Sand Hills Golf Club

Sand Hills Golf Club opened in 1995 near Mullen, Nebraska, and changed the direction of modern golf architecture. Developer Dick Youngscap enlisted Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw, who spent roughly two years walking the vast, rumpled dunescape and identifying well over a hundred natural potential holes before selecting eighteen. Built on a modest budget with remarkably little earthmoving, the course simply linked existing landforms, letting native sand, fescue, and wind define the challenge. Its success proved that a remote course on extraordinary land could draw players from anywhere, inspiring a wave of minimalist, walking-focused destinations. Consistently ranked among the top courses in the world and the best built since 1960, Sand Hills is regarded as the breakthrough that launched Coore and Crenshaw's celebrated partnership and helped ignite the modern minimalist movement in course design.