Cedar Rapids Country Club began on its present Indian Creek property as a Tom Bendelow nine in 1904, implemented under the direction of Warren A. Dickinson for the Country Club Land Company.
In late 1914, the club retained Donald J. Ross to expand the course to eighteen; local newspapers reported receipt of his plans in November–December 1914, and construction proceeded into 1915. Ross made an on-site visit during a westward swing that also included Colorado and Illinois, then left the build to local crews—his associates J.B. McGovern and Walter Hatch had not yet joined him—so the early course leaned more on the land than on an elaborate bunker scheme. Club materials and modern research agree that Ross’s work lengthened the course to 18 holes in 1915, incorporating portions of Bendelow’s routing.
The ensuing decades brought accretions rather than Ross-led changes: tree planting surged from the 1960s onward, amoeboid tees and mounding appeared via a later Chicago architect, and a series of ponds were cut into low ground as flood-control measures—alterations that masked the clarity of Ross’s corridors through the hills and along Indian Creek.
A member-driven restoration began with Ron Prichard’s 2011 master plan and in-house execution led by superintendent Tom Feller and Prichard’s then-associate Tyler Rae. Working largely in shoulder seasons so the club could stay open, the team restored widths, re-established green edges on Ross’s pads, reimagined bunkering where documentation was thin, and removed out-of-character ponds. The phased work continued through 2015, at a total cost reported around $660,000, and culminated with a widely praised reopening.
On August 10, 2020, a derecho toppled thousands of trees across Cedar Rapids, dramatically opening views and changing the scale relationship between hazards and the newly open canopy. The club and Prichard used the event as a further calibration point; subsequent touch-ups included re-scaling bunkers and selective redesign (for example, fine-tuning at the par-3 5th and tees at 6), while keeping the restored Ross ground plan intact.
Design intent, as evidenced: Ross’s 1914 visit produced an eighteen that stitched rolling hills to a creek valley, using elevation change, creek crossings and naturally canted ground to ask for trajectory and placement, with relatively restrained original bunkering. The later restoration aimed to re-center strategy on those landforms—widening fairways to their crowns, pushing greens back to their fill pads, and placing bunkers to key angles where Ross’s drawings were silent but the terrain plainly called for defense.
Unique design characteristics
The course’s “handshake” opener (No. 1) still presents Ross’s favored high-tee/low-fairway/elevated-green sequence, capped by a steep back-to-front surface that is over a century old. Prichard added staggered landing bunkers to restore the tee-shot decision that tree planting had dulled, but the green’s pitch remains Ross-era severe. No. 2 flips the landform, rising to a high fairway before falling to a low green; expanded width accentuates a gentle right-to-left “banana” in the fairway, making the correct shape from the tee matter more than brute carry. No. 3 is the routing’s only true dogleg, finishing at a two-tiered target that exemplifies Ross’s use here of interior contour rather than perimeter mounding.
The move into the valley is clearest at No. 6, where Indian Creek bisects the fairway and a diagonal trio of bunkers fronts (but does not touch) the green. Rae subtly raised the putting surface and preserved a short-grass fall-off front-right, so even shots that carry the bunkers can bleed away—an approach pattern visible on several Ross complexes at Cedar Rapids.
On the front-nine closer, No. 9 climbs relentlessly from the low point toward the clubhouse, then tumbles into a punchbowl-like receiving area; the hole often plays as a three-shotter because of the blind second over the hill crest. It is a quintessential “use the land” Ross hole, less about a forced carry than about distance control into a bold landform.
The back nine’s valley floor shows how Ross—and later Prichard—made variety from quiet topography. No. 14, nicknamed the “Burial Mound,” perches its green atop a prominent mound in the floodplain; the site traces to Bendelow’s original nine and Ross routed through it, preserving the dramatic up-and-over approach that defines the hole today. No. 15 curls beside Indian Creek before the water cuts across in front of the green, while No. 18, uphill toward the clubhouse, retains one of the course’s fiercest pitches—an authentic Ross finisher made more exacting by modern green speeds.
Clearest surviving Ross expressions include No. 1 (steeply canted, elevated green), No. 3 (two-tiered target at the only true dogleg), No. 6 (creek bisect and diagonal fronting bunkers with short-grass runoff), and No. 9 (climb and punchbowl reception). No. 14 is historically telling because it preserves a Bendelow greensite within Ross’s eighteen, underscoring how the 1915 expansion integrated—not erased—the original nine.
Historical significance
Cedar Rapids is Iowa’s only Ross design, an early Midwestern commission where Ross personally visited to lay out the expansion. The club’s modern restoration—conducted largely in-house under Prichard and Rae between 2011 and 2015—has been cited as a model of economical, high-impact work that revives Golden Age geometry without costly overbuild. The course re-entered the conversation regionally and nationally: Golf Digest and other outlets highlighted the tree management and hazard restoration, and a local business journal noted its breakthrough onto Golfweek’s Top 100 Classic Courses list.
