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New Column: Sports Spot
Fore for the Four: The Quad Quad Cities Golf Trail
By Duane Duchesne / Sports Editor
By the picture associated with the title of this article, you can probably and properly figure out that it’s written about the sport (or pastime depending on your skill level) of GOLF. The word “fore” is a term that I, unfortunately, seem to have to use far too often because, to me, golf is more of a pastime than a sport. Essentially, fore is a warning to everyone on the golf course that a ball has been hit and is coming their way instead of the intended area. (Hence my abundant use of it.) But another way to define the golf term fore is by some synonyms such as “watch out” or “heads up” or “be on the lookout for.”
And the number “four” in the title is referring to a wonderful golf destination commonly known as the Quad Cities. The “Quad Cities” is the name applied collectively to Moline and Rock Island, Illinois, and Davenport and Bettendorf, Iowa.
The Quad Cities’ municipal courses have very reasonable daily fees and full public-access thus providing both accessible and affordable golf. And, with more than 25 golf courses in proximity, the Quad Cities is a golf destination.
Unfortunately, I didn’t have the opportunity to experience all 25+ golf courses due to several limiting factors. Of course, time was an issue; with only four days and over 25 courses, well, you do the math. But also, 25+ courses at 18 holes apiece figures to be over 450 holes of golf. I remind you that I use the term “fore” quite a lot. This means that I was also limited by the number of golf balls available for me to lose in the Midwest.
With that being said, my wife and I did get to experience one wonderful course each day and I would like to share some of the highlights with you.
Our first outing was to the Highland Springs golf course which is run and maintained by the Parks and Recreation Department of Rock Island, Illinois. To me, Highland Springs epitomizes Quad Cities golf on a whole. It’s 6,777-yards from the back tees but has 3 other tee choices to accommodate players of all skill levels.
This 18-hole championship golf course has a beautiful layout, with mature trees, ravines, huge greens, ponds, and natural areas. The fairways are decent sized and most have a rolling topography that include a good draw/fade dogleg variety. Because of this design the course has Risk/Reward Par 5’s that challenge even the longest hitters. The greens are large and nicely undulating where very few pins leave you a straight putt. It was both fun and challenging.
The next day we went to the Emeis Golf Course, located on the west side of Davenport, Iowa and is part of the Parks and Recreation Department of Davenport.
This excellent course is an 18-hole, par 72 course that is 6,557-yards from the back tees. But not only does it have 3 other tee choices, the score card also has two dual tee combination choices to further accommodate players of all skill levels. The course is built on gently rolling hills with challenging trees on either side for a beautiful view.
And the course is very well kept up. The greens are beautiful and easy to read but still challenging to play.
Speaking of that, I’m sure that you’ve heard that golf is defined as “A leisurely stroll through a beautiful park spoiled by a little white ball.” This might be one of those courses that epitomizes that idea. Emeis Golf Course was named to Golf Digest’s list of America’s Toughest Golf Courses three times from 1966-1968 and continues to be Davenport’s most challenging public golf course. Emeis hosted the 1962 and 1967 NAIA Men’s Golf Championship and annually conducts the Quad-City Amateur Golf Tournament. Our third experience in the Quad Cities was found in Bettendorf Iowa at the Palmer Hills Golf Course. However, we didn’t play the award winning public 18-hole golf course; a par-71 layout that stretches to just over 6,500 yards from the back tees and has served as the venue for multiple local and state championships.
Instead, we opted for a recent addition to the Palmer Hills Golf Complex; its new 18-hole putting course called The Forge. At just $8 for adults and $5 for kids, the tournament-quality putting course is competitively priced with and far more enjoyable for a golfer than your standard “puttputt” golf courses. (Plus, you don’t have to deal with clowns and windmills.)
The Forge itself consists of 4 separate greens, the second of which measures 30,000 square yards. Each green contains at least a couple of the 18 holes, which are routed out and back. Tee boxes and holes are placed daily in new positions to reduce wear.
The pristine bent grass greens run at the same speed as the main course. Although there can be some severe breaks, nothing is tricked up - players of The Forge will get a feel for what it’s like to putt on a REAL golf course
However, while the standard number of putts per hole is two, which would make par for The Forge 36, there is no par on any hole - the scores just are whatever they are. In fact, I believe that even the best pro in the world would find it a struggle to get a 36 on this putting course.
All in all, it was a very fun, challenging, and quite unique experience.
After this somewhat laidback and relaxing day we embarked the next morning on our final golf outing in the Quad Cities area: the TPC Deere Run golf course in Silvis, Illinois. Although not officially one of The Quad Cities, Silvis borders Moline, Illinois which is one of those cities. Since it was our last day in the area, we could either play a course in Moline (of which there are several) or the spectacular TPC at Deere Run which hosts a PGA Tour Event, The John Deere Classic. We chose the latter.
Like the other courses, Deere Run had several tee options available to accommodate all skill levels (4 different tees plus 2 combinations on the scorecard). But, instead of the back tees being in the 6500 to 6800 range, the back tees at Deere measured to almost 7100 yards. And the other tees were also considerably longer.
In addition to the distances there were some
other differences that were both interesting and often times challenging. While the greens may have been a little better than the other courses the difference was negligible. The fairways, however, were quite a bit different. They were cut so short and were so smooth that they were green-like in quality. (I even considered patenting a new club design called “The Driving Putter.”)
And the rough was equally at a different pace with the other courses. The 1st cut on either side of the fairway was about 4 feet wide with the grass being the length of the other courses fairways. But the 2nd cut (and there were only 2) was at least a foot to 18 inches in length. This
means that if you miss the fairway, you can pretty much say good-bye to par along with your golf ball (I lost 7 that day. Hey; maybe I should design a golf ball with a tracking device in the core that works with a phone app.)
But, despite the longer distances, the more difficult course, and the lost golf balls, we had a truly wonderful and unique experience. I highly recommend it.
All in all, I’d have to say that The Quad Cities golf experience was everything I thought it would be plus some. So, if you’re a golfer looking for someplace to go for some great golf, then all I can tell you is “Fore for the Four.”
