Bully Pulpit

Bully Pulpit’s 18-hole layout lies close to the Theodore Roosevelt National Park, named after the 26th President of the United States who once used it as his favourite hunting ground. Roosevelt also owned a ranch there that he retreated to when both his wife and mother died on the same fateful day in 1884.

While in office, the President coined the term “bully pulpit” for the White House (meaning a great platform from which to influence opinion) and this was the rather appropriate name chosen for the golf course when it opened for public play in 2004.

Designed by Dr. Michael Hurdzan, the Bully Pulpit course sits just south of the small town of Medora, along the Little Missouri River, with the final five holes routed through the spectacular landscape of the North Dakota Badlands.

Playing to a par of 72 and measuring a meaty 7,413 yards from the back tees, the course is owned and operated by the Theodore Roosevelt Medora Foundation, which is a public non-profit organisation formed in 1986 to promote the historic character of Medora and the surrounding area.

Highlight holes on the course include a couple of par fives on the front nine: the left doglegged 4th, laid out along the banks of the river, and the 6th, which features an intriguing split level fairway. On the inward half, the signature hole on the course is the 161-yard 15th, played downhill to a “postage stamp” green that falls away on every side.