Things to Do in Ames

We are an 18-hole public golf course located in the heart of Iowa. We showcase bentgrass tees, fairways, and greens and over 40 undulating bunkers. Our course pays tribute to the links traditions of golf by relying on the prairie winds and fescue grasses as the primary defenses.

Sticks sprung from humble origins when, in 1992, Sarah Grant began carving ornaments and candlesticks from birch, poplar, and driftwood in a small studio in Des Moines. As her work began to attract national interest and demand for it grew, Sarah enlisted the aid of other local artists and expanded her inventory to include handcrafted heirloom-quality furniture, whimsical sculptures, and intricate keepsakes.

Today, the artists’ work is showcased in more than 100 galleries across the country. Their installation projects have even decorated the walls of Blank Children’s Hospital, the Animal Rescue League of Central Iowa, and the student center at Iowa State University.

Sticks artists can often be spotted by the shores of local rivers, gathering driftwood for their work. They assemble the wood into custom-designed tables, beds, and armoires within their spacious, light-filled studio before painting them with colorful, whimsical designs, from smiling suns and moons to lush landscapes. The versatile artists even take their tools and paintbrushes to homes, businesses, and underground mad-scientist labs to craft custom art installations and interiors.

Cedar Pointe Golf Course’s 18-hole layout unfurls across 6,647 yards of pristine fairways cleaved into a landscape of mature trees and rough-side waterways. The course eases golfers into the round with eight relatively straightforward holes before testing swings at the ninth hole, where tee shots must clear a pond on their multishot journey to a windswept flagstick 543 yards in the distance. The intervening water at the end of the front nine foretells an upsurge in aquatic obstacles in the course’s second act, where a slender pond runs between the 12th and 13th holes and two ponds loom menacingly at the junction of the 10th, 11th, and 18th holes, tempting many hydrophobic golf balls to forge doctor’s notes allowing them to stay in the dry bag. An adjacent driving range prepares players and gun-shy three-woods before the round, and a revamped clubhouse and bar await just beyond the 18th green, where pin-hunting posses can recap their round over a frothy beverage.

Course at a Glance:

• 18-hole, par 72 course

• Length of 6,647 yards from the farthest tees

• Course rating of 71.1 from the farthest tees

• Slope rating of 120 from the farthest tees

• Four tee options

• Download scorecard

When it first opened it doors in 1970, the Science Center of Iowa was among the first interactive science museums in the world. It engaged the community with hands-on exhibits and programs. In 2005, the center moved to its 110,00-square-foot downtown location, where it fills its halls with a variety of experience platforms, each demonstrating different scientific principles. The When Things Get Moving exhibit invites visitors to build rockets and conquer a domino obstacle course, and Why the Sky? demonstrates the science of space with a digital planet-exploration globe and a bottle of gas collected in space. A T. Rex Named Sue runs from Saturday, February 2, to Sunday, May 12, allowing onlookers to come face-to-face with a 42-foot-long replica of the world’s most complete T. rex skeleton.