“Their swift actions protected GrayBull and prevented any injuries as a result.”
In recent weeks, wildfires have ravaged parts of the country. They’ve even impacted golf courses, as well.
Last week, a wildfire started near North Platte, Nebraska, and quickly threatened GrayBull Club, a Dormie Network property in Maxwell. Thanks to fast-acting actions from staff, the soon-to-be-complete club were able to leverage innovative irrigation and use mobile water trucks to control the fire. However, the fire has burned more than 71,000 acres.
David McLay Kidd — known for his work at Bandon Dunes, among other sites — and his crew broke ground on the project back in 2022. The site is in the southern reaches of the Sandhills, more than an hour south of several top courses such as Sand Hills Golf Club (Golfweek’s Best No. 1 Modern Course in the U.S.) or Prairie Club (with the Dunes, the No. 1 public-access layout in Nebraska).
GrayBull’s unique underground decoder-based irrigation system played a crucial role in safeguarding the club during the wildfire threat. The system, designed as a preventive measure against such emergencies, enabled the effective control and mitigation of the fire, showcasing the foresight in GrayBull’s infrastructure planning.
A wildfire ripping through Gray Bull Golf Club in Nebraska on Monday. Thanks to quick action from the super and his team — and some good fortune — infrastructure survived and, most important, no one was hurt. pic.twitter.com/ayCUiCUg49
This approach was pivotal in protecting the course and minimizing damage. Alongside the irrigation system, an onsite water truck utilized approximately 45,000 gallons of water to protect structures and put out hot spots.
“We want to thank Michael Sheely, Director of Agronomy, the GrayBull team, and Ben Boehm, volunteer firefighter and Sampson Construction team member, for their prompt response to the wildfire,” Zach Peed, President of Dormie Network, said in a release. “Their swift actions protected GrayBull and prevented any injuries as a result.”
Although the fire burned around the course and all the way up to the edge of the fairways, the course remained untouched. An inspection has been done on all construction, facilities and structures, but there has been only minimal damage to greens tarps, drainage pipes and construction materials.
After 8 p.m. Monday, when GrayBull was safely secured, the team drove the water truck out to support the rest of the North Platte community and leveraged a water line close to the GrayBull entrance to fill volunteer fire trucks.
In an effort to fight future wildfires, a matching donation fundraiser has been kickstarted. All funds raised up to $100,000 will be matched by Dormie Network Foundation and will help with the purchase of another fire engine for and to expand the current facilities of the Maxwell Volunteer Fire Department.
The Scottish architect tackles the Sandhills, a geologic region blessed with great golf terrain.
David McLay Kidd made a name for himself by building a course in a far-flung outpost far from any major cities. His Bandon Dunes layout was the fuel that propelled the resort of the same name into the national spotlight a little more than 20 years ago, despite the effort required for golfers to reach the now-famous destination on the southern coast of Oregon.
Now Kidd is tackling a new project in a region known for out-of-the-way yet exceptional golf: The Nebraska Sandhills. But his new course might be a little easier to reach than most of the top destinations built in the Sandhills in recent decades.
Kidd and his crew have broken ground on the private GrayBull, a Dormie Network project just north of tiny Maxwell, Nebraska – less than a 30-minute drive from North Platte and its commercial airport. The site is in the southern reaches of the Sandhills, more than an hour south of several top courses such as Sand Hills Golf Club (Golfweek’s Best No. 1 Modern Course in the U.S.) or Prairie Club (with the Dunes, the No. 1 public-access layout in Nebraska).
Kidd just had to cross a river to find it.
A road stretches past GrayBull, a new Dormie Network golf course in Nebraska being built by David McLay Kidd. (Courtesy of the Dormie Network)
Dormie Network is a private course operator based in Lincoln, Nebraska. Currently available to its members are six courses spread about the central and eastern regions of the country: ArborLinks in Nebraska City, Nebraska; Ballyhack in Roanoke, Virginia; Briggs Ranch in San Antonio, Texas; Dormie Club in West End, North Carolina; Hidden Creek in Egg Harbor Township, New Jersey; and Victoria National in Newburgh, Indiana. Members of the network have access to each course – many of which rank highly among private clubs in their states – and its amenities, which include on-site cabins.
Dormie began considering the addition of a new facility near North Platte several years ago, starting the search south of the Platte River. Kidd was recruited to scout one proposed site, but he didn’t like what he saw that far south.
“The Sandhills of Nebraska, which are the famed area where Sand Hills (Golf Club) and Prairie Club and Dismal River and others are, are all north of the Platte River, not to the south,” said Kidd, who has built more than 20 courses around the world. “The first time I went there and we crossed the river headed south, I immediately thought, ooh, this is not the direction I want to be going in. I want to be going north, not south.”
