Some golf courses challenge your game. Others challenge your soul. The Red Course at Dismal River does both, and it does so in the most breathtakingly remote corner of Nebraska’s Sand Hills.

Crafted by Tom Doak of Renaissance Golf Design, the Red Course showcases a masterful balance of artistry and strategy, blending seamlessly with the Sand Hills’ serene landscape while offering a polished, intentional design.

Every hole feels carefully considered, with wide fairways that invite creativity and greens that challenge even the most seasoned players.

Unlike its rugged sibling, the White Course, the Red exudes a sense of refinement – less raw, but no less captivating. It’s a course that rewards thoughtful play and an appreciation for the subtleties of world-class golf course architecture in a setting that provides a sense of solitude golf enthusiasts can only dream about.

If you’re lucky enough to make it to Mullen, you’re in for an experience that’s as unforgettable as the journey it takes to get there.

First Impressions: A Glimpse of Greatness in the Sand Hills

As I mentioned in my destination overview of Dismal River, I’d experienced much of the Red Course before – back in 2013 coming off a FAM trip to The Prairie Club.

My friend, Brian, and I played the White Course that morning and decided “when will we ever be back in Mullen again? Let’s at least check out the Red.”

We regretted that a little on the drive back to Wisconsin, getting home around 7:00 in the morning. That regret obviously feigned over time as any opportunity to play golf this good should be met with an enthusiastic “of course!”

This season’s visit to Dismal River was much less hurried, thank God, though it was still brief.

Along with my friends Dan, Dario and Will, we left Wisconsin at 3:00 on a Sunday afternoon with stops in Madison and an overnight stay in South Sioux City, Iowa, setting up a morning round at Landmand Golf Club the following day.

Landmand is the perfect halfway point to Mullen, Nebraska, by the way, and a terrific introduction to the state’s prolific golf scene. If able to secure a tee time, this is the exact itinerary I would set up ten times out of ten.

A Study in Conrasts: Doak’s Vision for The Red Course

Nicklaus’s White Course is rugged and long – 7,400 yards with five par fives, four tough threes and massive sand hazards that need to be carried to hit most putting surfaces.

The Red Course is less penal, but it’s not easier by any means. Most of the course’s greenside bunkering is smaller in scale, the course is more clean-cut and its greens are generally larger with extra-tricky internal contouring.

It builds players’ confidence off the tee while making them work hard for a low score.

This dichotomy reminded me of several other world-class golf resorts, both also operated by Chicago-based KemperSports, with courses designed by multiple architects: Streamsong in Bowling Green, Florida and Sand Valley in Nekoosa, Wisconsin.

At Streamsong, the Doak- and Hanse-designed Blue and Black courses are less challenging off the tee with loads of trouble on and around the greens while Coore and Crenshaw’s Red Course is more restrictive for longer clubs and less dramatic on the putting surfaces.

At Sand Valley, the original Sand Valley course (designed by Coore and Crenshaw) is significantly more challenging than its David McLay-Kidd-designed Mammoth Dunes or Doak-designed Sedge Valley, although nothing mentioned here holds a candle to The Lido, difficulty-wise. The Lido may be the toughest golf course I’ve played in my life.

That dichotomy lies in many ways around the intimidation faced over tee shots versus the challenge to score around the greens.

We in Wisconsin are well used to this, especially from the works of Pete Dye. Dye built incredible intimidation into tee shots even though the areas being hit toward are typically more forgiving than the player’s eye lets on.

The best case of this, of course, is at Whistling Straits where many holes are bordered by Lake Michigan (an obvious “stay-away-from-that!” hazard) while fescue dominates the other side of the playing surface.

In conversation with Dye’s protege, Chris Lutzke, he told me how it pained Mr. Dye that golf enthusiasts felt his courses were too difficult (he made great efforts to always provide tees without forced carries for that reason toward the second half of his career).

Dye and Mr. Nicklaus have always been similar in that one respect – their course designs have often been generalized as “penal.”

Doak’s courses are typically more welcoming off the tee, allowing players to feel good about their long game while putting intense scrutiny on the solid approach shots and putting that translate to lower scores.

I love a golf destination to have variety in its playing experiences and at least one of the tracks at Dismal River is sure to speak to every serious golf enthusiast.

