Bryant, Arkansas
Hurricane Golf and Country Club sits on a relatively flat piece of property in Bryant, Arkansas. The course opened in the 2000s and is a private club run by Lindsey Management. As with most Lindsey courses, there are apartments that surround many of the holes.
The course has Zoysia fairways and Bermuda greens. Hurricane had Bentgrass greens when it opened but struggled to keep several of the greens alive during the hot Arkansas summers. The Bermuda greens have come in nicely and present a much better putting service than the previous greens. The green surfaces are large and require the golfer to have good speed control to play well.
The course is not overly long but can stretch out to over 6800 yards from the black tees. There are a total of 5 tee boxes to choose from, with the shortest playing 4600 yards.
Hurricane is a mixture of boring, forgettable holes and holes that force you to think and execute.
The first hole is about as basic a golf hole as you will find. The only real consideration is whether you can reach and want to challenge the pond short and right of the green. There are no fairway bunkers and the fairway is wide because it connects with the 10th fairway. The green is a large, simple green that slopes from back to front. While it is understandable to give the golfer an easier hole to begin the round with, that doesn’t mean it has to be boring.
In contrast to the boring first hole, the green complexes of the second, third, and fourth holes are memorable. The second green requires an accurate wedge shot or pitch, especially if the pin is on the left because that half of the green is not very deep. The green falls away steeply over the green.
The third is a fairly straight away par 5 with a large back-to-front sloping green. The interesting part of the green is how the green falls away on the left and right sides. The bunkers at the front of the green and the fall-off areas combine for some difficult pin positions that require a player to think about where their second shot ends up.
Favorite Holes at Hurricane Golf and CC
The Fourth Hole
The par 3 4th hole is the most interesting par 3 on the property because of the large, two-tiered green. The top right portion of the green is difficult to hit and hold while ending up in the back bunker can present a difficult up and down depending on the pin. A pin in the front right of the green is the easiest pin because the swale can be used as a backstop.
A pin on the far left of the green is the most difficult location. The small landing area on the left front of the green is only steps from a fence that is out of bounds. This forces the player to aim right of the pin. While it is possible to use the slope to bring the shot closer to a pin tucked on the left side of the green, anything on the back shelf leaves a putt almost impossible to stop close to the hole. Bailing out to the front right of the green then leaves a large breaking putt that is also difficult.
The Twelfth Hole
Number 12 is a par 5 that slightly doglegs right around a pond. The pond can come into play off the tee for longer players. In order to have a chance to go for the green in two, the golfer needs to place his or her tee shot down the left side of the fairway because of some tall pine trees about one hundred yards short of the green. The green is deep (over 40 yards) and fairly flat but does sit on a small hill. Approach shots hit off line left or right will bounce down below the level of the green.
Least favorite holes at Hurricane Golf and CC
The Tenth Hole
Number 10 feels like the course designer needed to fit in another hole and didn’t have room to do it. A creek runs the length of the hole down the left side. There are pine trees up the right side of the hole that pinch in the landing area for drives, though the tenth fairway runs into the first fairway before the trees. Balls are constantly being hit into the wrong fairway and often cause players to have to wait on one another.
The green has a significant slope and runs down to the creek off the left of the green. The hole would be more interesting if most of the pines close to the green were taken out. Bailing out into the right would not be advantageous because of the slope of the green. If the trees weren’t there, an approach from the first fairway would be an incredibly difficult shot. The green would be running away from you so any approach that carried too far would risk running down into the creek. Coming up short would be a difficult up and down because of how the green slopes down and off to the right.
Practice facilities
The range at Hurricane Golf and Country Club is a water range that uses floating balls. The hitting area of the range is two-tiered and you always get to hit off of grass, even in the winter. The floating balls seem to give similar ball flight and distance compared to other range balls.
The putting green provides a good place to practice both short and lag putting. The green is not as large as it seems because about a quarter of the green is too severely sloped to use for substantial practice. There is also a small chipping and pitching green. The best part of the short game area is that you can practice pitch shots up to about 50 yards into the chipping green.
Links
Hurricane Golf and Country Club website
Natural State Golf Listing of Golf Courses in Little Rock area