Saturday evening was too nice to let pass without more golf. After getting pampered at Omaha Country Club, I drove a few blocks south to try to squeeze in a round at Benson Golf Course – an 18-hole city course. Unfortunately, an event was still going on so I needed to look elsewhere. So, I searched for the closest 9-hole course and that turned out to be Steve Hogan Golf Course, another city course.
Steve Hogan Golf Course is in the middle of a neighborhood park so it was trickier to find than I expected. The proshop is located in a small building, but once I found it I had no trouble getting out to play. I paid the $9 walking rate and headed to the first tee. I pretty much had the course to myself and made it around in 50 minutes. Overall, my round here highlighted how there are many ways to enjoy the game of golf.
I am pretty sure I am one of the few golfers (possibly the only one?) to play at Omaha Country Club, drive 15 minutes and tee it up here at Steve Hogan Golf Course. The courses are complete opposites, besides having grass and needing golf clubs to play them. And, you know what, I had a great time at both of them – but for different reasons!
The focus at Steve Hogan is growing the game, working on your game or just coming out to get in some steps. The course is a 9-hole par-3 course with mostly short holes. It is a good place to try to knock iron shots close or chip one next to the flag if the tee shot didn’t go as planned. Like many par-3 courses the greens here are small so only the most precise iron will result in a birdie putt. I played the back tees which are only 1,337 yards and besides the first two holes – 182 and 187 yards, everything is between that 100 to 160 yard range.
The course has some character, since it plays through the area’s wooded landscape. Trees overhang tee boxes as well as green complexes, so the course has a nice look to it. Those same trees help separate the holes and add difficulty to the round. My favorite hole was the 8th, which is 147 yards. The green is tucked into a group of trees and angles from front left to back right.
The conditions were more than acceptable for the price. Some teeing areas were being worked on, but most tees had sufficient grass. The greens were full and rolled at a medium pace. There were areas that could use some TLC, but I was surprised how good the grass coverage was considering all the trees.
I thought Steve Hogan turned out to be a decent short course and I enjoyed the walk and a nice sunset. The course isn’t a must play, or a hidden gem or anything like that, but for the right group of people I’d recommend a round here.
Course Pictures (click any picture to scroll through the gallery):