can play until about 15 to 20 minutes before dark. Great for after work.

Bring your short game and enjoy a round at Hodge Park.

By David Smale

If your out-of-town friends think that because you live in Kansas that your home course is parking-lot flat, take them to Sunflower Hills Golf Course in Bonner Springs. They’ll leave with an entirely different opinion.

Sunflower Hills borders I-70 on the north between I-435 and K-7 in Bonner Springs, but unless you hear the traffic going by on the highway, you could be anywhere with hills and valleys. It’s one of the most challenging and affordable courses in the Kansas City area.

Opened in May 1977, Sunflower Hills is an 18-hole championship golf course designed by renowned architect Roger Packard, who used the existing topography to create the hilliness of the course that seems out of place to the outsider who thinks of Dorothy and the flatlands of western Kansas.

“(Packard) moved hardly any dirt to form the fairways,” said Jeff Johnson, the club pro at Sunflower Hills since 1981, which makes him the most tenured club pro in the metro. “It’s a natural layout. We’ll get comments from people playing it for the first time saying it’s hillier than they expected.”

Measuring over 7,000 yards from the back tees, Sunflower Hills has five sets of tees, large rolling greens, zoysia fairways, and numerous bunkers and water hazards.

Like a lot of courses in the Kansas City area—and around the country for that matter—the pandemic slowed things down for Sunflower Hills. But the drop off has hardly been noticeable at all, certainly not as drastic as it could have been. Johnson gives credit to a loyal base of customers.

Sunflower Hills closed for just three days to regroup and figure out how to abide by the guidelines and still provide an opportunity for people to get exercise and enjoy the beautiful course.

At first golfers were only allowed to walk the course, which was difficult for some because of the hilliness of layout. When carts were allowed in late April, each golfer had to have his or her own cart, which limited the number of golfers to the number of available carts.

It wasn’t until June that two golfers could share a cart.

“We were concerned at the beginning of the pandemic that it would cause play to really drop off, but I was pleasantly surprised with the number of people who were willing to walk the golf course,” Johnson said. “When we got carts back, we couldn’t tell a difference from past years because we were so busy.

“One of the safest places to be is on the golf course because you’re outside in the fresh air, usually separated by several feet from other players.”

A big part of the loyal base is the over-55 crowd. While that’s not unusual with golf courses, because the ability to play instead of work fits that age-group well, Sunflower Hills has a particularly strong senior group.

A Wednesday league garnered 150 entries, with a range of 115 to 130 golfers most weeks. There’s a second league on Mondays with smaller numbers.

Many of those golfers know each other by name, because they play more than just on Mondays and/or Wednesdays. I played on a Thursday with a group of men 10 or more years my senior, and they all schooled me. As we were putting out on our 10th hole, another group was finishing their 14th. One of the men in that group hollered over that he was 2-over after 14 holes.

That’s pretty good on a hot humid July day, especially when you consider that he’s 94 years old. One of my playing partners said that guy had shot his age more times than he could count. I could only reply that I really feel good when I shoot his age.

Johnson has seen a lot of changes in his 39 years, but he’s not going to rest on his—or the course’s—laurels. There are plenty of people from well beyond Kansas City who depend on that.

“I’ve seen a lot of highs and a few lows, but the course has matured very well over the years,” Johnson said. “The thing that makes Sunflower Hills challenging is that very rarely do you have a level lie. The comments we get from visitors are that it’s a very nice golf course, especially for our very reasonable rates. And we get a lot of visitors.

“We have regulars from as far away as Pennsylvania.”

And until the out-of-towners play it, they probably think it’s going to be flat.

— By David Smale

You wake up to a seasonably warm Midwest day. There’s nothing pressing on the schedule, so you decide to take the day off. Like many people in the Kansas City area, you might decide to choose to spend your day either on the golf course or at one of the area’s beautiful lakes.

How about both?

Paradise Pointe is a 36-hole golf complex nestled into the coves of Smithville Lake, with many of the holes giving you only slightly obstructed or completely unobstructed views of the lake. You probably can’t enjoy water sports while teeing it up, but you can enjoy the sights and sounds of one of the area’s largest lakes meandering around the course.

“The entire complex is scenic with two great tracks that are both in excellent condition,” Paradise Pointe club pro Eddie Hall said. “You have a links-style course with the Outlaw and a more traditional course with the Posse. Both sides have great lake views.”

The proximity to the lake gives the complex an unlimited source of water, so the entire complex is always green, even during a typically hot and dry Kansas City summer. So far in 2020, we’re not too far behind average rainfall, so Paradise Pointe hasn’t had to use its built-in sprinkler system too often.

The morning I played it there was some standing water in some of the lower-lying areas because of early morning rains. I’d like to blame my poor play on that, but journalists never lie, right? The course was in excellent condition.

Hall credits Clay County, which owns the courses, for that. “If you put a good product out there, people will talk about it,” he said. “The County Commission does a great job of maintenance. We’ve always had good superintendents, but the current one is a step above. He’s in his second year, and everything you see is a result of him looking forward.”

There are two courses at Paradise Pointe. The Posse is narrower and a little more challenging with more elevation changes on the fairways, while the Outlaw is wider and a little more forgiving.

