Tournament Club of Iowa — Attraction in Polk City

Updating this review to reflect our visit yesterday. Stephen invited us out to play the course again and it couldn't have been in better shape and the greens were fast but fair. The service was top notch and our cart was really good as well. Thank you to Stephen and his team for a great experience!

I am only giving two stars because ownership has invested in adding a bar and grill for golfers and rerouted the course in a more logical manner. However: Due to either short staffing or a lack of carts we were not able to get a cart until right before our tee time which isn't the biggest deal but was a bad sign. The cart we were given did not have GPS and something was wrong with the governor on the engine which caused us to slow down on flat ground and uphills but go faster on downhills. The new layout of the course isn't available on our Garmin watches so we had to guess the yardages on certain shots. The greens had recently been aerated and tons of sand has been dumped on the greens for some reason. This usually isn't done until later in the season and we were given no warning that the greens were in this condition. Very disappointing considering green fees are $80. I am appreciative that a bar / grill was constructed in the clubhouse but you should not advertise that a dinner menu is available until 9pm on Saturday's when no dinner menu was available at all. Based on the attitude of the staff choosing to not serve the dinner menu when it is advertised as available happens regularly. You need to change your hours of operation sign to reflect the reality of the service level that you are able to provide.

I had not been to this course in 5 years and will probably not be back again. It is very disappointing to have what should be an elite golf course so close to home that is just not worth the money. I can take my pushcart to courses like Jester Park, Otter Creek, etc. and pay half the $$$ and enjoy the round more. I can even eat dinner in the clubhouse after the round at these courses.

Update: In response to the owner's comments, I don't recall a notice regarding the greens being aerated and was not aware that I received a discount so whatever notification you had on your website was lacking and is not posted on the website currently. Regardless, this was not my only complaint about our visit to your course and this experience combined with a number of bad experiences in recent years has made me conclude that it is simply not worth the time or money to play your course. I had high hopes after reading the Des Moines Register article about the improvements to the course but unfortunately your business does not seem to be able to get the golf and restaurant operations side of things right. It does appear that you have a thriving conference and banquet business so...

Courses in excellent shape the greens rolled exceptionally only thing I don't like about the course is they changed up whole seven which is an absolute travesty that's just a terrible hole The green was not made to receive balls from that direction and then number nine terrible par-3 they took what was a really great Arnold Palmer design and destroyed it I don't understand why they changed it but don't like it The course has 16 really good holes! (In Response To Owner) Well whatever architect team you had working on that has no sense at all as a former golf superintendent I've been around plenty of design teams and not a one of them that had any sense would build that whole seven like that The green isn't designed to accept shots from that angle for one you could have at least shaved down the front of that or reconstructed it a little bit terrible absolutely terrible and now let's go to number 9 that green has no character at all it's just flat like they cut a circle out of a patch of grass and put a flag stick in it and call it a green whatever design or architecture team you're using you need to go away from them because they have no character at all none I don't believe I'll be coming back and I won't recommend...

Course designed by Arnold Palmer, Really, Really Nice, and well kept course. REASONABLE Rates. Most fairways have multiple signs, that have multiple sand traps and some fairways have sand traps and water hazards. The fairways are easy to play but you can't get in trouble quickly. I came back with a few less balls than I started with. The staff are friendly and accommodating. When I played this course it was cold, windy, and raining some, but to play through was a thrill and a must. The greens were wet, thus, even faster, only a few of which tricked me and made a mess of my score. Mr. Palmer had much insight in what makes a great course, and I will always come back to play an interesting but challenging golf course. I'm recommending Tournament Club Of Iowa to......