After a long drive through Missouri we made it to southeast Iowa where we stayed the night. We were up early for a round at Spirit Hollow Golf Course, which was a course I’ve been wanting to play for some time now.

Spirit Hollow is in Burlington, probably an hour and a half from Iowa City and Davenport. So, the course is about as out-of-the-way as it gets! It is usually ranked among the top public courses in the state and currently sits in the top spot, which is why I’ve been excited to try it.

We paid $90 – too much for what we found – and got started on an eerie, foggy morning. The design itself is solid, don’t get me wrong – but the overall experience was lacking for the price. I mean for $90 in Iowa a small bucket of range balls could have been included. I know, I’m nitpicking. However, that along with poor fairways soured my mood.

All things considered the conditions just didn’t match the design. Most holes had large sections of fairways that had died out and were just dirt/mud. I tried not to get the bad spots in my pictures so you won’t see much of what I’m talking about. Other areas of the course were in much better shape. The greens were pure and fast. The rough was lush and thick.

As I mentioned, the design is pretty good. The first three holes are interesting and then from the 9th hole until the 18th every hole is solid. The only weak link to the design are the 4th through the 8th which are out in a flat open area near some homes.

Rick Jacobson designed Spirit Hollow and he did a nice job routing the course on a great piece of land. The opening holes play through a hilly, wooded area and most of the holes on the back nine have a little elevation change to them. We played the black tees (72.4/131/6659) and the biggest challenge you’ll probably face is trying to get an approach shot onto these greens. They are curiously small considering the large feel of everything else here. Only a few holes have hazards to grab golf balls, which usually works well for my game.

I think the best holes at Spirit Hollow are the 9th and the 15th. The 9th is a shorter par-4 playing 365 yards, but it is tricky. The ideal tee shot will hug a hazard to the right and leave a shorter approach as the hole doglegs to the right. The green sits across a creek and there is a steep bank short of the green that you’ll need to carry. The 15th is one of the course’s quality par-3’s. It is 165 yards (can play 230 yards!) and is all carry over water. The green is tucked into a hillside and framed by bunkers and tall grass, giving the hole a great look.

Even if I had golfed here when the fairways were better I’d argue there are plenty of other quality courses in Iowa that can be played for half the cost of a round here. If you live in the Quad Cities or are doing a golf trip to the area then sure, mix in a round here. However, I’m not sure it is worth going out of your way to play here if traveling through Iowa, since Burlington is well off the beaten path.

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