A $15 million idea to develop a links-style course on the Omaha riverfront stalled after it was first proposed in 2010, but the same golf aficionados behind the initial effort still want to make their dream a reality.
They say they want to make Omaha a destination for the game as it was played a century ago. The group hasn’t secured rights to any land. They have been shopping the idea around to potential investors and city leaders.
Those enthusiasts, as well as Jensen, think the conceptual Riverfront Golf Center — which would be an 18-hole golf course that would also include a museum featuring vintage golf equipment and memorabilia — would be a major draw for golfers from around the country.
The group last November presented the idea to the Urban Land Institute.
Gregg Dress owns the Classic Golf store that Jensen opened in the 1980s. He’s a leader in the group that has the idea for the course and said a swath of riverfront between north downtown and Eppley Airfield is perfectly suited for development of a course designed for the shorter hickory game.
There’s a design on paper by celebrated course designer Tom Doak.
A Riverfront Links course? That would be AWESOME!