Lost Rail, Omaha, Nebraska

Just miles from downtown Omaha, Lost Rail is testament to Nebraska’s climbing golf relevance. The state has seen other world-class courses like the Landmand emerge recently. Designed by Scott Hoffman, Lost Rail is pure golf across 7,200 yards (par 71) with 30-second walks from green to tee. There are neither homes nor roads across its 155 acres, and the small, classic clubhouse is more reminiscent of a 1920’s home rather than a palatial clubhouse. An abandoned, 100-year-old Burlington Northern railroad line that once connected Omaha to Sioux City, Iowa, is incorporated on several holes of the routing. Hoffman retained much of the native vegetation to lend itself to environmental sustainability. “From an aesthetic standpoint, Lost Rail’s feel constantly changes, making the course very memorable and worth playing many times,” said Jim Flynn, president of the course developer Landscapes Unlimited. “There are a lot of elevation changes and dramatic topography, but nothing fake or fabricated out there.”

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Ground has been broken on construction of Mapleton Golf Club, the new private, golf-only escape in Mapleton Township, South Dakota, five miles north of downtown Sioux Falls.

Central to the exclusive club will be an 18-hole championship golf course traversing natural prairies with the look and feel of famous classics Shinnecock and National Golf Links on Long Island, New York.

Renowned golf course architect Scott Hoffman promises wide bent-grass fairways, sloped landing areas, greens with subtle movements and short-grass surrounds for creative recoveries, and bunkers with natural fescue edges.  Extremely short distances from greens to tees will make Mapleton hands-down “one of the easiest walks in all golf.”

“We want to test the best players, but just as important, make Mapleton extremely playable and enjoyable for less accomplished golfers,” says Hoffman whose work includes acclaimed Gozzer Ranch, Lost Rail, Monterey Dunes and Scottsdale National.  “No two holes will be remotely the same and shot values will differ from day to day.”

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Construction is underway on a new golf course, designed by Lester George, ASGGA, for the new Contentment Club in Traphill, North Carolina. 

George’s design is inspired by the work of C. B. Macdonald and Seth Raynor, with each of the eighteen holes based on one of the Golden Age duo’s template designs. The course begins with a par-five Maiden hole and includes Biarritz, Redan, Punchbowl, Double Plateau, and Road holes, finishing with a Narrows eighteenth. 

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