Pleasant Valley, Iowa
Davenport Country Club is Iowa’s benchmark for classic, strategic, and challenging private golf. Routed over bluffland with punishing creeks and contoured greens, it’s a design-lover’s course, brimming with the drama and lore of the old Western Open. For Midwestern golf travelers, this is hallowed ground.
Club incorporated and land purchased; original dairy barn repurposed as clubhouse
Full 18-hole Alison routing debuts on Memorial Day
Hosts Western Open, then a major; won by Ralph Guldahl
Hosts Western Open again; Sam Snead’s infamous 16th; first fully televised golf tournament
Original clubhouse (converted barn) burns down
Restoration by Ron Forse & Jim Nagle to revive Colt/Alison character
During the 1951 Western Open—the first golf event ever fully televised—Sam Snead dunked his tee shot into Spencer Creek on the par-4 16th, costing him the tournament and cementing the hole’s notorious nickname: 'Hole of Grief.'
Before the club existed, the land was a horse farm—and the original clubhouse was literally a renovated dairy barn. That rustic charm set the tone, until fire claimed the barn in the winter of 1969.
In 2014, Ron Forse and Jim Nagle led a meticulous restoration, peeling away modern changes to reveal the old Colt/Alison bones. Bunkering, greens, and playing angles were revived to let the land and creek once again dictate the test.
Alison’s original routing refused to flatten—and that’s its genius. Each hole follows the wild elevations, bluffs, and creeks above the Mississippi, giving the course both beauty and bite.
Davenport Country Club is a paragon of Golden Age ingenuity in Middle America, with an 18-hole Colt & Alison routing that traces the blufftop contours above the Mississippi River valley. The design is defined by dramatic elevation changes, influential creeks (notably Spencer Creek), and small, canted greens ringed by deep bunkers. Its 2014 restoration recaptured the designers’ original vision: a course that rewards thoughtful navigation, shotmaking, and nerve, especially as the land tightens and tilts late in the round. Every hole leverages the natural terrain, challenging both power and placement through deviously positioned hazards and strategic options that still test the best today.
Alison and Colt’s design philosophy—let the land dictate the golf—makes Davenport a living textbook for Golden Age strategy in the Midwest.
Colt & Alison collaboration; Golden Age elite
Classic Colt/Alison coastal design
Historic restoration, strong acclaim
Widely praised for routings, greens
Distinctive Alison bunkering
Perhaps the most famous hole in the Hawkeye State, the 16th plunges from an elevated tee across the menacing Spencer Creek—haunting players’ minds and scorecards alike since Sam Snead’s disaster in 1951. The hole’s nickname was born of heartbreak and lives on in local legend.
Tee shot must commit to the right-center; long approach forced over or beside the creek to a green guarded by bunkers and slope. Play safe to the wide part if confidence wavers.
Anything nervy or pushed right can find Spencer Creek off the tee or on approach; approach spins off into the water or deep bunkers if misjudged. Par is heroic.
Impeccably groomed turf, fast and true greens, tight rough, and perfectly edged bunkers.
Smooth, regular private-club pace—typically 4 hours or less.
Traditional, understated, and member-centric—quiet Midwestern class.
Collared shirts, slacks or bermuda shorts, no denim—classic private-club attire.
Down-to-earth challenge next door; accessible local tradition.
Pleasant Valley or central Davenport for the best access to upscale and public options, plus easy hops to Illinois.
Long par 3s and lengthy approaches reward crisp, high shots that can hold small, firm greens.
Quick, tiered greens demand creative short game—work on trajectory and spin from tight lies.
There is no shame in a safe center-green play; patient golf tames bluffland risk.
Blufftop exposures can shift club selection by 1–2 clubs on exposed holes.
The 16th hole's 'Hole of Grief' nickname stems from Sam Snead’s infamous water ball at the 1951 Western Open.
Davenport CC’s first clubhouse was a converted barn from a former horse farm.
The 1951 Western Open at Davenport was the first golf tournament ever fully televised.
Colt & Alison’s design left most natural landforms untouched to emphasize bluffland character.
Twice chosen by Sports Illustrated as an 'All-American Golf Hole' in the 1930s.
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