Cedar Rapids Country Club

Favorite Hole 

No. 9, par 5, 585 yards

Whether or not Donald Ross intended for this hole to traverse a 100-foot-tall hill for the interest of the design or just to get back to the clubhouse, the ninth is a spectacular par 5 that provides one of the most thrilling shots during the round. 

Standing on the tee at the low point of the property, you are faced with a wall of grass and some large bunkers in the distance. The left half provides the flattest lies in this concave fairway. The thrill comes from the second shot, which is completely blind. A flag pole sporting an Iowa State flag is the sole aiming point. Those laying up will need to fly the crest of the hill and avoid the deep hazards. Just beyond the bunkers, the land pitches down towards the punchbowl green, allowing for the ball to run out 30-plus yards on the ground. A clever drainage swale short right of the green will snatch up poorly struck shots and create a tricky recovery. 

The combination of guessing the yardage and then subtracting 20-30 yards for the roll out, all while making a long hike up to see if your calculations were correct, makes this hole such a joy to play despite its strenuous nature. A masterclass in allowing the land to drive the interest of the hole.

{{content-block-course-profile-cedar-rapids-country-club-003}}

Overall Thoughts

Donald Ross is best known for his functional routings, creative greens, and strategic designs. By taking his knowledge of Scottish links golf and applying it to his American designs, he was able to create hundreds of courses that distinguish themselves from one another while applying the same structural virtues. This results in his courses having a sense of familiarity without looking like a copy or needing to reuse hole structures, like the template holes we see from Charles Blair Macdonald and Seth Raynor. When you visit a new Ross course, it’s like meeting a new friend who seems like you’ve known them for years. This feeling of comfort and familiarity is exactly what it's like to stroll along the eclectic landscape of Cedar Rapids Country Club in the quiet state of Iowa. 

As stated previously, the routing of CRCC is simply one of Ross’s finest. What makes this 18-hole journey so captivating is the pacing at which the drama is presented. Right out of the gate, Ross takes you over opposing landforms, both of which make for thrilling holes. The first goes ridge to ridge, ending at a steep putting surface that will surely cause problems for most. The second then flips the script by playing over a very large hill that climaxes at the midpoint in the fairway. Nos. 3 through 5 occupy lower-lying land but still generate interest from the subtle slopes. 

Creating playability for all while testing the stronger player is something that Ross designs do so well, and there’s no better example than the fourth hole. An expansive bunker down the right guards the ideal angle for big hitters but remains largely unreachable for the average player. In addition, the first 75 yards of the fairway sits on a strong downslope. This allows for lower launching and shorter drives to bound down the hill, thus equalizing all levels of players or lengths of drives. While the land on the fourth is good, it is nowhere near as dramatic as the first and second holes, but still squeezes out plenty of intrigue from the land. This is a virtue of links golf – utilizing the land to drive interest on the hole – that Ross so expertly implemented on his American courses.

{{content-block-course-profile-cedar-rapids-country-club-004}}

After the gentle and intrinsic stretch of holes three through five, a dramatic drop down into the river valley on the par-5 sixth provides another spike of dopamine in the round. The perfectly situated Indian Creek bisects the fairway and creates a dilemma on the elevated tee shot. Another cross hazard, a calling card of Ross, creates a second dilemma when going for the green or laying up. To round out the first nine, players are greeted with the testy uphill par-4 seventh, followed by more drama at the drop shot par-3 eighth and the raucous ninth I highlighted earlier. This ebb and flow on the front nine is dictated by landforms in the ground in which Ross chose to build the holes over, all of which create something different and exciting.

While the land on the back nine has much less vertical undulation, it still creates drama in a rhythmic pacing like the front nine. The exciting par 4 10th drops severely from the central hill and is then followed by a very flat 11th hole. A large mound houses the green for the 12th hole, testing your long iron and wood play before sending you back down the low-lying 13th. If you somehow hadn’t already noticed the ominous 20-foot-tall mega-mound in the middle of the floodplain, you’ll certainly see it on the 14th tee. The approach to the massive elevated green marks the last bit of drama via undulation until the 18th. The never-ending 15th curls alongside the Indian Creek before it cuts in front of the green. The two-headed beast 16th hole gives a slight reprieve before another creek-hugging green at the 17th. Finally, the grand 18th hikes back up the central hill to finish the round with a bang, just as it started. 

All of this put together makes for a wonderful roller coaster ride that teeters back and forth between highs and lows. What makes the design so special is that the lows don’t really feel like lows due to the inventive Ross greens and strategic bunkering. Subtle rolls, tiers, and ridges, along with comprehensive tilts, make the putting surfaces tricky and full of life. 

Looking back at the course 15 years ago, I’m willing to bet almost no one would regard Cedar Rapids as a great Donald Ross golf course. Thanks to extensive and efficient work from Ron Prichard, plus the unfortunate yet effective widespread tree clearing from the 2020 Derecho, the course shines today as one of the very finest in Iowa. 

1 Egg

The average holes simply hold back the design from being the best of the rest. In addition, a few of the rebuilt greens, like Nos. 16 and 18, are a far cry from the rest with much larger undulations that don’t fit the style seen across the other 16. Other than that, there’s not much more that hinders Cedar Rapids. The course is near its maximum potential thanks to the quality stewardship of this classical gem.

Course Tour

{{content-block-course-profile-cedar-rapids-country-club-005}}