Competitive pedigree followed. The club hosted the 2019 U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur (Lara Tennant defeated Sue Wooster in the final), has served repeatedly as a U.S. Open local qualifying site (including 2016 and 2025), and figures in long-running Iowa Amateur history (e.g., the 1940 championship final at CRCC). Those placements reflect both the course’s restored strategic interest and its infrastructure improvements for modern tournament play.
Current condition / integrity
The routing remains Ross’s—a weave of upland holes and valley holes—augmented by restored widths and re-established green perimeters. Ponds inserted during late-20th-century flood projects have been removed or naturalized back into depressions and swales, and bunkers have been re-sited and re-edged to present diagonal choices at modern speeds and yardages. After the 2020 derecho, the course’s openness increased dramatically; Prichard adjusted the scale of some hazards to fit the new vistas and, in spots (e.g., 5 and 6), tweaked details without disturbing Ross’s ground game. In 2022–23 the club also introduced a second green at No. 16 to improve walkability and maintenance in a difficult micro-site—an incremental change that respects the restored whole. From the back markers the course now stretches above 7,200 yards (par 72), though everyday tees are significantly shorter; the setup flexibility supports state and USGA events while keeping Ross’s shot values intact.
What has been preserved vs. altered: preserved elements include the eighteen-hole ground plan, the central hill/valley rhythm, and green-to-surround relationships (steep pitches at 1 and 18, two-tier 3, diagonal entries like 6). Alterations are largely restorative—wider fairways, reclaimed green edges, bunker re-placements keyed to angles—and post-storm re-scaling. The course today presents Ross’s intent—use of Indian Creek and elevation to set angles and stances—through a contemporary lens that favors firm surfaces and open sightlines.
Sources & Notes
GolfClubAtlas — “Cedar Rapids Country Club” (2019/updated 2024). Detailed history of 1904 Bendelow nine; Ross’s 1914 visit and plans; 1915 expansion to 18; lack of early associates, local construction; mid-century tree planting, mounding, and ponds; 2011–15 Prichard/Rae restoration (scope, phasing, cost); hole-by-hole architectural notes (Nos. 1–9, 14–18).
Cedar Rapids Country Club — site overview. Club states the course was lengthened to 18 in 1915 by Donald Ross; general historical framing and present-day overview.
Golf Digest — “Cedar Rapids Country Club | Golf Courses.” Notes 2014 hiring of Ron Prichard and associate Tyler Rae; coverage of tree removal and widened playing corridors.
Golf Course Architecture — “Cedar Rapids: Blown Away” (Nov. 8, 2024). Post-derecho analysis; Prichard quotes on working without original bunker drawings, re-scaling hazards; notes on targeted redesign at 5/6 after 2020 storm.
Corridor Business Journal — “CRCC golf course completes ‘Ross-toration’” (May 16, 2016). Three-year, ~$700k restoration; 2016 U.S. Open local qualifier host detail.
The Fried Egg — “Cedar Rapids Country Club” (Course Profile, 2025). Course-feature descriptions (hill/valley rhythm; punchbowl-like 9th; Burial Mound 14th from Bendelow); note on second green at 16 in 2022–23; restoration context.
USGA — 2019 U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur (press release & recap). Event awarded to and contested at CRCC; match details and dates (Aug. 24–29, 2019).
Iowa Golf Association — USGA Qualifiers (2025). U.S. Open local qualifying site listing for CRCC (May 12, 2025).
Iowa Golf Association — Iowa Amateur history. 1940 Iowa Amateur final played at Cedar Rapids CC.
City of Cedar Rapids — Derecho resources / local media summaries. Documentation of 65–75% canopy loss citywide in 2020, framing the magnitude of landscape change affecting CRCC.
Top100GolfCourses — Cedar Rapids. Context on centennial-timed Prichard/Rae engagement; general course overview.
GolfPass — course profile. Publicly listed length (approx. 7,328 yards) and par 72 for the longest setup; general facility details.
Uncertainties / disputed points.
• 1914 vs. 1915 dating. Contemporary club text emphasizes 1915 as the year the course was lengthened to 18; archival summaries and modern research specify plans drawn and received in late 1914 with construction into 1915. This entry treats 1914 as the planning/site-visit year and 1915 as build/open.
• Original bunker patterning. Prichard has stated that no Ross bunker drawings for CRCC survive; his 2011–15 work “bunkered the course on the 1915 plans and on the ground,” using analogs from other Ross projects. Exact original bunker placements are therefore inferred, not documented.
• Post-derecho adjustments. Sources note re-scaling and select redesigns (e.g., 5/6) after 2020; these are targeted edits within the restored routing, not a re-routing. Precise scopes by hole beyond published examples are not fully enumerated in public sources.