Greens Galore:Exploring Lincoln’s Booming Golf Scene 

by Ken Hambleton

“Our goal is to provide an exceptional golfing experience with high-quality courses, excellent customer service, and affordable rates,”

Wade Foreman, Lincoln City Golf Facilities Operations Manager.

There are more than 210 golf courses in Nebraska.

Nebraska has as many courses, per square mile capita as Texas, Oklahoma, Colorado, Louisiana and Kentucky.

Of the courses in Nebraska, 13 are in the Lincoln metro complex.

Lincoln golfers love the sport so much that they play more than 350,000 rounds a year – which works out to one round per year for each person, babies to centenarians, in the area.

There are a couple of reasons for game’s support in the Capital City: very good courses, reasonable prices, a wide variety of courses and community investment in golf.

In Lincoln itself, the story begins with five city-owned courses, including four 18-hole championship length courses and the par 3 Jim Ager Memorial course.

Just last year more than 210,000 rounds were played at the city courses – Holmes, Highlands, Mahoney and Pioneers, and Ager.

Throw in country clubs at the world-famous Firethorn Golf Club, Hillcrest Country Club, Wilderness Ridge Club and the city’s oldest course, Country Club of Lincoln, along with Hidden Valley, Pine Lake, five-star rated Woodland Hills and NuMark, and you’ve covered just about every style of golf course possible for the Midwest.

Wade Foreman, Lincoln City Golf Facilities Operations Manager said, “Our goal is to provide an exceptional golfing experience with high-quality courses, excellent customer service, and affordable rates.”

The steady growth in number of rounds played at the city courses and the surrounding courses for four consecutive years backs him up.

Because the city does such great business in golf, courses have improved every year in the last decade.

Greens are consistent, fairways firm and well-maintained courses and clubhouses at the city courses: Holmes, Mahoney, Pioneers, Highlands and Ager are some of the best reasons to play in Lincoln.

Pioneers, Holmes, Mahoney, and Ager are part of city parks.

Pioneers, rebuilt in 1933, offers a wide variety of old style golf with plenty of trees, elevation changes, quick greens and grass bunkers. Don’t worry that there are no sand bunkers, most golfers don’t even know there is no sand on the course.

Holmes offers a view of the state Capitol from the No. 1 tee box and the most varied elevations.

Mahoney is a par 70 course with five par 3 holes, guarded by plenty of bunkers, and big, quick greens.

Highlands, the city’s new course, built in the early 1990s, is a links-style course that offers tees from more than 7,000-yards to just over 5,000 yards.

The Ager Course, located in mid-town Lincoln, is a par 3 gem. Ager offers lessons for beginners, a tricky layout with plenty of hazards, and some of the best fairways and greens around.

Lincoln’s privately-owned and public-access courses, NuMark, with 27 holes, Hidden Valley, with great improvements, and Crooked Creek, with superior training facilities, are all close to downtown Lincoln and offer great rates.

If you’re willing to drive 45 minutes, you have the recently rebuilt and redesigned Quarry Oaks, near Ashland, and Iron Horse, even closer to Ashland. Beatrice Country Club, a course of old tight nine holes and nine newer, links-style holes and the nearby nine-hole College Heights Country Club, Friend Country Club and Thunder Ridge in Milford are some of the better courses in the area.

With more than 210 golf courses across the state, Nebraska quietly ranks among the nation’s most golf-rich regions — and Lincoln stands at the heart of it. The Capital City’s golf community is vibrant and growing to satisfy every kind of golfer. From city-owned gems like Pioneers and Holmes to prestigious clubs like Firethorn and Wilderness Ridge, Lincoln offers affordable, high-quality golfing experiences backed by community investment and continuous improvements. Whether you’re a beginner honing your swing at Ager or a seasoned player chasing birdies at Highlands, Lincoln proves that great golf can be found in the Midwest.