Our solo traveler hits Bent Tree GC
Greetings from Omaha, Nebraska, where they host the College World Series and some financial guru named Warren Buffet makes his home.
Also, I’m told you can actually order steaks and stuff from Omaha steaks. But that’s not why I am here, although if Buffet wanted to give me some inside investing advice I’d surely take it. Mostly, though, I’m here for the golf.
This trip was actually born out of barnstorming through Nebraska in the summer of 2024. My friends and I took the high road that summer, hitting Landmand, Tatanka, Prairie Club, CapRock Ranch, Dismal River and Awarri Dunes. I loved playing in the sand hills of Nebraska – it’s one of my favorite trips except for the massive amount of driving from course to course.
We missed a few courses I really wanted to play – mostly Wild Horse. It was hosting a tournament the day we wanted to play it, so we missed out playing this Top 100 course.
Fast forward to 2026. I’ve heard and read a ton about Quarry Oaks, so I added it to my list of must-plays. Booked Wild Horse and Bayside on the western swing. Gonna hit a couple of nine-holers along the way thanks to some recommendations from my Twitter/X friends.
Drove up from my home in Alabama Saturday – 10-hour trip took 12 thanks to a lunch stop at Lambert’s Home of the Throwed Rolls in Sikeston, Mo., and some brutal construction traffic delays between St. Louis and Kansas City. Spent the first night in KC and found a great place for a hamburger – KC Burger Joint.
Motored to Omaha on Sunday and played at Bent Tree Golf Club in nearby Council Bluffs, Iowa. It was my first-ever round in Iowa. It’s a privately-owned public course that was a really fun layout. Tons of elevation changes. Good bentgrass greens that were challenging. Pretty fast too, if you got above the hole.
Because Iowa, you know – Field of Dreams, etc. – I had to stop and take a selfie in front of a cornfield. If you build it, he will come, yada, yada. Well, they built it and I came to play it, so there is that.
Best hole on the front nine was No. 7, a 395-yard par 4 that plays along a ridge. The green is flanked by mounds to the left and a swale in front and right.
The stretch of 12-through-16 on the back was memorable. No. 12 is a downhill par 5 that you have to thread your second shot between a tree left and tall fescue-like grass on the right. No. 13 is a short par 3 that you can play off the mounds on the left, but a right miss will trundle down a steep slope.
No. 14 is a par 4 that has a blind tee shot or a blind second shot if you don’t hit your drive to the top of a hill. No. 15 features a downhill tee shot with a heart-shaped bunker guarding the right side. The rest of the hole plays uphill and a large tree is in play short and right of the green. No. 16 was probably my favorite hole – a short 4 measuring 302 yards from the blue tees. The green is guarded by three bunkers and there is high bentgrass rough up the left side.
Bent Tree is a quality public-accessible facility. The staff was friendly, playing conditions were top-notch. It tips out at 7,022 yards and is a friendly 6,304 yards from the blue tees. It was playing firm and fast.
The $87 rate did not seem unreasonable. I’d play it again if I am ever back in town.
Quarry Oaks is up next on the great Nebraska solo road trip. If it doesn’t wear me out, I might stop at a nine-hole course on my way to the next stop.
Featured image: Bent Tree GC No. 16 by Gregg Dewalt
Gregg Dewalt is the editor of Alabama Golf News
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