To the south, Kidd said, he saw steep terrain with dense vegetation and heavy soils – “Not great golf terrain.” He and his group turned the car and headed north across the river into the Sandhills, starting a long search for a new site for what will become GrayBull.
The site of the new GrayBull in Nebraska in the southern reaches of the Sandhills
After months of seeing proposed sites that didn’t tick all the boxes – great golf terrain, sandy soil, unspoiled views – Kidd was pitched a parcel that was part of a ranch. He loved it from the moment the topo charts loaded on his computer, and the Dormie Network set about acquiring almost 2,000 acres from the rancher.
“I learned that bad ranch land turns out to be great golf land,” Kidd said with a laugh. “The ranchers on the Sandhills want relatively flat land because they want the cattle to just eat all the grass and not exercise, so they just keep putting on weight. We golfers don’t want the flat land. We want the rumply sand with ridges, hummocks, holes, bumps and all that going on. The cows would be climbing up and down hills all day, damn near getting exercise. That’s no use. Skinny cows are no good. …
“This site, it’s like the Goldilocks thing: not too flat, not too steep. It’s kind of in a bowl that looks inwards, and there are no bad views. It’s wide open, no big roads, no visual contamination – ticks all the boxes.”
The site for GrayBull, a new Dormie Network golf course being built by David McLay Kidd (Courtesy of the Dormie Network)
Kidd and his crew broke ground in June with an unspecified target opening in 2024. It will become Dormie Network’s seventh facility, and unlike many Sandhills courses, it will not require a long drive from the North Platte airport.
Kidd said the course will continue in his ethos of playability, a mantra he has preached since building a handful of courses more than a decade ago that were deemed too difficult for most players. His more recent efforts – particularly the public-access Gamble Sands in Washington and Mammoth Dunes at Sand Valley in Wisconsin – have been lauded for their fairway widths, creativity and playability. Kidd said GrayBull will retain those sensibilities, even if he does add a few more testing shots, especially around the greens.
A diagram for a proposed hole at GrayBull, a new Dormie Network golf course in Nebraska being built by David McLay Kidd (Courtesy of the Dormie Network)
“The landscape is so expansive, it’s hard to imagine building a 30-yard-wide fairway and it not looking ridiculous in the landscape,” the native Scot said. “For sure, the golf course is going to be brawny. I would want it to be forgiving for the average guy when they make mistakes, but I also think the Dormie Network is for golfers … who are probably a little more into it than the guy who makes that once-in-a-lifetime trip somewhere. I’d think these golfers are a little better players, so we’ll adjust accordingly but not by a whole lot. We still want it to be super fun, and we still want them to be able to screw up a little and still get back into the game to some extent.
“The site is extremely unique. It’s like nothing I have ever seen before. Because of that, the golf look, the golf feel, the golf design will be responding to the site. I don’t think anyone who plays Mammoth Dunes or Gamble Sands will show up and say this is an exact copy of those because the site is so different. But, will my ethos change massively? No. I will be staying in my lane, creating golf of that ilk – broad fairways with tight aggressive scoring lanes with wide areas to recover.”
David McLay Kidd (Golfweek files)
GrayBull likely will become a big part of the golf discussion of the Sandhills, a geologic region blessed with incredibly rolling and bouncy terrain that has exploded onto any well-versed traveling golfer’s radar since the opening of Sand Hills Golf Club in 1995. And GrayBull is not alone as a new development in the state, as architects Rob Collins and Tad King of Sweetens Cove fame plan to open the public-access Landmand Golf Club on the eastern side of the state, not in the Sandhills but also on dramatic land.
“(Bandon Dunes developer and owner) Mike Keiser proved that a good location for golf design was more important than a good location for demographics,” Kidd said when asked about building in far-flung locations instead of near larger cities. “The demographics were surmountable, but a poor golf site was not. You just can’t build a good golf course if the site doesn’t allow it. Doesn’t matter how much money you throw at it, chances are the golf course will almost always be inferior because you started with a poor site. …
“The Sandhills are incredible for golf, and this is by far the largest site I’ve ever been given for one 18-hole golf course. Everywhere you look there’s a golf hole.”
PINEHURST, N.C. – I won’t bother writing that you should play golf in Pinehurst. You already know that. The Sandhills region of North Carolina is dubbed the Home of American Golf for a reason.