“The biggest difference is the undulation in the fairways,” Hall said. “The Posse is a little narrower and the shots are more demanding. It’s more about ‘position golf.’ If you’re not on the correct side of the fairway, you’ll have a little more difficult shot.”

One of the unique features of the Outlaw course is that it’s one of the few courses in the metro where the turn is not at the clubhouse. In fact, the green at No. 9 and the tee box at No. 10 are at the furthest point from the clubhouse on the course.

Lest you think you have a pack provisions for an 18-hole excursion, Paradise Pointe uses an app called “918” to supply food to golfers on both courses.

“I think it’s the only course in the area that doesn’t finish the turn at the clubhouse,” Hall said. “We love that design.

“The app allows golfers to order their food and drink and we’ll deliver it to them wherever they are on either course. The best thing about it is they can go right to our menu, pay for it on the phone and have it delivered right where they are. It works out great, because golfers don’t have to sit and wait at the turn to get their food.”

Neither course is particularly long by today’s standards, though you can play from the back tees and get your distance fix from either one, as both sides measure over 7,000 yards from the back tees. Outlaw is shorter and the fairways are wider. But even on that side you still have to hit shots.

“Most courses today are being built well over 7,000 yards to accommodate the big hitters,” Hall said, “But let’s be honest, most of my guys—and most of John Q. Public—is not playing off the back tees because they’re not hitting it 300-plus yards off the tee.

“Off the tee, Outlaw is more forgiving. You can pick the tee set that best matches your game. Whatever tee set you play from, we’ve found that there are challenges and excitement on every hole.”

The next time you wake up facing that recreational decision, consider the drive up to Smithville. After all, just remember the old car dealership commercial from a couple of decades ago, “Smithville is only a 10-minute drive from downtown…if you drive 180 miles per hour.”

— By David Smale

Sunflower Hills benefits from location and unique design
By David Smale

They are common terms around golf courses. But “traffic” and “up and down” have different meanings at Sunflower Hills Golf Course in Kansas City, Kan.

Traffic, in this case, has nothing to do with how many people walk through the doors with the intention of playing golf. Located at the intersection of Interstate 70 and Highway 7, 40,000 to 50,000 cars pass by the road that leads directly to the course. That puts Sunflower Hills in the path of plenty of traffic.

There is another type of traffic that is very evident from the course, and we’re not talking about the holes on the course that border I-70 close enough that a very errant tee shot could end up on the interstate.

Kansas Speedway and its millions of dollars in tourism continue to benefit the course and the surrounding area, the constant hum of 40-plus 850-horsepower engines less than a mile away on race weekends notwithstanding.

“The Speedway development was very beneficial for us,” said Jeff Johnson, the course professional at Sunflower Hills who has been there for 38 of the course’s 42 years of existence.

“The people who helped build the speedway, Turner Construction, built our six-hole junior course, which is in the park adjacent to the course. They did it at no cost to us. They were very benevolent. That’s a good feature for us to help kids learn how to play.

“The Legends development has been good for us as well, because they put in at least six new hotels. We get a lot of people who come to our course when they come to town.”

The Speedway opening initially hurt Sunflower Hills on race weekends. Johnson said that people were fearful of the traffic surrounding the race. “Once people learned how to manipulate around the time and traffic pattern,” he said, “that’s no longer the case.

“We do see quite a few fans who come over and play, either the Thursday or Friday before or the day after the races. We don’t get the NASCAR drivers as much as we get a lot of the support people to come over and play. We do see a lot of the same faces a couple of times every year.”

The stability at Sunflower Hills goes beyond Johnson and his clubhouse manager, Chuck Ettinger, who has been there since the course opened. It traces back to the Unified Government of Wyandotte County. Johnson said that the Unified Government has been on the course’s side from the beginning.

“We have a commitment from the Unified Government to have a very nice product for the public,” Johnson said. “It’s not a typical municipal golf course in the respect that we really pay attention to the condition of the course. We try to keep the greens in the best condition possible. The same with the fairways. They’ve always had that commitment, and they’ve done a good job of supporting us. We have the same budget problems that everybody else does, but we’ve been able to have a good reputation of having a well-maintained course.”

It’s also a course that takes “up and down” down a different path.

“The challenge is that you never experience a level lie,” Johnson said. “There’s always some sort of pitch to your lie, which makes it tricky. When the course was built, they just took the terrain they had. The only dirt they moved was to level out the greens and the tee boxes. They didn’t do a whole lot of shaping of the fairways.

”Up-and-down can be used to describe your day on the course. It’s a good walk. We do have some people who walk the course, but most use carts.”

Designed by famed golf course architect Roger Packard, the course uses some of Packard’s more successful designs. Packard and his father designed a well-known course in Tampa called Innisbrook Golf Resort. Johnson, who has played Innisbrook, sees plenty of similarities.

“The terrain is the hilliest in Florida, though there aren’t a lot of hills in Florida,” Johnson said. “There are four or five holes that have a big similarity to holes on their course. There’s a par-5 that looks just like our hole No. 1. They have a par-4 that looks just like our hole No. 7.”

