Sand Creek Station Golf Club

Overview: Sand Creek Station is a Jeff Brauer links-style course in Newton, created as a public course around the city's prairie and railroad identity. Its current profile records 7,200 yards and par 72. The course uses open fairways, native grass, changing wind and bold green surrounds, while Sand Creek borders several holes and ponds add water to selected lines. A railway runs through the wider setting, giving the layout a distinctive Newton character and a visual connection to the town's history as a Santa Fe railroad centre.

History: Sand Creek Station grew from a mid-1990s concept for a city-owned golf facility and was delivered through a public-private partnership. The city and developers combined donated land and development planning to create Newton's first municipal course and its first 18-hole facility. Jeff Brauer designed the course with references to classic links and railway courses, and it opened to the public on July 1, 2006. The project quickly earned environmental and golf-industry recognition, then developed a substantial championship record that includes the 2014 U.S. Amateur Public Links, National Junior College events and the U.S. Adaptive Open. KemperSports has managed the facility since its opening.

Did You Know? The railroad is part of the course's identity, not merely scenery: freight trains still pass through the setting, and a retired Santa Fe engine stands at the entrance. The course also takes its name from Sand Creek, which borders holes 1, 2, 8 and 9.