As regular readers of this blog know, I rarely take a trip of any length without mixing in a round of golf at a course that is new to me. On Thursday, June 26, I set out with my grandson Landon on a drive to Colorado Springs, CO from Ft. Wayne, IN for a visit with family. We took a northern route along I-80 through Iowa. Our destination was Pella, Iowa where we planned to play Bos Landen Golf Club. I became aware of the course as a result of my relationship with Warrior Golf which recently entered into an agreement with the City of Pella to operate the golf course.
Bos Landen, a Dutch name meaning "Land of the Woods", has an interesting history. Opened in 1994, this Dick Phelps designed course was rated the number one public golf course in the state of Iowa from 1997 to 2001. Golf Digest gave the course a 4 star rating in its 2007 “Best Places to Play” guide. The course, like so many top courses in small town America, is very important to the local quality of life, its tourism, and home values. The land on which the course sits is owned by the City of Pella. The course has been owned and operated by two different groups since its opening and for various reasons, has not been profitable. Following the 2013 season, the owners put the course up for sale. The course did not open for business at the start of the 2014 season and was left in limbo.
Subsequent to the closing, the City of Pella, realizing the importance of the course to the local economy, acquired the pro shop, the restaurant, conference center, and maintenance buildings which were located on the golf course. And in late May they entered into a new ground lease with Warrior Golf. The term of the lease is for 99 years and includes some one-time facility improvements by the city of Pella, a transition subsidy, and several years of chemicals/seed/bunker sand reimbursements. Warrior is required to operate a public course and is responsible for the financial risk of loss. And Warrior is responsible for all maintenance and capital expenditures at the course.
At the time of my visit, the course had been open for no more than a week. Having been closed the entire Spring, the course required a great deal of routine maintenance to get it ready for play. When we arrived, the course, so recently overgrown, was lush and the tees, greens and fairways were in fantastic shape and virtually weed-free. The rough was thick and tough as this area of Iowa was in the midst of heavy rains.
At the time of my visit, the course had been open for no more than a week. Having been closed the entire Spring, the course required a great deal of routine maintenance to get it ready for play. When we arrived, the course, so recently overgrown, was lush and the tees, greens and fairways were in fantastic shape and virtually weed-free. The rough was thick and tough as this area of Iowa was in the midst of heavy rains.
Landon Tees Off On the First Hole We arrived under the threat of storms and the air was heavy with humidity. After a brief session on the driving range, Landon and I were ready to begin play.
The course is a beast! I chose not to walk the course given Landon’s pre-teen age and I was thankful for that decision. It is easily the toughest of all the Warrior courses I have played to date and would be quite a workout to walk.
I chose to play the Blue tees and that decision proved to be wrong as the course was very wet and I was not the beneficiary of much roll.
The course has a wonderful layout with a great deal of elevation change. It is easy to see why it was once rated as the top public course in the state. There is at least one reachable par 5 (hole number 11) and two of the par 5’s have elevated tees that play down into a valley and back up to elevated greens. Each of the par 5's is memorable.
The par 3's also have character. There is one short par 3 (hole number 3) with the green at least 30 yards below the tee. And another par 3 (hole number 13) requires a carry over water.
The course is a beast! I chose not to walk the course given Landon’s pre-teen age and I was thankful for that decision. It is easily the toughest of all the Warrior courses I have played to date and would be quite a workout to walk.
I chose to play the Blue tees and that decision proved to be wrong as the course was very wet and I was not the beneficiary of much roll.
The course has a wonderful layout with a great deal of elevation change. It is easy to see why it was once rated as the top public course in the state. There is at least one reachable par 5 (hole number 11) and two of the par 5’s have elevated tees that play down into a valley and back up to elevated greens. Each of the par 5's is memorable.
The par 3's also have character. There is one short par 3 (hole number 3) with the green at least 30 yards below the tee. And another par 3 (hole number 13) requires a carry over water.
The Downhill Par 3 Third Hole
Bos Landen is not an easy course to play for the first time. There are some doglegs, both left and right, that require previous course knowledge. For this reason, it's a good idea to choose the tees you play carefully.
The Par 5 Fifth Hole
We saw only two other groups on the course that day and we were able to complete our round in just over three hours. As we left the course and drove west, the storm clouds gathered and we had a rainy drive to our hotel that night in Topeka, KS.
The Par 3 Thirteenth Hole
Pella, Iowa is about 40 miles southeast of Des Moines, Iowa. The next time you are on a trip west, traveling on I-80, plan to spend the night near Pella and play Bos Landen Golf Course. It has my hearty endorsement. See more at http://boslanden.com.
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