Omaha-area country clubs to undergo golf course renovations

U.S. Junior Amateur champion Trevor Gutschewski of Omaha is the Nebraska Golf Association’s golfer of the year and its junior golfer of the year.

Gutschewski, an Omaha Westside senior, will sign with Florida on Wednesday.

The NGA’s Celebration of Championships banquet, with the Golf Channel’s Rich Lerner the keynote speaker, will be Dec. 6 at the Embassy Suites Conference Center in La Vista.

Katie Ruge of Omaha, who swept the two women’s majors, is the NGA women’s golfer of the year, Julia Karmazin of Omaha girls golfer of the year and Brian Csipkes of Gretna senior golfer of the year.

The state’s amateur champions and the junior all-star team also will be recognized.

Champions, Shadow work

Private clubs Champions Run and Shadow Ridge are upgrading parts of their facilities.

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At Champions, the course will close from September 2025 to Spring 2026 for a complete re-seeding of fairways along with an inter-seeding of the greens and tees. The existing bent grass dates to the course opening in the 1990s. On the back nine the creek bed will be stabilized and the lake restored to its original depth.

The driving range is being re-sodded this fall. The club is redoing its tennis courts, removing one of the existing five for six dedicated pickleball courts to be covered and open year round.

Shadow Ridge is building new tees on holes 9, 10, 11 and 18. The back tee on hole 10 will connect with the practice putting green in view of the clubhouse terrace.

Old Dane renovation

Work is underway on the course at Dakota City to transform it from nine to 12 holes. The first step is the excavation of a two-acre lake as irrigation-water storage and provide about 40,000 cubic yards of fill to reshape the flat land.

Some of that material is needed to build a ‘volcano’ green, rising 15 feet higher than its surroundings, for the 11th hole. The third and eighth holes will share a fairway.

2025 Landmand tee times

Again this year, public tee times for the 2025 season at Landmand go on sale at 8 a.m. CST on Dec. 31.

Last year, the semi-private destination course north of Homer sold out for the year in less than three hours. The 2025 season is planned to run from May 16 to September 28.

USGA four-ball qualifiers

Brothers Matt Meuret of Brunswick, Nebraska, and Sam Meuret of Waukee, Iowa, were the medalists and Danny Woodhead and Michael Wilhelm of Omaha also qualified for next year’s 10th U.S. Amateur Four-Ball Championship.

Both twosomes have qualified for the second time. Woodhead is the former NFL running back who will enter the College Football Hall of Fame next month.

College golf rosters

Starting in 2025-26, new NCAA roster limits, triggered by NIL and revenue sharing, will limit men’s and women’s golf teams to nine players at schools that will practice revenue-sharing with athletes. Those would be in the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12 and SEC and any others outside the “Power Four” that provide revenue sharing.

All schools can provide a maximum of nine full scholarships for men, double the previous 4.5, and nine for women, an increase from six.

Photos: Final round of the 2024 Pinnacle Bank Championship

Matt McCarty celebrates after winning the Pinnacle Bank Championship at The Club at Indian Creek in Omaha on Sunday, Aug. 11, 2024.