I kicked off the holiday with a morning round at Sand Creek Station Golf Course, the fourth of the five courses that I played on my short visit to Wichita. While Sand Creek Station doesn’t have a Wichita address, it is only 30 minutes north of town – in Newton. It has been a course I’ve been wanting to play since I moved to Texas in 2019.

Even though Sand Creek Station gets ranked among the top public courses in Kansas, it still seems to fly under the radar when it comes to recognition. Maybe that is because of its inconvenient location, which requires a detour off I-35 or I-70. Or maybe it is because when people think of Kansas golf they think of a couple premier private courses. For me though, Sand Creek Station exceeded my high expectations.

I enjoyed the course for a number of reasons. First, I’m a casual railfan and the course has a train theme. If you’ve followed my page then you’ll know that I love a course with a theme. Here, the word “station” is in the course’s name, the course’s logo is a train and there is an old caboose in the parking lot. A BNSF Railway facility isn’t far from the course and maybe one third of the holes play along different tracks. I saw/heard trains while playing the 4th, 10th and 16th holes during my round. Neat.

I also liked the prairie look of many holes at Sand Creek Station. Farm land can be seen from a number of holes. There a couple wooded holes on the front nine but much of the course has an open feel with mounding and tall grass separating holes. The bunkering, which also features tall grass edges, adds to the aesthetics. You probably don’t think of Kansas as scenic – and I’m not saying it is. But, I think there is something awe-inspiring about the look of golf courses in this part of the country.

I played the tournament (blue) tees and from there the course is 74.0/129/6733. Jeff Brauer designed the course, which opened in 2006. I usually enjoy Brauer’s work and Sand Creek Station is no exception. The course has many modern design elements to it, including adequate bunkering and undulation in the fairways and greens. There are some semi-blind landing areas which made things tough to figure out. Brauer still seems to find a way to keep a course playable and fun though. It did seem like the slope should be a bit higher.

I’m not sure there is a signature hole, but the 10th hole (a 612 yard par-5) is probably the most memorable. It is a long par-5 – which is 640 yards from the back tees – with water to the left on the tee shot and water to the right near the green. It was into the wind and I had no chance getting there in three shots after a drive in the gnarly rough. The yardages on the other holes vary and depending on the wind, the 318 yard par-4 5th could be driveable. The 17th is a fun 126 yard par-3.

I paid $48 to ride – an great value – on a holiday and the conditions were pretty good. I played with a couple locals who said that the 2022 summer was brutal and there is still some evidence of that heat/stress on some mounded areas. The turf was mostly full and lush. The rough was thick and difficult to play from. The greens were the quickest of the six Kansas courses I played and rolled smooth. My only complaint is that things were soggy from all the watering.

If you find yourself around Wichita and looking for some golf, then I’d highly recommend a round at Sand Creek Station. It is a city-owned course and, if you ask me, one of those hidden gems. If you were to put the course in major metropolitan area then it would easily have a green fee of $150+.

Course Pictures (click any picture to scroll through the gallery):