Advising well-traveled players they should try out Pinehurst is akin to telling gearheads that Ferraris are nice or suggesting a foodie sample something beyond the SpaghettiOs. But until you immerse yourself in Pinehurst, it’s difficult to imagine how much the game defines this little village and its surrounds – and vice versa. It’s one of the few places in the world where just about any conversation can safely begin with the question, “How you been hitting it?”
So many options among great courses. So many chances to bunk up in historic lodging. So many shots to be hit by so many golfers. Pinehurst doesn’t simply scratch an itch to play somewhere new, or even old – it fulfills a deeper need to immerse oneself in the game. Even the USGA is tapping into that need, building a second HQ in Pinehurst and bringing more national championships, feeding on the game’s energy that flourishes among the tall trees and sandy soil.
The only problem is time. How to set aside enough days to sample it all?
Pinehurst No. 8 in North Carolina (Courtesy of Pinehurst Resort)
That’s where the Golfweek’s Best Courses You Can Play list for the top public-access layouts in each state comes into play. The list for North Carolina includes 15 courses, with more than half around Pinehurst. So while I won’t bother telling you that you should play golf in Pinehurst, we can look at the rankings list to see where you might want to start among the region’s 40-plus layouts.
The eponymous Pinehurst Resort is an obvious choice, home to four of the top 15 public-access tracks in North Carolina, including the famed No. 2. But the great golf doesn’t end at the resort’s sprawling borders or on its numerical lineup. Four more of the top 15 layouts in the state lie just beyond. It’s an area so packed with strong golf that, given time, it’s entirely possible to play all eight of these layouts without stopping to refuel a rental car.
The Carolina Hotel at Pinehurst Resort in North Carolina (Courtesy of Pinehurst)
The ranked lineup truly does offer golf to suit just about any taste. Old courses that define classic architecture. More recent courses that promise modern flair. Restored courses. Renovated courses. Even a newish par-3 course that shouldn’t be missed. You get the idea – it’s all here.
I set out on an epic adventure of golf earlier this year to see exactly how much Pinehurst golf could be squeezed into four and a half days. Trust me, it’s a lot of steps. I played six of the best-in-state public-access courses in the Pinehurst area plus two private clubs and a quick trip around the hottest par-3 course in town. That was all a follow-up to a previous trip in which I played the other best-in-state courses. There is no doubt, if you want to play as many solid golf holes as possible in the shortest amount of time, you’ll be hard pressed to find a better destination than Pinehurst and the courses below.
In a landscape when many clubs are struggling, it’s nearly unheard of for a club to not apply maintenance fees to members. With each new facility or renovation come even more assessments, and the fees can add up to the point that continuing …
In a landscape when many clubs are struggling, it’s nearly unheard of for a club to not apply maintenance fees to members. With each new facility or renovation come even more assessments, and the fees can add up to the point that continuing membership may no longer make fiscal sense.
Breaking yet another mold, Dormie Network, a nationwide network of top-ranked private destination golf clubs, has pledged that full member privileges include no assessments. An easy promise to make if there are no plans to expand access or improve facilities, but the network has already made significant improvements to each of its six clubs, with plans for major capital improvements in 2021.
The network’s portfolio, as of 2020, includes Ballyhack in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Roanoke, Virginia; Hidden Creek on the Jersey Shore; Top 100 Victoria National in Newburgh, Indiana; off-the-grid ArborLinks in Nebraska City, Nebraska; namesake Dormie Club just outside Pinehurst, North Carolina; and Briggs Ranch set in the Hill Country of San Antonio, Texas.
A network like this one naturally draws golf purists, but the improvements made and ongoing are often focused on the experience outside of play: each facility is designed with unmatched hospitality in mind.
Standout renovations and new construction include a complete renovation of ArborLinks’ clubhouse in true prairie style, a new wine room at Ballyhack to complement the club’s vino program and tasting menu, and expansion of Victoria National’s putting green to nearly double the size at 15,000 square feet. A slew of new cottages at Briggs Ranch and Dormie Club has converted both clubs into true stay-and-play destinations, and Hidden Creek will also quadruple lodging in 2021 in the form of three new mansion-style lodging houses.
Improved facilities help Dormie not just compete with the traditional country club model but surpass it with seasonal chef-prepared cuisine, specialty cocktails and sommelier-chosen wine, and a standard of at least 60 beds on site. With plans to expand to as many as a dozen clubs covering all regions of the country (and potentially international locales as well), Dormie Network increases member value each year with additional travel opportunities and amenities.
Headquartered in Lincoln, Nebraska, Dormie Network is under single ownership and provides full membership access to each club with no greens fees, carts fees, annual assessments, or reciprocal play arrangements. With a membership that encourages travel and camaraderie in an exclusive yet comfortable atmosphere, every club will feel like your home club. Learn more at dormienetwork.com/golfweek.
