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Awarii Dunes

Nebraska, United States

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Designed by Jim Engh and fashioned from a sandy landscape just to the south of Kearney, the Awarii Dunes Golf Course takes much of its inspiration from the great links courses of Ireland.

Overall rating

Course rating full ball
Course rating full ball
Course rating full ball
Course rating half ball
3.5

Awarii Dunes

Activity in western Nebraska has accelerated again, with new courses at Caprock Ranch (Gil Hanse) and Landmand (King Collins) opening in the near future, nearly 30 years after the landmark Sand Hills debuted. Although all of the aforementioned courses are or will be private, a number of public-access courses opened on the sandier side of Nebraska for more widespread enjoyment. Among these were Wild Horse (Axland and Proctor) and Awarii Dunes, a Jim Engh design from 2011.

The dunescape encouraged the adventurous Engh, known widely for his bold mountain and desert designs, to take a more minimalist approach. The result is a series of holes, totaling 7,000 yards, that weave among the sand hills, playing to greens both tucked into natural hollows and, in more difficult cases, perched atop the dunes.

Enormous “blowout” bunkers, filled with conspicuous numbers of grassy islands, provide the primary defense for the wayward golfer, however the natural contours of these greens will make two-putts a worthwhile accomplishment. Your ball, like the sandy terrain, will always be moving on these fairways.

World Top 100 Golf Courses

The latest ranking of the Top 100 Golf Courses in the World serves as the ultimate global golf bucket list. Most members of our World Top 100 Panel are seasoned golfers, each playing 20-30 of these courses annually while travelling extensively over decades to form their opinions on others. We recognise that opinions vary—even among our panel members. Rankings are subjective, and there are undoubtedly 50 or more courses in the UK and USA alone that could easily fit onto this list. Links Golf Pilgrimages The rankings

  1. Cypress Point Club

    California, United States

  2. Pine Valley Golf Club

    New Jersey, United States

  3. Royal County Down (Championship)

    Northern Ireland, United Kingdom

  4. Shinnecock Hills Golf Club

    New York, United States

  5. National Golf Links of America

    New York, United States

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