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Webster’s Golf Club

By Lee Schoenbeck

When you drive by a golf course in some small town along a South Dakota highway, it’s hard to slow down enough to see and appreciate the tradition and character that are part of where that community and its course meet. To the highway observer, the Webster Municipal Golf Course is just another traditional side-by-side course, indistinguishable from a hundred others across the state. With a slope rating of only 110, and 2921 yards from the men’s tees, it won’t intimidate too many golfers. And the locals will tell you that if you stay out of the National Guard parking compound (it’s fenced), away from Highway 12, and don’t hit Don Mahlen’s house or the cart shed, you can’t get in too much trouble. But that little glimpse wouldn’t tell you much about the traditions and the character of the course.

SUMMER REC

In Webster, Kids learned to golf in the summer rec program. Nobody I knew had their own clubs, although most had a few balls they’d found by scrounging in the roughs. On golf day, the community’s young’uns gathered at the course and were paired up in three or foursomes, along with a bag of clubs. The summer rec’s clubs were those left at the course through the years, so the”set” included a wood of some type, an iron in the 3 or 5 range, maybe a 9 iron, and a beat-up putter. A”round” of golf was about 3 holes — anything longer would have tied the course up for the whole day. This was about the joy of swinging and running around something like a big lawn. For our parents, it was probably about getting us out of the house for a few mornings a week. Nobody from my summer rec days went to college on a golf scholarship, but they all enjoyed learning a version of the game.

HIGH SCHOOL

Decades of Webster Bearcats football players dressed in the armory locker rooms, and charged off to the stadium, running across the golf course, helmet in hand, seeking Friday night fame and glory. The same golf course padded their tired trot back after the games, even on those occasions when the glory may have been fleeting.

The Bearcat cross-country runners got their taste of hometown fame on the golf course too. They streaked off down #1 fairway, covered the 9 fairways, and then looped back around three more holes to make the 2.2 mile course — and end with a lung-searing kick to the chute near the 9th green.

FAMILY AND COMMUNITY

Only a community golf course could give you the opportunity to wave to Great Uncle John and Aunt Anna in their room at the nursing home on # 2 or 4 tee boxes or #3 green, or maybe even take your cart over and tap on their window to make their day.

The club house at the course doesn’t have any columns and there is no Magnolia Lane, but it’s hosted a robust life of senior citizen meetings, card parties, and class and family reunions. It sports a deck looking out over the ninth green, where advice is freely and loudly dispensed — particularly on men’s night — to the duffers finishing their round.

IT’S A MAN’S WORLD

You don’t need to look at the paydays for majors on the LPGA and PGA circuits to understand that golf is still a male-dominated world. When we lived in Webster, my wife golfed and I didn’t, and I would get to hear about it after every Lady’s Day. Women golfed on Wednesday. Men’s Day was Thursday. Without all the modern watering devices and timers and things happening in the nights, sprinklers had to be turned on when somebody was around at work to do it. Greens and fairways had to be watered so they looked nice on Men’s Day. No greenskeeper dared mess that one up. It probably made complete sense to the groundsperson that the best way to have good greens for Men’s Thursday was to turn the sprinklers on during Women’s Wednesday! I’m not sure where the phrase”mad as a wet hen” originated, but I saw and heard where it fostered and grew.

AS GOLF GOES

There are two unique attributes about the Webster course. It is famous for its crowned greens that are the size of a quarter. If you can go”up and down” there, you can go”up and down” anywhere. When Webster golfers get to courses with bigger greens of more modern designs, they feel like they are being asked to hit into the Dome or something.

Also, Webster has a barber pole — but the haircut you get with one of these is a little different in golf. There are only two in the state– Webster and Clear Lake. (Of course I’m inviting readers to respond that I missed one.) If your ball doesn’t fly past the barber pole before cutting towards the green, you have to hit backwards and go around it. The barber pole allows a course to use a dog leg to make its course longer, without letting the unscrupulous cut the corner and make a mockery of the par 5.

YOU CAN ALWAYS GO HOME

After finishing up some business, I buzzed over to the Webster course for a quick nine, and the tradition and character of the community were in full bloom.

At the clubhouse there was only one group about to tee off — of about 12 golfers! It was the warmup for the Bob Wiley Classic, an event to raise funds and commemorate the most dedicated baseball supporter Webster has ever seen. Webster prep stars Bart Wiley, Lonnie Stover, Scottie Hanson and probably some others I didn’t recognize, were there enjoying home on their community course.

Webster’s a wrestling town, no secret to anybody in the 5-7 zip code. It seemed only right that out on the course I would come across Maurice Bierschbach, father of about 3 or 4 of those state champions. On the same fairway I again came across the 12-some, playing a spirited game of what appeared to be”worst ball” and laughing the whole time.

As I looked across those collections of people that embodied so many great memories for a community, I couldn’t help but think that this little piece of ground wasn’t really so much about birdies and pars, as it was about an opportunity to every once in a while, in some small way, bring a community together.