Charm in the Details: The Red Course’s Unique Personality

Like the White Course at Dismal River, the Red has a lot of interesting, lovable quirks.

There are no tee boxes, for example, but instead suggested teeing areas. A lot of times these areas are challenging to find, too, even after having played the course before (granted, a long time ago).

While it’s got less blind tee shots than the Nicklaus course, it does have several including the par four second and incredibly memorable par four 17th.

A buffalo skull on a pole identifies the aiming point on 17. Trust the line and you’ll be fine. This is a gorgeous up-and-down hole design.

Short but Mighty: The Red Course’s Drivable Par Fours

Both courses at Dismal River have memorable, drivable par fours – a wheelhouse feature for each designer.

Many of my favorite holes on the entire property are these short holes, including the sixth on the Red Course and eight on White.

Doak’s sixth is just 50 yards longer than the 239-yard par three preceding it, which allows a great opportunity to recapture a stroke after walking off such a challenging one-shotter.

Par Five Perfection: Strategic Challenges on the Red Course

The Red Course’s par fives are some of the strongest holes on-site, including the first, eighth and 10th.

My favorite of the bunch is the long 10th, which features a slight fairway correction following a tee shot that requires most second swings to carry native grass en route to an initially wide fairway that narrows in the [mostly blind] approach area.

This hole is another stunner – there are a lot of them out there!

The eighth, checking in at 512 yards, sets up nicely to the eye with a downhill tee shot to a wide fairway that runs slightly left to right.

Deep blowout bunkers catch errant, heroic approach attempts trying to get home under regulation, and the green is well-protected in front and to the right. The safe bailout here is certainly left.

The Red Course’s opening hole – the other of Doak’s par fives – is a friendly handshake showcasing the designer’s strategic approach to the Red Course: stray from the middle of the fairway and chances are you’ll find a hazard to deal with.

Played uphill, the first finishes with a large, heavily contoured putting surface with internal slopes that require solid line-reading skills.

Precision and Grace: Doak’s Artful Par Threes

Doak courses always feature wonderful diversity in their par threes. Afterall, the great designer (who I would consider to be the game’s best at this day and age) begins his routing process by identifying the property’s best greens sites regardless of what that means for traditional par three, four and five cadences on scorecards.

Ranging from 131 to 239 yards from the white tees we played, the Red Course’s par threes require very different club selections at each and feature excellent variety in their style and aesthetics.

My favorite of the bunch on the Red Course, the 16th, played just 112 yards during our round to a gorgeous greens setting against the property’s mountainous backdrop, the Dismal River and its natural prairie amphitheater.

Typical of what I’ve seen from Doak in the past, short threes should be precise while long ones allow more grace.

The short 16th and long fifth are terrific examples of this on the Red Course at Dismal River.

The third is another exceptional par three, played over prairie to a beautiful, elevated greens complex.

Navigating the Red Course: A Journey Through Doak’s Design

Always pay attention when on the Red Course to where the next hole’s teeing areas will be.

As a private club, it’s certainly excusable and allowed, but the routing can be very confusing for first-time visitors as there is no signage identifying tee sites – there are instead suggested teeing areas.

Nebraska’s Hidden Splendor: Natural Beauty Abounds

While you may not think of Nebraska as having incredible natural beauty in the way of wildflowers and vegetation, it does.

The back nine of the Red Course, especially, radiates. Wildflowers abound in this area, creating beautiful and abundant scenery that complements its scenic mountainous backdrops.

Crossing Doak Bridge: The Red Course’s Scenic Transition

The first eight holes of the Red Course are on the southern section of its layout, across the club’s long driveway.

Finishing on eight, the ninth heads out towards Dismal River and the massive range of dunes that defines the property’s northern border.

This short par four, setting up from 374 or shorter (it was ~ 330 during our round), plays alongside a deep ravine that separates it from the oncoming par five ninth.

While teeing off on the ninth feels like starting the back nine, maybe the coolest drive on the entire property separates the front and back: the cart ride across Doak Bridge.

Strategic Routing and Secluded Charm on the Red Course

As WiscoGolfAddict contributor Dario Melendez mentioned in his recent destination review, there are few even lies on the Red Course.

The scorecard looks relatively manageable, but all the shots from stances with balls above or below the feet make accurate shot-making a big-time challenge. The yardage (6,994 from, the tips and 6,334 from the white/middle tees we were on) plays significantly longer in that way.

