Rob Collins Q&A on Landmand
A New American Classic Links of Epic Proportions
The par-five 15th green. At 28,000 square feet, it’s the second largest at Landmand.
By now, many have heard about and seen the impressive images from the recently opened Landmand Golf Club in the Loess Hills of Homer, Nebraska. Landmand (pronounced LAN-MAN), is Danish for farmer and is owned by the Andersen farming family. Will Andersen, a 4th generation farmer and a talented amateur golfer, had the vision to develop the course on land that was no longer used to raise crops. Several years ago, after an enthusiastic visit from the talented duo of Rob Collins and Tad King, Will Andersen hired King-Collins to design the inland links-style course on the rugged site featuring close to 200 feet in elevation changes.
An understated and underrated entrance sign, off the gravel road.
On the first page of the beautifully illustrated yardage book (a must get) is a quotation from Rob Collins:
“Landmand is a love letter to golf of a bygone era. The grandeur and ambition of these strategic holes is a tribute to the otherworldly Loess Hills landscape and the Andersen family who have farmed the land for generations.”
Like the great links courses of Scotland and Ireland, Landmand is open to the public but also has members. The model proved wildly successful at Sweetens Cove (once word got out) and should draw a passionate group of golfers seeking a pure and stimulating sensory experience.
As Rob Collins shared with me, at the flat Sweetens site they had to create the land movement. At Landmand, they had to shape and tone down the dramatic slopes to make it playable and walkable. Langford and Moreau and other architects from bygone days would’ve marveled at the creation of this course from such wild land. From my builder’s perspective, this was a massive cut, fill, and grading operation driven by the imaginations of a very humble but brilliant architect and master shaper.
Getting to the greens is at least as much of an adventure as when you set foot on them with your flatstick. The fairways are generously sized, up to 150 yards wide on the opening and closing holes. The strategic part involves putting yourself in the correct position for the even more important approach shot. Missing the green on the wrong side or finding your ball separated by swales and mounds to reach the pin can make for challenging two putts. I was fortunate to hit a lot of fairways and found the proper side when missing a green. Others in my group were not as lucky … some had choice words for a few greens that they considered extremely contoured. I thought the greens were all fair and just tons of fun. If you’ve been to Sweetens Cove, you would expect to see some large, contoured green complexes here too. You won’t be disappointed at Landmand.
3rd hole with the barranca drainage feature.
I won’t be describing the course hole by hole for brevity and not to spoil the enjoyment of discovery when you go. I did have some favorites, such as the 3rd with a barranca feature, the par three 5th (huge green and my only birdie of the day), the drivable 7th, the short par-three 8th that calls for a run-up shot, the enormous punchbowl at 10, spectacular views on 11 and 12, the par-three Redan at 14, the gorgeous Reverse Cape at 16 (looks like a green was meant to be set in that hillside), and the tribute to MacKenzie’s lost “Sitwell Park green” at the drivable 17th. An unusual, innovative scorecard feature is that the hole handicap is based on the wind direction of the day.
A quotation from my friend Nick LaRocco, who played three rounds at Landmand a week after me, pretty much sums it up:
“Imagination is often at play with slopes and backboards … sometimes the smartest route to the hole isn’t the most direct line but rather the more fun and circuitous one!!”
Hmmm, reminds me of golf in Scotland!
I had the opportunity to ask Rob Collins a few questions, and his answers revealed some very interesting nuggets:
Q: I was stunned to read in Jim Hartsell’s article that you and Tad routed and staked Landmand in just two days. Did you have ideas in mind from your previous visits and studying topo maps, aerials, et cetera?
Rob: In hindsight, the duration of time involved seems rather miraculous. We set aside close to a week to do it, and the routing just flowed out so easily that it surprised us both. The overall was to find as much variety as possible going into the routing process (e.g. variety in length, distance, and strategic considerations in each class of hole, pars of holes). We knew right away that we’d nailed it. Sometimes you can just tell. As an example of how serendipitous the whole process was occurred on the 6th hole. Keep in mind we had no idea what was over the next ridge or around the next corner. I distinctly remember saying to Tad, “we’ve got a great start, but it would be great if we can find a great short par four and a great short par three before we get out of this nine.” Well, lo and behold, we came up on the site for the 7th, and our jaws hit the floor. And we routed the short 8th right behind it. The only thing we knew going in is that the 12th hole had to be part of it, and a Sitwell homage was something we really wanted to include as well.
Q: Did Will Andersen have any input or ideas that he wanted to see on the design?
The intimidating par-three 12th.
Rob: Will made a substantial contribution to the routing on 8/9/10. Originally, we had the 9th and 11th playing as crossing holes. Will was originally on board with that but came to realize he was concerned about liability, and so he suggested a change to locate 8 green in its current location, rather than right off the back of 7, and we flipped the location of 9/10. In the end, it was a great move, and I think the course is better for it.
