Hickory Grove Golf Club

Hickory Grove in Oelwein, IA is not your typical small town Iowa golf course. Hickory Grove is a well maintained, challenging golf course that is good enough to be the practice course of the nearby Division II Upper Iowa University Golf Team.

What I found on this perfect day was a golf course that was in really great condition given the recent windy and dry weather. The greens rolled fast and true and the fairways were well defined and well maintained, yielding firm and fast conditions. While the rough wasn't overly penal, you still paid a price for errant tee shots with less spin into the very challenging greens.

On the scorecard, it appears that Hickory Grove carries a fair amount of length. While it is long enough to provide a good challenge, there are several doglegs, which can reward aggressive tee shots with shorter approaches. I found that I used most every club in the bag during my 18 holes.

My one minor critique of the course is the routing is a bit confusing the first time you play Hickory Grove. I was fortunate enough to play with one of the owners, and he shared some of their future plans for the course. If their vision becomes reality, the course will only get better!

Overall, Hickory Grove is a great value for a fun and challenging golf course. My favorite hole is #5. This short par 5 is the quintessential risk/reward hole. With a good tee shot, you will have an opportunity to reach the green in two. But the green itself is a small target, surrounded by trouble, with lots of slope, such that even those that reach in 2 are not guaranteed an easy birdie.