Lee Schoenbeck grew up in Webster, practices law in Watertown, and is a freelance writer for the South Dakota Magazine website.


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Can Golf This Fun Be Legal?

By Lee Schoenbeck

Heading west towards Spearfish at interstate speeds is a tough way to take the full measure of South Dakota’s newest and most fun golf course: Elkhorn Ridge. The course opened its first 9 holes in 2009, which probably wasn’t the best market timing for the residential development that accompanies it. But the golf layout, nestled into the elevations on the east side of a ridge on historic Frawley Ranch in Centennial Valley, four miles east of Spearfish, is South Dakota’s best.

A GOLF PATH UNDER THE INTERSTATE?

From the blue tees the course plays 3254 yards, an average length, and sports a 125 slope, a tougher than average layout. You know you’re someplace unique when the cart path from the driving range and modern clubhouse takes you to the first tee box through a tunnel under the interstate! Lest you fear the trip, the carts are equipped with modern GPS, so the yards to and from trouble are clearly spelled out. And when you decide to look for your ball in one of the residential yards or corrals near the course, the cart slows to a crawl and tells you to get back to the business at hand.

HOLES 2 THROUGH 5 ARE THE BEST ANYWHERE

The fun really begins on the #2 tee box. The hole is a dogleg left up the ridge, but with two special twists. The landing”target” for your first shot is about 210 yards ahead — and above you! The hole rises over 120 feet in elevation to the target. If that long uphill poke isn’t enough of a challenge, be careful not to hit too far or too left, as there is a ravine. 210 yards — good shot; 211 yards — bottom of ravine. The second shot (if that whole first thing worked out) is through a cut in the brush and across a ravine to a green cut into the mountainside.

At this point sea-level folks may need to get the Dramamine out, as you are going further up the mountain to the #3 tee box. At #3 you have a par 3 to a landing pad on top of the next hill, 200 yards away. Note the rattlesnake habitat warning signs as you approach the green — there are more ways to get stung here than a bad bunker shot.

#4 is from an elevated tee down to a lush green fairway 230 yards below, and then a second shot up to the green. The gentleness of 4, nestled in the trees along the side of the mountain, is a set-up for the magnificent par 5 that follows — from the top of the world. The cart path shows an arrow straight up, and it understates the climb. From the tee box, you feel like you can see seven zip codes. It takes binoculars (seriously) to really pick out the green structure, far off in the allegedly 500 yard distance. (They must measure from the base of the mountain — it looks like a half mile from the top.) The signature elk print sand traps line both sides of the fairway, way down below. More imaginative minds interpret them differently — a few years ago, my youngest exclaimed,”Those look like bear butt prints, Dad!” Whatever animal or anatomy, they are an impressive sight to see and frame the fairway perfectly.

FINISHING HOLES ARE MERE MORTALS — ALMOST

As your ears pop on the descent back to mere mortal golf, the course still has a few surprises. On the par three #6 you can see the imposing water along the left side, but not the pond wrapping around to the back — an unfortunate ball-washing for the more aggressive swinger. #7’s sand feature is one of South Dakota’s largest, and is pretty much unavoidable.

LOCAL KNOWLEDGE

The pro, South Dakota native J.R. Hamblet, warned about the elevation. The 285 feet of elevation change on the course is more than the uninitiated will first appreciate, and playing it is trickier than most are used to. Ok, I’ll give him that elevation greater than a step-ladder challenges we flat-lander South Dakotans, but that’s not the main secret to know. The real local knowledge is that you have to play the course more than once. There are so many blind shots, hidden gulleys, tricky traps, and other things that hate my bogeyness, you just can’t figure it out the first time around. I lost count of how many blind shots I had to trust to the hope of hitting somewhere near the barber pole marker visible over a rise out in a fairway.

MORE TO COME

This fall Elkhorn Ridge is going to start construction on another nine holes in, over and around a canyon on the south side of the interstate. If their first effort is any indication, South Dakota golfers have some great fun ahead of them on an exciting and affordable golf track.

Lee Schoenbeck grew up in Webster, practices law in Watertown, and is a freelance writer for the South Dakota Magazine website.


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South Dakota’s Winter Golf Secret

By Lee Schoenbeck


Editor’s Note: Welcome to Fore South Dakota, the first in a series of columns showcasing South Dakota’s special places to play golf.

Nestled in a development just outside of Rapid City on Sheridan Lake Road is South Dakota’s only golf course that is open for play parts of every month of the year. The Golf Club at Red Rock is a public course that will let you enjoy all the golf you can handle for the day during the winter months for $49. Most South Dakotans don’t know about this little golf secret kept by our Western brethren. But this past week, when the snow in our front yard measured over waist deep, my son, Jake, and I checked out the rumor of winter golf in South Dakota. Red Rock did not disappoint.

