This was stop number three on my trip to scratch North Dakota off of my list. I played here for the first time on 09/02/12 from the black tees at 75.4/133/7166. Bully Pulpit is always rated as one of the top courses in North Dakota so I was expecting a lot and the course delivered. The first 13 holes are on flat ground inside the hills of the Badlands while the last 5 holes wind up into the hills. I loved the first 13 holes even though some could say that were not anything special. The first 13 holes were visually challenging with holes #2 and #3 requiring somewhat tricky, but not excessively difficult, tee shots. The 5th, a long par 3, had a bail out right which was nice and the 8th, the other par 3 on the front, was one of the tougher par 3’s that I have played this year. The 8th required an accurate long iron over a marsh to a green guarded by a hazard short, left, and long with a very small bail out area to the right. Because the course is at some elevation, a couple of the par 5’s were reachable and fun to play. Typically a miss could be found in the fescue so it was not overly penal when missing in the proper spots. Bully Pulpit is a very scenic course even without the last 5 holes and does not currently have any homes on the course. These first 13 holes had a good mixture of tree lined holes and open holes. I did notice that the course had some “simple” design features. Most notably the bunkers on the beginning holes were very shallow and seemed to be placed without much thought. Plus some green complexes almost seemed unfinished (design wise). I am not an architect so there is no way that I could do better, just an observation of mine and it did not influence my day. The last 5 holes run into the hills and give the course a different feeling, like something that is horrible but awesome at the same time. It was horrible to see my good score disappear, but awesome at the same time because the views were stunning. As far as the last few holes go, I am glad I played them, but would not care to play them on any regular basis (I would like to play the 1st 13 holes again though) because they were so tough to play. The 14th required a tee shot into the environmental area on the left to kick the ball into the center of the fairway and the 15th, a downhill par 3 was tough to club (with a 20mph wind) to a postage stamp green with a 15 foot fall off in each direction. On the 17th, I had to walk 100 yards up to the right to see where the flag was and the approach on the 18th was blind. A few tweaks could have made the last 5 holes visually stunning without being as tough to play. I am not too big into golf course design, but something like Jim Engh does on some holes with bowls on greens and fairways would have been awesome here. In the craziness of the last few holes, I forgot about the 16th (a long downhill par 4), which has to be the best hole on the course. It had a wide fairway, elevation change, great views, and a fair approach. The course was in great shape (with only a few burnt out patches) for the $46 that I paid on a holiday weekend. For that price it ranks up there for a great value considering the spectacular scenery. The green were quick, rolled true, and rewarded good putts. What a good course, even though I felt like I got kicked in the face on the finishing holes.
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