Dormie Network is a unique model offering pure golf at destinations across the country, challenging the traditional club model with seasonal chef-prepared cuisine, specialty cocktails and sommelier-chosen wine, and deluxe en-suite cottages. It’s a …
Dormie Network is a unique model offering pure golf at destinations across the country, challenging the traditional club model with seasonal chef-prepared cuisine, specialty cocktails and sommelier-chosen wine, and deluxe en-suite cottages. It’s a membership for both business and pleasure, encouraging travel and camaraderie where every club is your home club.
Members have full access to each of the network’s six top-ranked clubs.
Ballyhack, nestled in the Blue Ridge Mountains
Roanoke, Virginia
Architect: Lester George
No. 5 Best Private Course in Virginia – Golfweek 2020
(Pictured Above)
Dramatic elevation changes of 50–70 feet are just part of the challenge of this visually stunning locale. A shot-makers course, Ballyhack features 150-yard fairways, gouged-out bunkers and rugged terrain. Don’t forget to greet the family of African Boer Goats, who live near the 14th green.
Dormie Club, your home club in the home of American golf
West End, North Carolina
Architect: Coore & Crenshaw
No. 141 of Next 100 Modern Courses – Golfweek 2020
No. 10 Best Private Course in North Carolina – Golfweek 2020
Dormie Club
Rustic, secluded and peaceful, Dormie Club’s 310 acres melt into the rolling hills. The only original Coore & Crenshaw design in North Carolina features a 241-yard reverse Redan par three and plays very fast. Definitely a bucket list course.
Victoria National, a true test of tenacity
Newburgh, Indiana
Architect: Tom Fazio
No. 54 of the Top 100 Modern Courses – Golfweek 2020
No. 1 Best Private Course in Indiana
Victoria National
Are you up to the challenge? Covering 418 acres and holding more than 500 million gallons of water, this course carved from an abandoned coal mine culminates in The Gauntlet: four of the most difficult holes found anywhere in golf.
ArborLinks, centrally located a million miles from ordinary
Nebraska City, Nebraska
Architect: Arnold Palmer
No. 5 Best Private Course in Nebraska – Golfweek 2020
ArborLinks
Off-grid in the Nebraska countryside, the first Dormie Network club spans 300+ acres of pure golf. You’ll be surprised by this club, found down a dirt road, and surrounded by cornfields and prairie. The 18th green features a drive-through silo along the South Table Creek, and historic Arbor Day Farm is just a short hike away.
Briggs Ranch, showcasing Texas Hill Country
San Antonio, Texas
Architect: Tom Fazio
No. 182 of the Next 100 Modern – Golfweek 2020
Briggs Ranch
Truly a course interesting yet friendly enough to play every day, Briggs Ranch is the epitome of pure understated Texas. Covering more than 260 acres, this is the Southern-most American course with bent grass greens.
Hidden Creek, the best of the Jersey Shore
Egg Harbor Township, New Jersey
Architect: Coore & Crenshaw
No. 87 of the Top 100 Modern Courses – Golfweek 2020
No. 10 Best Private Course in New Jersey – Golfweek 2020
Hidden Creek
Don’t be fooled by the wide-open first hole—this one gets more challenging as you go. Covering 750 acres of aged woodlands, Hidden Creek is a colorful walk in the woods blanketed in the deafening silence of a course that feels completely your own.
An immersive experience you won’t get anywhere else
Dormie Network offers more than just exceptional golf: our top focus is hospitality and creating an unforgettable experience.
Briggs Ranch
Regionally inspired menus capture the essence of each club, and our culinary team is happy to craft unique dishes and drinks that complement your stay’s occasion. Following a nightcap, there’s no reason to leave the property—just drive your golf cart down the path. Each private cottage features four master suites, a fireplace, a fully stocked bar, and a private patio and firepit—the perfect spot for teambuilding, family time or a private retreat.
The Dormie Network operates six highly ranked courses around the country that are open to all members.
Before the coronavirus injected uncertainty into every aspect of our lives, the previous quarter-century had seen an unprecedented expansion of options for those who love to travel to play golf.
Private clubs emerged in remote locales – e.g. Mullen, Nebraska, and Deer Lodge, Montana – that once would have been unthinkable. Mike Keiser’s transcontinental empire brought pure golf ideals to the destination resort. Meanwhile, a new breed of golf societies, led by the Outpost Club, married group travel with the camaraderie and friendly competition of club life.
