Dismal River Club (White Course)

Favorite Hole 

No. 2, Par 4, 455 yards 

Fascinatingly, the second requires a rare combination of shots, starting with a blind, uphill drive, followed by a blind, downhill approach. There’s even a compounding strategic advantage to playing close to the severe drop-off along the right side, a rarity on Nicklaus designs. Play it safe out to the right and the downward slopes in front of the green are likely to propel your ball through the putting surface. It’s also 100% blind from this side, whereas the left side of the fairway will give you a slight glimpse of the top of the flagstick. Most importantly, the second prepares you for the wild ride that lies ahead, so buckle up.

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‍Overall Thoughts 

Jack Nicklaus is far from a “minimalist” architect. Much of his designs consist of clean-edged, white-sand bunkers, man-made water features, and overly exacting aerial tests. This makes his courses feel more prescribed rather than naturally sewn to the land. So what happens when you force a bear out of his natural habitat? In a 2015 Golf Club Atlas interview, the Golden Bear said, “my feeling was that the golf course should be totally different than anything they’ve seen,” and Dismal River’s White Course certainly achieved that.

Spanning over 400 acres, the White Course is gargantuan. While many of his other designs fall on the larger scale, none of them come close to the vast ruggedness and remoteness of Dismal River. Nicklaus and lead associate Chris Cochran embraced the one-of-a-kind site to create their most minimalist course to date, hardly moving any dirt at all. This statement should pique the interest of any golf architecture enthusiast, but one should be reminded that it’s no easy task building golf in this environment. Just because there are “golf holes everywhere” in the sandhills doesn’t make piecing together a coherent 18-hole experience easy. This phenomenon makes a “good” product quite easy to attain, but a “great” one much more difficult. Unfortunately, the White leans more towards the former for the region. 

For starters, one must applaud Nicklaus Design for taking a minimalist approach on such a gifted site and embracing blind shots, greens that fall away or sit in punchbowls, and a rugged aesthetic. These words are hardly ever associated with courses like Valhalla or Muirfield Village, but they’re abundant at Dismal River. 

Perhaps too abundant as the heaving landscape was left as is in most instances, leaving extreme golf holes in the wake. Nos. 5 and 6 prove the theory that great land in the sandhills can sometimes be too hard to tame. The 190-yard fifth hole plays along a massive ridgeline and the green occupies a slender crest, forcing extreme precision to find the putting surface. Astute golfers may proclaim the uphill 13th at Sand Hills Golf Club just as penal, but the ability to utilize the ground as an assist to find the putting surface is present on the 13th. The angle of the fifth tee shot and green orientation simply won’t allow for the same approach. Furthermore, the sixth takes it to another level, providing no discernible option for the weaker player. If you can’t make the 190-yard carry to the upper fairway, you’re forced to lay up to the lower fairway that doesn’t even appear to be a part of the same golf hole. From this sunken spot you have a 140-plus-yard approach that plays up 55 feet to a volcano-like punchbowl green. This stretch of golf could have benefitted from some skillful earthmoving rather than trying to see how little dirt they could move. 

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All the while, Dismal River White likely has more quality golf holes than not, but falls short at binding together a cohesive experience. Holes like Nos. 2, 7, 8, 9, 11, 13, and 16 are delightful, one-of-one, and arguably world-class, but on the flip side, holes like Nos. 4, 5, 6, 10, 12, and 18 feel questionable and sloggy. So much so that they detract from the quality found elsewhere. But, to their credit, that is what Nicklaus Design was going for, something totally different. The course is extreme because the land is extreme, and you can’t discredit them for embracing minimalism to provide something provocative even if it goes over the top at times. Dismal River White has a lot of great aspects and a handful of bad ones that add up to an unmatched experience. It’s thrillingly fun yet equally frustrating. 

0 Eggs

(How We Rate Courses)

The numerous quality holes and profound fun-factor makes Dismal River White a must-see design for anyone who hasn’t experienced sandhills golf. Ultimately, the impracticality of walking this golf course and subpar presentation withholds its Egg. At 6-plus miles with over 900 feet of elevation gain and no walking paths, the White is strenuous and virtually unwalkable for most. I’m thankful Nicklaus broke from his regimented design style to provide something truly one of a kind but also wish more thoughtful care was put into the balance, playability, and walkability of the course.

Course Tour

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