Dismal River

We’re still touched by our last visit to the Doak Course here, which in the earliest hours of the day, with sunlight just breaking over the horizon outside the town of Mullen, offers something akin to a religious experience. The quiet, the vastness, and the stillness combine to create a sense of anticipation in the heart that seems to put the landscape in motion somehow; it’s enthralling. Consider No.17 on Doak’s “Red” course, a 454-yard par-4 that doesn’t reveal any of its secrets from the tee, opens to a massively wide fairway, has a river meandering alongside right, and presents a forced carry over a ravine, down a hill to the green. Doak’s “Red” and Jack Nicklaus’ “White” courses both enjoy the sandhills’ epic terrain and “discovered” vs “designed” layouts, but there’s an odd magic to this property as well as far as we’re concerned. The drama of the golf, which feels as if it’s being played among tall rolling waves at sea, is enhanced by the contrast with the simple, rustic cabin accommodations, arranged almost as if they were wagons around a campfire. But make no mistake: they’re rustic in flavor only, with beds and linens and other amenities absolutely top-drawer. With affable staff, cold beers and high-end bourbons, grilled steaks, sublime golf, straightforward everything else, and a universe of stars over your head each night, this is one of our favorite places on Earth. Like it is with the dolorous name hanging over the radiant beauty, the entire property is a study in perfectly balanced extremes, and that’s a rare feat.

Dismalriver.com