I’ve got a lot of older reviews to post but want to jump ahead to this trip, where I knocked off golf course 1,000. Crazy to think it finally happened after so many years pursuing it. More on that awesome course a few posts later though.

I met up with a friend in Kansas and we road tripped from Kansas City up through Wisconsin and into Minnesota, golfing along the way. My friend is looking to golf in all 50 states so we hit Missouri, Iowa, Illinois, Wisconsin and Minnesota. I guess I’m a glutton for punishment as I did a similar trip with another crazy friend in May.

This time the Missouri stop was at Stone Canyon Golf Club, about 20 minutes east of downtown Kansas City. The course seems to get talked about as one of the better public courses in the area and after playing here, I’d have to agree.

I played Shoal Creek and Tiffany Greens earlier this year on other trips through Kansas City and liked both of those courses. Still, Stone Canyon is a step above them when it comes to the layout and the conditioning. We paid $60 and for the price it was an excellent value.

Stone Canyon is a Greg Norman Signature course that opened in 2009. The course is part of a development but there are only a couple holes with homes nearby. For the most part the course plays through the area’s hilly landscape. All the up and down, especially on the back nine, was one of the things I enjoyed the most.

Something else I enjoyed about the course was its rugged look. Bunkers have tall-grass surrounding the edges, fescue separates many holes and the rocky landscape is unique. In fact, the 3rd and 11th are the signature holes because of all the exposed rock along each hole. We played the black tees (73.4/141/6633) and from those tees the 3rd is a 351 yard par-4 while the 11th is a 128 yard par-3.

The tee shot on the 3rd needs to carry some junk before the fairway narrows into a depression that is lined by the exposed rock on each side. A rock wall circles the back of the green to give the hole a really cool look. The 11th is the shortest par-3 on the course and plays downhill maybe half a club. The green is wide, but not very deep and has more rocky terrain behind the green. There are other good holes, including the par-5 9th and par-5 15th – two of the five par-5’s at Stone Canyon.

The conditions were nice, especially for the price. No complaints. I think the starter said everything here was bent grass so this time of year it needs a lot of water. Not surprisingly, the turf was lush but soft with plenty of ball marks and divots. The greens were smooth, just a medium pace.

If you are in Kansas City then I’d recommend Stone Canyon in a heartbeat. I think I prefer it over Ironhorse on the Kansas side of town. Sometimes I’ve found Norman courses to be overly difficult, but this one felt more relaxing to play. Stone Canyon was more interesting than I anticipated and I’d even go as far as saying I think it qualifies as a hidden gem.

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