Renovation at Wakonda Club, Des Moines Iowa

[tatertot]

I've heard rumors of what went down at the club before and during this major renovation ... Anybody have insider/member details?

[sleuth]

Who cares? The master plan looks great and the renovations will improve the course. Considering their downstroke is/was one of the lowest in the Des Moines metro, and at one point they even waived it -- why the uproar? Anyway, it's really not worth discussion.

[tatertot]

Well ... From what I've heard, a number of members cared enough to leave and go to other area clubs.

 

But before I start another thread, I'll run it past you and see if it's worthy of discussion.

[sleuth]

Lol this concerns you -- why?

 

They decided to renovate. They assessed. Members left. They're the most exclusive club in Des Moines now. Submit your membership.

Edited August 3, 2023 by sleuth

[jshel]

It is going to be wonderful. They have shared a ton of photos/videos on Instagram. 

 

I played this spring and even with the tree removal they started last winter, the course was much better. 

 

I look foward to seeing it next year after they reopen. 

[lewis17web]

The renovation went better than could be expected and the membership is already rebounding and likely full again by this time next year. Considering the quality of the work assessment wasn't that bad. 

[pmang]

I drove by on Fleur Dr today. From the road it looks great!

Edited October 28, 2023 by pmang

[tatertot]

12 hours ago, pmang said:

I drove by on Fluer Dr today. From the road it looks great!

It really does, shocked by how green and filled in it looks.

 

They won't be opening for play until the Principal, however.

[lewis17web]

We should be out before PCC. Course has generally grown in well. Some of the approaches and surrounds need to fill in more. A few tee boxes that were seeded late need to grow a bit. The greens have all grown in and 5 new greens will blend in well. Bunkers are deep for sure. New 18 is going to be a tough hole with a deep mid fairway bunker. 

[Hawkeye]

The restoration at Wakonda has been exceptional. The course has improved in about every way. The club has this brochure that explains the details of the restoration. Can’t wait to see how it plays during the Principal Charity Classic in late May. 

Wakonda Club Rack Card.pdf

[lewis17web]

Probably will be easier for the pros. Fairways are wider and there are a lot of new bunkers in play but doubt they will have trouble avoiding them. A lot of the old runoffs in the valleys are gone because the landing areas on 4, 6, 12 were evened out. Greens are bigger with more subtle breaks now so with increased green speeds that will be a bit of an equalizer. Overall the new course is awesome and greening up well. Seeing the 8th and 10th fairways combined with one big open space is impressive. Same for 11/15 connector green. I expect demand to play the course this summer will be up. 

[sleuth]

On 4/9/2024 at 4:43 PM, lewis17web said:

Probably will be easier for the pros. Fairways are wider and there are a lot of new bunkers in play but doubt they will have trouble avoiding them. A lot of the old runoffs in the valleys are gone because the landing areas on 4, 6, 12 were evened out. Greens are bigger with more subtle breaks now so with increased green speeds that will be a bit of an equalizer. Overall the new course is awesome and greening up well. Seeing the 8th and 10th fairways combined with one big open space is impressive. Same for 11/15 connector green. I expect demand to play the course this summer will be up. 

Why do you suggest that? Hitting fairways isn't how you score. The old tips played at like 6900yds on the best day, so they added over 200yds. The rating is now 75/143, and 72.6/138 from the next tee up. I don't recall the original tips rating, but the old blue (now named I) was something like 72/128.

 

Adding strategic bunkers on common landing spots, renovated greens which I presume are more challenging would be enough to add a couple strokes to someones score. I would hope the change to #18 is a reflection of the additional challenges added to the course. I'm not suggesting the Pro's still won't feast, because they're well... Pro's. I just don't see the winning score being -17 or -18 anymore. Maybe in the -12 to -15 range.

 

I'm personally looking forward to playing out there later this season or maybe next season after the grass has matured a bit.

Edited May 23, 2024 by sleuth

[lewis17web]

The course from the new tips will play harder for sure. The new 10th Langford tee is basically at the 18th green.  The new back 9 is going to be harder than the front now. Both back par 3s are long while the front two are shorter. The guys at the PCC are going to tear the course up. They have historically played a lot of the old member blue tees with hole locations in feeder spots where guys can make birdies. As noted above all the old airways that were narrow and the ball ran into the rough have been widened and the landing areas leveled. Those guys won't have trouble avoiding the bunkers. There aren't trees overhanging the fairways in places anymore. If they were serious about setting up a challenging course they could but that's never what they do. There might actually be pin location on the left upper tier of 6 this year. The one new feature that is a big change is a bunch of native fescue areas where you could lose a ball which we never had in the past. If you listen to the Reversing Course Podcast they talk about the new course rating process with Nate McCoy. If you have a chance to get out and play it you won't be disappointed. No one has played it yet. A lot of us have been patiently waiting a year (or really 4-5 years from when planning began) to see this new course rolled out. 

[lewis17web]

The newest version of Wakonda is the best yet. Fairways are wide but the bunkers keep it honest off the tee and around the greens. The greens are a cool improvement. Lots of new pin locations and subtle slopes. Green condition is great though the last seeded (9 and 15) are still pretty firm. Widened approaches like left of 6, right of 13, and especially right of 16 are much appreciated. 18 now you pretty much just have to go for it and hope you cover the new fairway bunker. 10 is actually a lot of fun now. The old hole your drive tended to run out to the right in the rough or behind trees now matter how well you hit it. Now you just blast it and approach from there. You can be over in 8 fairway and still only be 180 yards out. Overall worth the wait. 

Edited June 8, 2024 by lewis17web

[sleuth]

On 6/8/2024 at 3:16 PM, lewis17web said:

The newest version of Wakonda is the best yet. Fairways are wide but the bunkers keep it honest off the tee and around the greens. The greens are a cool improvement. Lots of new pin locations and subtle slopes. Green condition is great though the last seeded (9 and 15) are still pretty firm. Widened approaches like left of 6, right of 13, and especially right of 16 are much appreciated. 18 now you pretty much just have to go for it and hope you cover the new fairway bunker. 10 is actually a lot of fun now. The old hole your drive tended to run out to the right in the rough or behind trees now matter how well you hit it. Now you just blast it and approach from there. You can be over in 8 fairway and still only be 180 yards out. Overall worth the wait. 

That's what a friend told me, and sums it up pretty well. I still don't think I'll make it out there until August. With all the green renovations they completed, I'm surprised they didn't touch 11 or 14. 11 specifically is just a dumb approach shot.