Built by Dave Axland and Dan Proctor of Bunker Hill Golf, the shaping team behind Coore & Crenshaw's Sand Hills Golf Club, Bayside sits on the shore of Lake McConaughy in western Nebraska. Its first nine opened in 1999 with a second nine following a couple of years later, and several holes play directly along the reservoir's shoreline.
This course is in our GSPro library — pull it up in any bay and play it wall to wall.
"A family-run public course with real Sandhills design pedigree and a rare lakeside links setting for the region."
Bayside sits on a bluff above Lake McConaughy in western Nebraska, the work of Dave Axland and Dan Proctor — the celebrated construction hands behind Coore & Crenshaw's Sand Hills who went on to design in their own right. Built on a shoestring for a family ownership, the front nine opened in 1999 and the back nine and clubhouse followed in 2001. The land is not classic sandhills but dramatically eroded silt-limestone ground, carved by water running toward the lake into deep ravines dotted with sagebrush and rocky outcroppings. The front nine, originally conceived as a standalone loop, carries some of the most boldly contoured greens in public golf; the wilder back nine plunges through canyon country with forced carries and huge elevation swings, headlined by the 652-yard par-5 11th falling away steeply on every side. Firm, fast and nearly always windswept, it is honest, adventurous prairie golf at a friendly price.
Architecture pilgrims road-tripping Nebraska golf who can't get on Sand Hills, Lake McConaughy vacationers, and anyone who loves rugged, high-fun public golf.
The 652-yard par-5 11th is the signature — a narrow fairway with steep fall-offs on all sides and dramatic elevation change — while the front nine's boldly contoured greens are the course's architectural calling card.
The forced canyon carries on the back nine can be brutal for a newer golfer — play forward tees, bring extra balls, and enjoy the front nine's wide fairways and wild greens as the gentler half.
Regulars know the two nines as almost two different courses — walk the front, then take a cart for the canyon crossings of the back.
Par 72 at roughly 6,100-6,600 yards depending on tees; the strategic width and bold greens translate to a simulator, but the canyon carries, wind off the lake and firm-and-fast ground game do not.
Family-owned public course open to all; green fees are modest for the experience, and it pairs naturally with a Lake McConaughy or western-Nebraska golf trip.
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