THE BASICS

The five sets of tees play from 5038 yards (manageable for any golfer) to the tips of 7114 (a long ways to go). The slope for the blue tees (4th longest) is 138. Slope is a universal measurement established by the United States Golf Association (USGA) to advise a golfer how hard it is going to be to find their errant golf shots. 113 is an average slope, and you probably need only two golf balls to make a round on a course with that slope. To play a 138 slope you would be advised to have a whole bag of balls along. For Red Rock, once the rough grows up on the hills’ sides in the spring, plan on using every ball in your bag.

THE COURSE

Red Rock snakes in and out of — and over — valleys and canyons that are, well, red! Almost every hole plays along the side of a canyon, over a canyon, into a canyon, or from ridge to ridge across a canyon. Other than small, tame creeks, the only water your ball will see is in a pond that guards the front of the 10th hole.

WEATHER

The March days that we played there was an ice storm at home on the Coteau, and Red Rock was a pleasant 70 degrees for our golf sandals and shorts.

LOCAL KNOWLEDGE

Jason Young, a Pierre native, is the PGA Professional at Red Rock. Since Jason answers the phone in the pro shop in the winter when you call to make tee times, he is also the most popular person for any South Dakota golfer to get to speak to between Thanksgiving and Easter. Jason is quick to get to the essence of Red Rock with the advice that, like no other course in South Dakota, the key to this course is to learn to use the slopes that exist on almost every hole. Here are a few of his pointers.

On #8, a par 3, hit to the right side of the green (or off the green) and let the ball roll down to the pin. Aim for the green, and when your ball stops rolling it will be somewhere in the gulley to the left.

On #9, a par 5 with a blind approach shot, either set it up to the right (where you will be able to see your way into a tough green structure) or land it off the green on the top of the hill and let it trickle down to the green and pin. Aim for the green, and if you find your ball, it may be down the hill and across the street.

On #14, a long par 5, you don’t need a driver. The 580 yards are designed to be played crest of hill (200 yards), to crest of hill (200 yards), to the green — which of course slopes in a manner that may send your ball down the hill and back to where you came from. Be warned, the second shot is over the second canyon — there is no fairway on the left side! If you aim to where the middle of the fairway would seem to belong, your ball will be recovered days later somewhere down the canyon sloping to the north.

Every hole at Red Rock has a similar story. Probably more than any other course in South Dakota, local knowledge is serious currency at Red Rock.

GREAT GOLF MOMENTS

This writer is a very mediocre 15 handicap. A 15 handicap means that there are rare times when by some miracle a shot lands where Tiger Woods might hit it. More often, it lands where Mr. Rogers would hit it. But in the twists in turns of the slopes at Red Rock, every golfer has a chance for a Tiger Woods moment.

The 287 yard #7 plays around and tight against a hillside. If the golfer is blessed with a good fade (which on other days might be called a lousy slice), the ball can hit up on the hill to the right, power forward past the trap, and roll down to the green. I speak the truth — and have a photo to prove that on #7, a 15 handicapper can come within two yards of driving the green on a par 4 hole! Setting up the perfect opportunity, of course, for a three putt!

The 555 yard #14 does not require a driver, according to the club pro, Jason, but who goes all the way to Red Rock to lay up on a spring day? If you hit it just right, bounce over the ridge on the right, and catch the down slope, an average 220 yard drive, on the right day and with the right wind, can roll out to 305 yards! For one moment, you’re tour eligible. The next shot will disappear into the canyon (see Local Knowledge above).

ALWAYS A FRIEND

Funny thing about golf — you get paired with strangers on the first tee box, and you always end the round with friends. We were joined on one round by Dick and Gavin Fawbush. Dick has a clothing store in Madison and his son manages a hotel in Rapid City. Gavin golfed for USD, and is a Red Rock regular, i.e. local knowledge. For example, on the par 3 downhill #15, Gavin explained that the hole punishes good shots and rewards bad ones. If you hit the big pine tree in the rough to the right front of the green, your ball will gently drop and roll to a place near the pin for an easy birdie. (Jake lucked into one of those.) If you hit a solid 3 iron into the 190 yard away green, you will find your ball somewhere in the woods, down the hill behind the green. (Jake got one of those too.)

A GREAT WAY TO SPEND A BLIZZARD DAY

When the snow is up to your windowsill in eastern South Dakota, remember that out west, in our state’s banana belt, there are hackers and duffers teeing it up at Red Rock. But no matter what time of the year, Red Rock is a great place to play challenging golf. And while the weather was different, some things in South Dakota never change. Since Madison was playing in the semifinals of the State A in Rapid City that day, like true South Dakotans, the Fawbush father and son picked up after the 12th hole — can’t risk being late for the state tourney tip off.

Lee Schoenbeck grew up in Webster, practices law in Watertown, and is a freelance writer for the South Dakota Magazine website.