5 Des Moines Golf Courses I Love Playing
I'm a Des Moines, Iowa REALTOR®, and I like to play golf with my clients. There's not a much better way to get to know someone than four hours, a cart, and a few bad shots off the tee. Over the years a handful of courses around the metro have become my favorites, and a few of them you can actually get on. Here are the five I like the most.
Glen Oaks
If you get invited out to Glen Oaks, say yes. This Tom Fazio layout hosted the Champions Tour event now known as the Principal Charity Classic for years, and it lives up to the hype. The catch: it's a private club, so it's member or invitation only.
Des Moines Golf & Country Club
The granddaddy of them all in the metro. It has two Pete Dye courses, and it hosted the 2017 Solheim Cup, which used a composite of holes from both. Very cool, but a hard course to get on. It's private, so it's member or invitation only.
Tournament Club of Iowa
TCI in Polk City is the one course around here that really feels like a destination trip. It's an Arnold Palmer Signature Course carved into the bluffs and ravines between Big Creek and Saylorville Lake, with water in play throughout. And the best part: it's public.
Legacy Golf Club
The go-to in Norwalk when you want a solid, well-kept round without the private-club exclusivity. You get GPS carts, bentgrass fairways and greens, and it's very well maintained. Water comes into play on a lot of holes too, so bring extra balls.
Otter Creek
Otter Creek in Ankeny is a links-style course with tall grasses, mounding, bunkers, and a lot of ponds. It's owned by the City of Ankeny, so it's open to everyone, and the Iowa Golf Association named it its 2016 18-Hole Course of the Year.
Why a Realtor Is Telling You This
Golf is one of my favorite ways to get to know clients, and it says a lot about how people live. Some families want to be minutes from a favorite course. Others want a quiet weekend routine and a short drive to the tee. If golf is part of the life you're picturing, tell me, and we can factor it into where you look, whether that's close to a private club or near one of the great public options above. Reach out anytime at 515-708-4572 or steven@sbreiowa.com
