Golf in Newton

The course architect incorporated the area's natural terrain when designing Highlands Golf Club's 18-hole course, sculpting narrow fairways through native tall grass, using sand hills as natural hazards, and enlisting the population of red foxes to serve as forecaddies. The end result is a 6,650-yard labyrinth of zoysia grass that winds through the rolling hills of Reno County. The challenging course makes accurate shot making a premium, as golfers must avoid multiple water hazards in addition to the tough lies that await off the fairways. Golfers can load their Scottish quivers with new golf balls after a preround visit to the pro shop and relax after rounds at the club's onsite restaurant.

Course at a Glance:

• 18-hole, par-72 course

• Length of 6,650 yards from the farthest tees

• Course rating of 73.8 from the farthest tees

• Slope rating of 133 from the farthest tees

Carey Park Golf Course, a Hutchinson municipal loop, invites golfers to traverse 6,410 yards while unwinding amid its tranquil atmosphere. As they pursue the par 71 course, players must demonstrate firm control over shot direction to avoid the wooded areas lying just beyond the fairways on most holes. Before a round or as part of a focused practice session, players can also take reps on the course’s driving range, putting green, and practice bunker, or head into the indoor practice facility to avoid rain or tan lines from the elbow pads they wear “just in case.”

Course at a Glance:

• 18-hole, par 71 course
• Total length of 6,410 yards from the back tees
• Course rating of 69.9 from the back tees
• Course slope of 115 from the back tees

The executive layout at Sierra Hills Golf Club‎ presents a par 58 course that covers 3,100 yards and features 4 par 4s and 14 par 3s. The terrain careens across gently undulating bluegrass and past six water features, including a crescent-shaped pond that wraps itself nearly all the way around one of the greens, forming a moat to prevent local mini-golf courses from setting up windmill colonies. The 18th hole offers a dramatic end to the round, as golfers must send approach shots soaring over a water hazard stationed directly in front of the green. Sierra Hills Golf Club‎ complements its pared-down layout with a full-length, 35-stall, natural-grass driving range, where guests can drive or bicycle-kick practice balls up to 300 yards into the distance.

Course at a Glance:

• 18-hole, par 58 course designed by Leo Johnson
• Course rating of 70
• Slope rating of 113
• Three sets of tees

A nine-hole course ideal for a leisurely midday game or early morning jaunt, Clearwater Golf Course unfolds across level terrain unencumbered by an overabundance of sand bunkers and water hazards. Hurtling orbs sail into the sky at an onsite driving range, where players can hone swings in anticipation of holes four, five, and nine, numbers which not only signify Clearwater’s toughest obstacles, but also the toughest questions on the drivers-ed exam for a golf cart.

To step back in time to when the cedars, oaks, and pines around Wellington Golf Club were first groomed and pared away to make room for fairways and greens would be to see a landscape at once familiar and different. The year was 1919, and the sounds of cattlemen driving herds up the Chisholm Trail would ring through the air, accompanying the sights of a town not 50 years old. Yet that early course's modesty would be recognizable—and very much part of the draw.

The designers kept much of the surrounding growth intact, forcing players to thread their tee shots down somewhat narrow fairways to span the 6,201 yards. This emphasis on accuracy soaks through to the rest of the course as well. The relatively small greens' fast bent grass demands deft iron play and a soft putting touch. And getting there through variable gusts is half the challenge. But Wellington Golf Club doesn't leave its clubbers stranded in that regard—a driving range holds tees at both ends so that drivers can calibrate to different wind directions without relying on their protractors and trajectory calculations.

Course at a Glance:

• 18-hole, par 70 course
• Total length of 6,201 yards from the back tees
• Three sets of tees per hole
• Scorecard