Awarii Dunes Golf Club

Teed off just before 9 on a day that was forecast to be 97 degrees and windy (20-25; gusts to 35). Played with two of my sons, and we all had a great day. The wind affected shots (2-clubs on some holes), but was not unpleasant. We finished before 1, and it was not yet 90 degrees. Overall, a nice Sunday morning round on a fun course, in excellent condition. Greens held shots well; were moderate-fast, and true.

Great course close to the interstate. Worth the stop if you are passing through.

One of the best link style courses I have golfed. Layout is great and the greens are challenging.

Well taken care of. Great clubhouse. Great staff. Awesome layout. Manager will do anything to make your round better.

Have wanted to play for a few years since Engh re-do. Worth the wait. Huge greens with 3-8' of elevation change on some greens. Typical "blow out" bunkers in fairways and green side. Fairways in great shape. Generous fairways with the windy conditions that are usually present in rural central Neb. (about 10 mi from Kearney)
The course is split. Front 9 across the road from Proshop and back nine on same side. The only draw back on pace of play was that a foursome was allowed to start on back 9 in front of my wife and I. We waited on every shot for the first 3 holes on back before they allowed us to play thru.
Only courses in NE I like better is the Prairie Club 2 courses. Better than Wildhorse or Bayside.

I stumbled upon this course when looking for a place to play on the way home from Colorado and I am glad I found it. No two holes are alike in distance or style of green. As a testament, I hit every club in the bag except my 8-iron while shooting a 76. The course features very wide fairways on most holes and what they call "blowouts" that are sand traps with grass and mounds within the bunker. I managed to avoid these on every hole so it can be done. My only complaint is the new house on the par 3 11th, which is too close to the hole! All I could think about was not shanking it into one of the windows. My suggestion would be to move the back tees about twenty yards to the left and/or put up a net. Other than this, the course is a championship caliber course that should host state and regional tournaments.

Awarii Dunes is a great example of links-style course in Nebraska. Staff were very friendly. Played as a single mid-week. Pace of play was good. Encountered a few groups who allowed me to play through. Course in excellent shape. Course was lush and soft. Fairways are generous, but missing them will penalize you. Greens very challenging. Significant slopes, mounds, and multiple tiers. Can be hard to read. Definitely would go back.

Great course... Large fairways, Large greens. Good distance to the course.

I have played this course about 10 times. This is a great course in central Nebraska that provides the opportunity to play something "different". While not as renowned as other western nebraska courses (see Gothenburg, Sandhills, Dismal, and Prairie Club), Awarii Dunes offers the links style format so many golfers adore. Every time I play this course however, I'm left wanting something a little more. The course has many rough areas that could use some much needed TLC and if they looked a little better, would put it up there with some of the other courses listed above. It's the little things!

Overall, a very playable course that would a wide range of skill levels. Wide fairways, with tricky (sometimes odd) green configurations. I plan to come back and play many times and see how the course evolves over the years.

Three of us came out to play from Lincoln for an all-day rate and managed to get in 36 holes. The weather was absolutely perfect after some early fog burned off. The green grass was beautifully offset by the autumn colors that surround the course.

There are a nice number of tee boxes to pick from (although less than originally planned apparently) and the course was overall in great shape. Lots of natural bunkers that come into play, but not overly punishing or punitive regarding location. The greens were in wonderful shape as well. Pace of play was great as was the friendly staff. Overall the holes and course layout felt pleasant and appropriately set up. Nice harmony from hole to hole.

The fairways are VERY wide, but venture off them and you'll have a tough time finding and/or playing your ball. VERY playable overall however, even for a higher handicap.

There are a few homes along the course, but not a lot as of yet. I would say that the back 9 appeared to be a bit more difficult than the front, but I'm unsure if that's generally true. Overall I was really impressed with Awarii Dunes. I had wanted to play it for quite some time and am glad I did and plan to again in the future.

Why not 5 stars you may ask? The concern lies with approximately 3-5 greens (can't remember exactly the number) that were borderline hokey regarding undulation and pin location. A couple almost felt like a halfpipe that would funnel the ball to the hole (which is kind of nice too). I'm not 100% sure how I feel about those few greens, but I do know they seemed a touch out of place compared to the rest of the greens. With a few of the locations they almost felt like they should have a clown's nose around them. I reserve the right to change my mind on this however. It certainly wouldn't stop me from playing the course again.

Summary: Lovely course with great conditions currently ... greens ran very true. Only reservation was with a few of the greens. I'd highly recommend playing Awarii Dunes!

I live only about 10 miles away, and enjoy the course much as I can. The course is re-designed by Jim Engh, from the original 9 hole layout to an 18 hole layout with a lot of refinements, re-mapping and improvements. The original 9 was laid out by Freddie Couples' company even though it wasn't a signature course.

The course has had it's challenges from a maintenance standpoint throughout it's existence, but has made significant strides and is now in really good condition. The fairways are bent grass, which you don't see too often in this area, but are a pleasure to play from if you are striking it well. Greens are smooth and relatively quick, but hold well if you can generate some spin or bring the ball in high. Keep in mind that the wind blows here most of the time so high is not always your best shot. Course gives you options for how you play most of the holes, so you can recover from "mistakes" if you are patient.

There are some quirky holes, but that is the nature of most links style courses. It is a really nice track and very friendly staff. I highly recommend it.

It was the first time I had played this course and here were my first impressions. The pro shop person was friendly and welcoming. The course was definitely green, maybe a bit wet due to a heavy rain the night before. The pace was fine. I think a person can play a lot better at this course after playing it and having knowledge of where rough is and exactly where to aim on the many blind shots that you have to take. The fairways are wide, but if you are left or right more than about 10 feet, it is extremely difficult to find you ball in the very tall weeds and nearly impossible to try to hit out of it.