One of those Packard designs that’s evident at Sunflower Hills is in the form of large greens. That’s good and bad for golfers.

“The greens are big, so you have to be good at putting,” Johnson said. “Big greens are good, because it’s easier to hit them. But if you’re on the green, you might leave yourself some really long putts.

“Also, the way the course sits, most of the holes are cross-wind. The prevailing winds come out of the south or the north, and all but four holes lay out primarily east to west or west to east. That makes shots a lot more difficult.”

Though not patterned after Augusta National, Sunflower Hills has its own “Amen Corner” that challenges golfers through a difficult stretch of holes. It starts on hole 13 and runs through 17.

Hole 14 is Johnson’s favorite. “It doglegs to the right and has a couple of ponds on it,” he said. “It’s a longer hole, but it’s not so long that you can’t reach it in regulation. No. 15 is our most difficult hole.

“If you can get through that stretch without too many bogeys and double-bogeys, you’re doing pretty good. That’s where the challenge is.”

Wrapping up the round is hole 18, with its forced carry over the water. “From the red tees, it’s a pretty good poke to get it over the water,” Johnson said. “Some golfers will lay up, but some try to beat the challenge.

“If people are looking for a good test of golf, regardless of their level, this is it. The beginner, all the way up to the very good golfer, will get a challenge. By shortening up the course, we’ve made it so that the beginners can have a good time. The hills and the cross winds make it a challenge for the best golfers.”

A challenge for the best golfers on a municipal course. There’s another new definition that applies at Sunflower Hills.

Golfers who value lush conditions will have another reason to play the Paradise Pointe Golf Complex in Smithville north of Kansas City.

A new irrigation system is going in on every hole of the 18-hole Posse and Outlaw courses and the four-hole Academy practice course. The $3 million project began in the second week of May and will take six months.

Each sprinkler head will be individually controllable, allowing selective watering for uniform turf conditions instead of some areas being too wet or too dry, said Eddie Hall, general manager and director of golf at Paradise Pointe.

“It’s going to be easier to water everything, and more importantly, to water correctly,” Hall said.

The work is being done without interrupting play, with no need for temporary tees or greens during excavation. No more than four holes will be worked on at a time.

The work is being paid for as part of a Clay County-approved bond issue and requires no tax or golf fee increases, Hall said. Hall manages Paradise Pointe under a contract with the county.

Hall said Paradise Pointe is fortunate that the Clay County Commission and administration keep investing in the courses.

“These improvements at Paradise Pointe not only will benefit our local golfers but golfers across the Midwest,” Hall said.

Another project going on during the irrigation work is the conversion of fairways at the Posse into Zoysia grass. Zoysia strips are being laid as irrigation is completed on each hole. The Outlaw course already has Zoysia fairways.

The two courses at Paradise Pointe lay along Smithville Lake, with some holes surrounded by water in a setting unique to the Kansas City area.  All the water for the courses comes from the lake.

Paradise Pointe, at 18212 Golf Course Road in Smithville, opened in 1982 with the completion of the Posse. In 1994, the Outlaw opened adjacent to the Posse. The course names derived from Jesse James, the outlaw who had lived in Clay County.

Play at Paradise Pointe is up from a year ago, Hall said.

I”m seeing a lot of new faces, and as a golf course new faces equals more play,” Hall said.

Hall said Paradise Pointe, 20 minutes north of downtown Kansas City, draws from a wide area and is a destination of visitors from Iowa and other states to the north, especially when the weather is colder up there.

“People come back to Paradise Pointe because we have two unique golf courses, and because of the experience we give them here,” Hall said. “Our goal is that when they come here they will have fun and that their day is better when the leave than when they arrived.”

The condition of the course is also paramount to the players and big reason they return, Hall said. Each course gets about the same amount of play, he said.

Both courses are hilly with plenty of trees. The Posse is a traditional layout while the Outlaw is links-style, with a front nine that does not return to the clubhouse. Each course is a par 72. They are both about 6,500 yards from the back tees and there are four tee boxes. Both courses can be walked.

The signature holes are those along the water, especially the 4th on the Posse, where the fairway borders the lake on the left and the green is on a peninsula. The next hole, a par 3, requires a tee shot over water.

Water borders the left of the 9th hole on the Outlaw, almost surrounds the green on 10 and runs along the 11th.

The four-hole Academy course for practice has two par 5s, a par 3 and a par 4.

Paradise is popular for banquets, weddings, reunions, other social events and more than 100 tournaments annually. Charitable or corporate outings for groups of 16 to 144 players or more can be accommodated and the complex has a 4,000 square foot banquet room.

Paradise Pointe continues to be known for its wide selection of golf equipment in the pro shop. Hall and his staff fit clubs on the practice range to find the best length, shaft stiffness and loft for particular players.

Lessons at Paradise Pointe have helped many players with their games.

“I believe that a lot of problems can be solved if you go back to basics, and that goes back to alignment, grip and things like that,” Hall said. “Players stray away from that without even knowing that they are.”

Information the golf course, green fees, leagues, memberships, lessons and social events can be found at paradisepointegolf.com or by calling the pro shop at 816-532-4100.