Dormie Network to open GrayBull Club in Nebraska Sandhills

This feature was originally published by Golf Course Architecture magazine.

GrayBull is Dormie’s first new club, its other six – ArborLinks, Ballyhack, Briggs Ranch, Dormie Club, Hidden Creek and Victoria National – being acquisitions of existing facilities.

Kidd helped to select GrayBull’s 600 acres of prairie land, north of the Platte River, in spring 2021.

“Being a direct influence on land selection is rare in the industry, which makes it even more exciting to build,” he said. “Golfers want to go to a place and actually experience the place, and golf is the excuse for doing so. This land is special – there’s nothing but you and mother nature in its rawest, simplest, most beautiful form.

“This site, it’s like the Goldilocks thing: not too flat, not too steep. It’s kind of in a bowl that looks inwards, and there are no bad views. It’s wide open, no big roads, no visual contamination – ticks all the boxes.”

In February 2024, with construction complete and the course growing in, a wildfire spread across the area. Before it arrived at the course, GrayBull staff turned on the irrigation system to soak the ground, gouged out fire breaks in the native grasses and around employee housing, and made use of a water truck.

These measures safeguarded the course, clubhouse and cottages from the fire that would eventually consume more than 70,000 acres of land.

“Sitting on top of the ridge by the first tee and the eighteenth green is one of the best views you will ever get in the Sandhills,” said Zach Peed, Dormie Network president. “Seeing hints of the course pop in and out of the rolling hills from the patio is going to be tough to beat.”

“From hole four to nine will be perfect for golden hour golf. The experience, and reveals, from green to tee are going to be incredible. Wandering in and out of the hills, you’ll have moments where you’ll wonder where to go next, and the entire round will feel like an adventure.”