Finding a niche in any of these highly competitive scenes isn’t easy, but since its foundation in 2016, the Dormie Network quickly has carved out territory all its own. In defining that niche, it’s perhaps most efficient to use the company’s own description: “(A) national network of clubs combining the experience of destination golf with the premier hospitality of private membership.”
The Dormie Network is one of many projects by the entrepreneurial Peed family of Lincoln, Nebraska. Tom and Rhonda Peed built the foundation of the family’s wealth from an array of trade publications directed toward the agriculture and construction industries, among many others. Their entry into the golf industry is being led by their youngest son, 28-year-old Zach, a former collegiate golfer at Nebraska Wesleyan.
The six-course network did not begin as such but rather with the purchase of a single club, ArborLinks, a 2002 Arnold Palmer design 45 minutes south of Omaha. The company gradually expanded from that base, acquiring a carefully curated selection of courses by name-brand designers: Lester George’s Ballyhack; Tom Fazio’s Briggs Ranch and Victoria National; and Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw’s Hidden Creek and Dormie Club – the company’s namesake. With the exception of the Dormie Club itself, each property features high-end accommodations, and lodging at that Pinehurst-area gem will be operational in 2021.
Along the way, Zach Peed began to see economies of scale and network potential in this portfolio of acquisitions. All came with existing slates of legacy members, which were folded into the national network. Clubs that grant playing rights to multiple courses are nothing new, but most previous such operations were regional in scope and the properties involved tended to vary in quality.
Not so with the Dormie Network.
“Whether they’re coming from across the country or just up the street, we want members to feel like they’re coming to their home club,” said David Plaster, Dormie Network’s chief marketing officer. “It’s been great to see people explore these courses that are now a part of their membership. Each club has a different feel based on regionality – the menu is different at Briggs Ranch in Texas than it is at Hidden Creek in New Jersey – but the underlying experience is the same.”
This consistency is especially desirable for avid golfers who like to build corporate or client entertainment around the game.
“Any time they entertain, that’s our wheelhouse,” said Phil Owenby, Dormie’s chief development officer and a golf industry veteran who previously served in leadership roles at Kinloch Club near Richmond, Virginia, and Chechessee Creek Club in coastal South Carolina. “Our teams are really focused on the hospitality and service side of creating great relationships.”
Victoria National in Indiana is part of the Dormie Network of clubs, where one membership includes multiple highly ranked courses around the country. (Courtesy of Dormie Network)
The Dormie Network takes an innovative approach based on anticipation and data collection. On a basic level, Plaster said, the network creates and shares custom profiles in order to be predictive. For example, a Ballyhack member may be making his first visit to Briggs Ranch, but the staff in Texas will know that he favors size L polos from Peter Millar, likes vodka transfusions at the turn and always wants the latest Titleist driver in the bag. The network has even created a personal shopping service – like a Trunk Club for golfers – to further leverage this data.
With the recent launch of the Dormie Network Institute, the company also has shown its commitment to using this approach to improve its members’ games.
In the same way that doctors’ offices share medical records, the pro staff at one property will know a member visiting from 1,000 miles away swings the driver at 95 mph and has worked on a particular set of drills to combat a hook. Staff pros sometimes travel with members to provide on-course instruction. And on a local level, the network often uses its pull with celebrity instructors to create one-of-a-kind experiences that combine clinics with top-flight food-and-beverage offerings.
Plaster says this focus on improvement simply makes good business sense.
“The better you play, the more fun you have,” he said. “You want to play more, and you travel more to see other properties.”
To further support this goal, in 2019 the network launched the Dormie Matches, a biannual Ryder Cup-style event designed to foster interclub friendships.
It’s clear the Dormie Network is still in expansion mode. The Peed family recently acquired Wolf Point Ranch, a Mike Nuzzo-designed private estate course about two hours southeast of Houston on the Gulf Coast that boasts near-mythical cachet among architecture aficionados, though it remains to be seen how (or even if) it will be incorporated into the network.
Other high-end properties may prove to be more motivated to sell in the pandemic environment, and Plaster does not rule out the idea of one day building something from the ground up.
“Sure, we’d love to create something that’s built for how we do things,” he said. “And there are only about 140 [existing] properties that fit our model. You just have to weigh when to buy versus when to build and consider the trade-offs involved in that decision.”
Owenby sees another silver lining to the coronavirus era.
“People realized they’d been too busy,” he said. “Our families were growing up around us. Golf is a great opportunity to unplug and be with those people you care about the most. In the Dormie Network, you’re part of a family, too. Ultimately the goal is that members want to visit with their friends at the other clubs.”
It will be interesting to see if this family-style atmosphere continues to prevail as the Dormie Network expands, but we wouldn’t bet against it.
