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

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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

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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

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  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

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Open For Play: Kansas City Courses First off, we hope you all are safe and are following CDC and local guidelines for helping to contain the Coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic. We also hope you're keeping your sanity with home lockdowns, kid home-schooling, and of course, the economic impacts. Thankfully, a fair number of our local Kansas City golf courses are open, but a few remain closed. Its hit and miss and our experience so far tells us that those that are open are very busy on every golf-able day. Here is the list as we know it now (updated as of April 15). Please check with the golf course directly

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Tiffany Greens Golf Club observed its 20th birthday in June and a lot has changed at the course and in golf over those years. Tiffany Greens opened as a high-end championship caliber course and for four years was an annual stop on the prestigious PGA Senior Tour. Today, the course is still highly rated for its unique design and setting, but it is slightly less demanding and a little more laid back than in the past. “Golf has become more relaxed in the past 20 years,” said Kyle Hurst, general manager and PGA Director of Golf at Tiffany Greens in the Northland. “The wearing of slacks

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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

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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,

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One of Kansas City’s best golf values is Hodge Park Golf Course in Kansas City, Mo. The 5707-yard course (from the white tees) is not long, but there are plenty of challenges, with lots of risks and rewards. A smart player has a good chance to win over a masher. The best example of that is the 10th hole. The 371-yard par 4 is actually much shorter as the crow flies. But going for the green is not a wise idea. In fact, probably the best play is an iron off the tee to a little right of the middle of the fairway that leaves a

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For the full golf experience, it’s hard to beat Paradise Pointe Golf Complex in Smithville. Paradise point is unique in Kansas City for having two 18-hole golf courses, plus a four-hole practice course.  The two courses are built along Smithville Lake, offering not only sweeping views of the lake but several holes where water lines fairways or surrounds greens. Just as the courses are memorable, so is the pro shop. Paradise Pointe prides itself on having the largest and most varied selection of fitted clubs and other golf equipment in Kansas City. Paradise Pointe is also set up to host large golf events, with a 4,000-square-foot banquet room

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