House on the Prairie
ArborLinks in Nebraska, one of Arnold Palmer’s most distinctive course designs, pre-dates Kingdom magazine but only just. It featured in the first ever issue of Kingdom and the two entities have evolved side by side ever since
Golf on the Great Plains at ArborLinks
There is a lot more to Nebraska than cornfields and prairies, but sometimes you have to look hard into this vast golden countryside to find its gems. That is just how they like it at ArborLinks. This links-style golf course lies over gently rolling hills of the Great Plains and it honors its natural landscape. The golf course and nature exist in harmony, with minimal disturbance to native topography, foliage and wildlife when the course was carefully laid out at the beginning of the new millennium. Spread over an expanse of more than 300 acres, native grasses were utilised as Arnold Palmer and his team established one of the first conservation-driven golf courses in the United States. The result was a 7,190-yard layout that looked like an ancient classic from the start.
A striking illustration of how environmentally responsible design could produce stunning results
“Right now the condition of the golf course is as good as it has ever been,” starts Dave Plaster, Chief Marketing Officer of the Dormie Network, of which ArborLinks is a part. “The Dormie Network acquired ArborLinks in 2015 and we completely overhauled the agronomic practices. While we have not made any changes to the course routing— Arnold Palmer created just a really great golf course—we have reviewed the attention to detail to ensure it plays its best through the season.”
ArborLinks completely removes golfers from fastpaced urban life. The remote and tranquil setting combines with the links nature of the course to emanate an Old World feel (although the summers here tend to be warmer than in the Scottish homeland of links golf).
The Midwest course was included in the very first issue of Kingdom in fall 2003, when it was little more than a year old, and it stood out at the time as a particularly significant project for Arnold Palmer Design; a striking illustration of how environmentally responsible design could produce stunning results. Palmer and his team were ahead of the curve and to ensure ArborLinks stays that way, the team from Arnold Palmer Design is back at ArborLinks during this off-season to renovate and expand the driving range in time for summer 2021.
ArborLinks was the first golf club acquired by the impressive Dormie Network and it is now one of six outstanding American venues in the elite squad. Dormie Network members enjoy membership of all six golf clubs for the price of one, and all offer the same exacting standards of service, accommodation, hospitality and golf course experience.