Starting his design of the Red Course as he typically does, Tom Doak identified the property’s best greens sites and planned the routing around them.

This process can lead to an interesting scorecard at times, like at Sedge Valley (a par 68 course with three par threes in a 4-hole stretch, for example) or Pacific Dunes at Bandon Dunes Golf Resort (where the turn is highlighted by dramatic back-to-back par threes; again, KemperSports-managed!).

That rare type of situation does not occur at Dismal River outside of a minimal number of par fives (three), but the routing gets interesting at times when numerous holes share general playing surfaces, especially on the back nine.

I love that communal feel on the Red Course. It means there’s a lot of room for a spray hitter like myself to miss and still have a chance to make it up via long, but doable, approach shots.

I know what you’re thinking: “but can’t that be dangerous?” I suppose, but as I mentioned in my article on the White Course, these courses don’t seem to get that crowded.

As a private club and with a primarily national membership, there’s a wonderful sense of seclusion at Dismal River. For 95 percent of our visit we felt like we were literally the only ones on-course, playing at our own pace. It’s an awesome, leisurely feeling.

Other Favorite Holes on the Red Course

One of the most iconic views at Dismal River is the greens site on 12 where the massive putting surface is juxtaposed perfectly against the hilly backdrop and American flag.

This is one of those holes where you’ll want to take note of the next teeing location, by the way, which is about a hundred yards back up the fairway from the green and presents an awesome upcoming tee shot!

This entire stretch of holes is remarkable, and I love the 13th.

Played left-to-right, longer players can cut off distance by taking on the dogleg while shorter ones will want to aim down the straight-ahead fairway.

The target area if “going for it” contains a series of four bunkers guarding the right side of the playing area – all hidden from view in an effort to give pause to heroic shots.

Tom Doak is a master of risk/reward golf.

Top-level players should not just be given free reign because a par four is short, but they should have to worry about their club selection if efforting to take the course to its knees.

The 13th on the Red Course exemplifies that philosophy.

The seventh features one of the most intimidating carries you’ll find anywhere – a massive internal blowout bunker dead-center in the driving zone.

Rest assured there is room to miss short, left and right of this hazard, but if your tee shot finds it you’ll likely be carding a high number.

The fourth maybe best exemplifies the Red Course’s “communal feel.” Coming off the par three third, the tee boxes for four are a large area of closely mowed grass to its back-left. You can choose your own teeing location and angles from there.

Played as a left-to-right road hole, there are a lot of different routes players can take to get home on this par four, including playing over the back portion of the third green.

Doak instilled a ton of strategy on the Red Course, allowing players to choose their lines of play on many of its hole layouts.

A Grand Finale: Doak’s Spectacular 18th

The 18th on Doak’s Red Course at Dismal River is an artistic stroke of genius.

From its elevated tee shot to its tough target driving area and pop-up hazards sprinkled throughout, gorgeous views and incredibly well-designed greens complex, this is one of those holes that will remain in your memory banks for years to come.

Finishing alongside the Dismal River and at the foothills of the range that lines the Red Course, the elevated green has a big false front on the left side and is all carry elsewhere.

Take enough club, finish strong and stand there for at least a few minutes to soak it all in and admire this glorious setting.

This place is special and the 18th puts it all on full display.

The Beauty of Strategy: Why the REd Course Stands Apart

The Dismal River Golf Club has it all.

I’m not just talking about amenities, which it has in spades, but also about the golf experience.

Visiting golf architecture junkies are sure to geek out at the subtleties built into the Red Course while extreme, elite players looking to challenge themselves will get everything they want and more out of the White.

The Red has a wonderful blend of challenge and architectural interest. It has every nod to legendary design a golf geek can ask for while providing challenge at every turn, and it’s all done in a wonderfully arcane way that, when you get to the green and count up your strokes you think to yourself “how did that become a six?”

As with all Tom Doak courses, the beauty is in the details.

Elite golf course architecture does not require massive forced carries to protect par but instead smart decision-making. Doak could have made this course 8,000 yards if he wanted – there’s certainly the acreage available for it – but instead he built the challenge into the strategy.

To score well on the Red Course, players need to work themselves around it in ways that make the most of its width and angles. There’s certainly plenty of width, and when it comes to angles they are plentiful, as well.

Dismal River Golf Club website