A 'tucked away' golf course
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Just off Herbert Hoover Highway, on a gravel road, lies a "secret" golf course.
Red barns sit near the path leading to the clubhouse, and a natural Midwest landscape — tall prairie grass and oak trees — decorate the outskirts.
Hi Point Golf Course more closely resembles a farm than it does a golf course.
In fact, it used to be one.
Lori Wood, 51, and husband Scott Wood own and maintain the course.
"[My husband's] grandfather started [Hi Point]," she said. "His parents took it over, and then when his parents wanted to retire, then my husband and I and his sister took it over."
Lori Wood, who has been married to Scott Woods for 29 years, said the maintenance is a 24/7 job.
Members of the family regularly spend 12-plus hour days working to keep the course in shape. From maintaining the greens to mowing the fairway to assisting customers, Hi Point isn't a job — it's a way of life.
"We do [hire some outside help]," Lori Wood said. "We've been lucky because my son is [in his] first year out of high school. His friends all like to work here. So right now, it's great … It's been in Scott's family for so long that it's just really sentimental."
Twenty-six years and three generations after Scott Wood's grandfather made the decision to transform the open farmland into a man-terraced recreational landscape, members of the community still make the trek to the family-owned business.
"[Hi Point]'s actually gotten better," Larry Cral, 68, said. "Basically, the friendliness and the camaraderie of the course [initially drew me here]. We've got a lot of leagues going … Membership is very reasonable."
Cral, retired, and a customer of Hi Point since its opening, spends so much time playing golf that he wears a brace on his right elbow.
Cral, who plays up to six times a week, said he can remembers when it was only nine holes long.
Hi Point didn't change to 18 holes until 1999.
Outside the closely maintained holes and the few small buildings, the grass-covered ground has no paths, but trampled grass, where patrons navigate golf carts — a relatively new addition to the course.
The majority of the members are like Cral in regards to their strong ties to the course and their propensity to bring their children and grandchildren to enjoy one of the area's best-kept secrets.
Other customers are drawn in because of the $11 18-hole fee and the easy-come, easy-go, no tee-off time required atmosphere.
Loras student Grant Suense has played at Hi Point five times summer and has frequented the course for three years.
"It's good for kids our age to come out here and play; it's not too expensive," he said. "Usually, I just get a couple of friends and play some best ball … it's a lot cheaper than any other course, and it's still a quality course."
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