COMMENTS

The setting is startling and grand — the wild pitch-and-tumble of the remote High Plains breaks upon the steel waters of Lake Oahe,and the austere yellow of the prairie grasses collides with emerald fairways and greens. Sweeping fairway vistas, cavernous bunkers and bold green complexes converge with an excellent strategic routing to make Sutton Bay one of the most surprising great designs in recent memory.

Other than a preliminary routing, Marsh prepared no blueprints and instead took a hands-on approach to field-designing every hole,which took 18 months. "That's why he played so poorly [in 2002]," Amundson says. "He would fly in on Sunday night and not leave for the next tournament until Wednesday night." Building a course without architectural plans was a new experience for everyone involved. "We spent a lot of time just trying to understand the site, its topography, its views, its potential," Marsh says. "We didn't want to impose anything artificial onto the site. We were determined to get the maximum out of the land."

The 18-hole Championship Course is carved out of the dramatic landforms of the Missouri river and breaks on one of America’s most unique pieces of golfing territory. The spectacular site resembles the terrain one may find on some of the finest courses in the British Isles. While not a true links course by definition, it has all the characteristics associated with the most famous inland links courses of that region. It features spectacular elevation changes, natural green sites and fairways nestled amongst natural prairie grasses, rock forms and rolling terrain.

The Championship Course, par 72, measures over 7,200 yards. The nine hole, par 36 journey to the Northern boundary of the property is taken up by three par 5’s, three par 4 holes, and three par 3’s. The returning inward half of the course offers the traditional five 4’s, two 5’s, and two 3’s for a par of 36. On this remote piece of property, in the middle of South Dakota, one cannot help but feel solitude and calmness as the round progresses and the course unfolds. The challenges of the course are varied, demanding yet fair, and without fail every hole offers the golfer a sporting chance.

Sutton Bay is truly a course for the golf enthusiast.

AWARDS & RECOGNITIONS

• Golf Digest - Sutton Bay named Best New Private Course in America. 2004 
• America's Best Top 100 Modern (Post 1960) Courses 2003 - S.B. Ranked no. 13
• Top Rated Golf Courses for South Dakota 2005 - 2006 - S.B. Ranked No. 1
• America's Best Top 100 Modern (Post 1960) Courses 2006 - S. B. Ranked 16
• America's Top 40 New Golf Courses 2005 - S. B. Ranked No. 2