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Q. Aren't there already golf courses in the Sand Hills?
A. Yes. The Prairie Club, about 18 miles west of Valentine, is the latest. Ben Crenshaw designed the Sand Hills Golf Club south of Mullen that opened in 1995. Jack Nicklaus designed the Dismal River Club, which opened in 2006.
Q. Is there anything unusual about the Prairie Club?
A. Many things, but what is probably most unusual is that unlike those private clubs, the Prairie Club will be open to the public. It is difficult for average golfers to get on championship courses. People are playing on the Prairie Club now, but it won't have the grand opening until May 15 or June 1, 2010. Memberships are being sold, but until all the memberships are sold, it will operate as a public and private course.
Q. Who is behind the Prairie Club?
A. Paul Schock, a venture capitalist from Sioux Falls, S.D. He purchased land from Dr. Cleve Trimble and decided it would be a great place for a golf course.
Q. How many courses has Paul Schock designed or worked on?
A. Schock said this is the first project where he has been “the main guy.” He has played amateur golf his entire life in South Dakota. Schock said he also has extensive background in lodging and business.
Q. Is access from major population centers going to be a problem?
A. The fundamental of the business model is that the target market for the Prairie Club is the “avid golfer.” There are about 7 million of those golfers in the United States, Schock said. “We believe when you make great golf available to the average golfer, they will find you,” he added.
Q. Have any memberships been sold already?
A. There a lot of members within driving distance, including three from the Norfolk area. Others are from Sioux Falls, Rapid City and Omaha, among other places.
Q. How much will it cost to play on the courses?
A. Final prices have not been set, but the fee will probably be in the $150 to $175 range.
Q. Will there be lodging?
A. There will be lodging and food and beverage on site, as well as a pro shop.
VALENTINE, Neb. — Some of the earliest golf courses in Scotland were constructed by taking advantage of the natural lay of the land.
That same principle is guiding Paul Schock's development of a new golf club in the Sand Hills near Valentine.
The Prairie Club's two 18-hole courses are remarkably different. There's also a 10-hole, par-three course.
Schock, 51, said golf architecture has been a longtime hobby.
“I believe strongly that the way the game is played in Scotland and Ireland is the way it ought to be played,” said Schock, a Sioux Falls, S.D., venture capitalist and avid golfer. “In many cases, it's a lot different than in the United States. There are big greens and the ball rolls. So often in the U.S.A. (the courses) are designed so the ball carries over water hazards.”
Golfers already began teeing off this past summer at the Prairie Club, although the official grand opening won't be until at least May.
The courses — along with the par-three course — are in the “grow-in phases” but a little ahead of schedule. It helped that both courses mostly follow the lay of the land and did not require a lot of earth to be moved, Schock said.
Of Prairie Club's two championship courses, one was designed by golf professional Tom Lehman.
“The land is interesting in that we have the Sand Hills with the chop and the blowouts,” Schock said. “We also have the Snake River of Nebraska and that canyon with the water that flows through the ranch.”
The land was purchased from Cleve Trimble, a physician who formerly practiced in Norfolk.
While one course has few trees and plenty of room for balls to roll, the second course features a forest of ponderosa pines.
“It has a dramatically different feel,” Schock said.
Unlike most championship courses, the Prairie Club will be both public and private. The par-three course is adjacent to a lodge where members and guests can spend the night.
In some ways, Schock said he can see similarities in the Sand Hills and the links courses more common in England and Scotland. The courses feature rolling hills covered with grass, natural sand and a range of landscapes.
Schock said the courses are modeled most closely after those at St. Andrew's. The courses provide a place to get away from it all and experience nature.
Schock said one philosophy that went into building the courses is that a lost ball is not fun.
The accurate shot is rewarded, but if a golfer has an errant shot teeing off, it will still be possible to make a recovery with a great shot, he said.
Those playing the courses will find wide fairways and big greens.
“The golf ball is round and meant to roll,” Schock said. “What makes golf fun is where you have to guess where the gravity and hills will change the course of the ball.”
Schock made his first visit to play on the courses of Scotland and England last summer. While there, he tried to get a feel for how they do things. He inquired about everything from how the grass is cared for to how the courses were designed.
“The neatest thing was when I came back from having been there, I would not do one thing differently (than what we did here),” he said.
Schock said it would be inappropriate to suggest that Prairie Club is as good as those historic, famed courses. Some of the concepts behind the Prairie Club courses are modeled after those historic courses, but that's about as far as the comparisons should go, he said.
“Our reputation will be in the hands of our guests,” Schock said.
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