A big inspiration for the 35x70 Golf Co. blog comes from 4A suburban high school golf in the mid-2000s. Back then, KSHSAA Girls' Golf held championships for 6-5A, the big schools, and 4-1A, the smaller schools. Despite playing city and suburban schools during the regular season, our championship season took us to places like Fredonia, Pretty Prairie, and other small Kansas towns. Those generally cold and rainy October championship rounds instilled a deep appreciation for small town golf - unique course designs, hidden gems, and great golfers in places they were least expected. My first trip to Wamego last month brought back vivid memories of team van rides through the country to places I'd never heard of but led to unforgettable days that are favorites to reminisce.
As travelers enter Wamego from the south, they're greeted with pretty farms, two rows of downtown buildings lining Lincoln Ave, and American flags as far as the eye can see. Wamego oozes Kansas history with its Museum of Oz and Yellow Brick Road and puts on the state's best 4th of July fireworks show that has earned it the nickname, "Boomtown". Just past the high school at the highest point in town sits an unassuming clubhouse, practice area, and first tee of Wamego Country Club that is just the beginning of a course that left us awestruck at every turn.
In 2004, Wamego native Eric Langvardt designed holes 9 through 17 at Wamego CC. After finishing #8, golfers head west across the street to the younger half of the golf course. While a crop field is visible behind #9 green, it's quickly easy to forget you're in Kansas. The 2,901 yard, par 34 side shares many characteristics with the front nine including dog-legs with demanding tee shots and stunning greens, but adds the challenge of penalty areas and tall grass lining nearly every hole. It features four beautiful par 3s and the first par 5, #13, has a stone retaining wall in the middle of the sloped fairway creating the look of two fairways. My personal favorite was #11, a dog-leg left par 4 with evergreens to the left and water protecting the steep, elevated green. From behind the green, the colorful water tower pokes above the trees in the distance and one can take in the slopes and views of Wamego Country Club. #16 is a particularly difficult 3-shot par 5 with a tight tee shot and lay up into yet another sloped green complex. Finally, the round finishes on #18, a straightaway par 4 back up the hill towards the clubhouse.
Wamego Country Club is an awesome test of golf, but most of all, an incredible golf course with something neat around every corner!
