Des Moines Golf & Country Club (South)

Overview: The South Course at Des Moines Golf & Country Club is one half of a 36-hole Pete Dye complex on the western edge of West Des Moines. Its parkland setting combines mature trees and broad Iowa ground with Dye's characteristic strategic demands: railroad-tie details, pot bunkers, false fronts, water and green complexes that reward precise positioning. The directory lists the South at 7,149 yards and par 72, but the interest is not simply its length. Angles into the greens, the relationship between landing areas and hazards, and the shaping around the putting surfaces give the course a demanding championship character.

History: Des Moines Golf & Country Club traces its organisation to 1897, when local golfers began on land offered by Harry Polk. Warren Dickinson, a founding member and leading Iowa golfer, reshaped that early haphazard 18-hole course into a nine-hole layout before the club moved to a new site beside Waveland. Thomas Bendelow designed the next course, which helped the club host the 1909 Trans-Mississippi tournament and form part of the 1911 U.S. Amateur venue. After another move to the Ashworth Estate in 1923, an interstate highway project prompted the club to buy 471 acres in Dallas County. The club's official history dates the two-course project to 1968 and 1969, while this South profile retains the directory's 1970 course-date field. The full 36 holes were later renovated under Dye associate Tim Liddy between 2013 and 2016.

Did You Know? Des Moines Golf & Country Club's two courses are the only Pete Dye designs in Iowa and one of the relatively few sites where Dye designed all 36 holes on one property. The club's earlier history also includes Warren Dickinson, the only Iowan to serve on the USGA Board of Directors.