Q: Other than the greens, are the tee boxes or fairways irrigated? Will the fairways be allowed to go brown during droughts? What type of bentgrass was used on the greens?
Rob: All playing surfaces have irrigation. We selected a drought tolerant blue/rye on the fairways, and they’ll definitely brown out and get crispy! The greens are a 007/777 mix of Bent.
Q: Can you provide quantities of earth that was moved, number or square yards of sod rolls? Was seed used anywhere?
Rob: We estimate that we moved 2 million cubic yards of dirt. (Note: the clubhouse site was built up 35 feet above the original grade.) We have 6.3 acres of greens and 77 acres of fairway, all of which was sodded. A native seed blend was planted in the native/rough areas and will continue to grow in over the next year (usually takes 2-3 years for it to mature in that climate).
Q: In his book The Secret Home of Golf, Jim Hartsell noted your love of Alister MacKenzie’s The Spirit of St. Andrews, the Old Course, and Pinehurst #2 (which are some of my favorites as well). I could see and feel the influence of MacKenzie’s ideas, and these two courses Landmand. How do you design and build holes—especially “template” holes like 10, 14, 16, and 17—to feel new or original?
Rob: I think it’s a willingness to be flexible with the template concept: we use them as suggestions and apply them to the site. On an epic and grand site like Landmand, we needed to build a Redan and a Punchbowl that were simply on another level in terms of scale and size. On 16, that hole set up perfectly for a reverse cape, and the centerline bunker helps push people toward taking the risky-but-rewarding line near the drop-off. For the Sitwell, it had to fit the scale of the site, and so it had to be gigantic to maintain its playability. At 34,000 square feet, we were able to both make the transitions appropriately dramatic but leave ourselves tremendous amounts of green surface at less than 2% slope for more pinable areas.
Q: It’s rare to find a course with 18 really good or great holes. In my experience, I can count courses like that on one hand. I think you’ve accomplished that at Landmand. Having said that, do you have favorites? (I usually have just a few, but this time there’s a lot more😊)
Rob: Thank you! And I agree. I’m so proud of our team for wrangling 18 distinctive and thrilling holes out of that landscape. That’s a Sophie’s Choice type of question for me … just really hard to answer. During construction, I frequently laughed with our lead shaper, Marc Burger, about each hole as it came out of the ground. With each one, we had a new favorite! I always had a huge soft spot for 7 (and I still do!), but I really can’t say one more than another.
The 17th hole, an homage to MacKenzie’s Sitwell Park design.
Q: Many great musicians have songs that didn’t make the final album. Did you have any hole designs that you couldn’t fit at Landmand? If so, where will we see them in your next design?
Rob: I thought Landmand would be an ideal site to build a Dell par three, but it just didn’t happen. Holes 5/8/12/14 were all so good and were so adept at functioning in a connecting sense that we couldn’t change it.
Q: Will there be a second course at Landmand?
Rob: I told Will on this visit, that even if he wanted to hire us to build a second course, I didn’t think it would be a good idea. I said the same thing to my client, Reece Thomas, in 2012 about Sweetens Cove, at a time when I was dead broke and most certainly needed the work. I could feel it in my bones that we had something exceptional on our hands at Sweetens, and that to add more would risk a delicate balance that we had somehow struck in the universe at that place. Tinkering with or adding more to something that is already great will not necessarily make it better. As I’ve said before, the feeling I had in my gut about the potential of Sweetens before it opened is magnified 1000x with Landmand. So, that’s a long way of saying I don’t think so, but ultimately it will be up to the Andersen’s. I do think, however, that a short course or monster putting green would be appropriate and very well received. And, finally, Sweetens proved that the adage—that one course is a curiosity and two is a destination—has its exceptions too. At Landmand, they’ll be completely booked on the course and cabins each year … you can just feel it.
Q: What’s next for King-Collins?
Rob: We’re very, very excited about what’s going on in Lubbock at Red Feather. I’m every bit as proud of our team and their work totally transforming a dead-flat site as I am of what they did in the Loess Hills. We’ve got a few very exciting smaller projects we’re working on, including a new reversible nine-hole course at Palmetto Bluff in South Carolina that will start next year. After that, we have two new 18-hole projects from scratch that I’m not at liberty to discuss now, but I will say we’re very excited about them as well!
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Landmand is a must visit for any golfer seeking adventure, stimulating strategic golf holes, views for miles, and possibly the wildest land and greens you’ve ever seen. Will Andersen and his staff—including superintendent Pat Fisher, general manager Adam Fletcher, club manager Sam Kincaid, and the folks at the Farmer’s Table food truck—are so welcoming and helpful as well. Highly recommend staying for at least two rounds to fully take it all in.