Elk City Golf and Country Club: Plains Golf with Roots

From a 1955 News Clipping to a Working Layout

Walk into the pro shop at Elk City Golf and Country Club and you'll find a framed Elk City Daily News article dated March 15, 1955. It tells the origin of the course. Johnny Johnson, a man who didn't take "no" for an answer and the president of the Elk City Golf Association at the time, joined Texas pro Joe Houch to scout the parcel that would become the club's permanent home. Donald Sechrest later modified the layout, and the credits have stuck. The course you play today is a 1980 build that grew out of that 1955 vision.

The arrangement remains unusual. The land is public, owned by the city, but the club operates it privately under an elected board of directors. That joint venture has held since the beginning, which is part of how a town of about 12,000 has kept a real 18-hole course in working condition for seven decades.

The Layout

This is a par 71 over 18 holes, with the back tees stretching to 6,072 yards on the Blue card. Course rating sits at 69.4 and slope is 115, which tells you what your scorecard probably tells you after a round here. The course will let you score, but you have to earn it.

The White tees play 5,500 yards with a women's rating of 73.1/120. There's a second White set at 5,427 yards rated 66.1/109 for shorter hitters, and Red runs 4,676 yards at 67.8/113 par 67. Five sets total, more flexibility than most public clubs in towns this size offer.

Fairways are Bermuda. Greens are bent grass. Western Oklahoma weather lets the club run a year-round golf season, which matters in a part of the state where wind and dry summers can punish poorer turf programs.

What You'll Notice on the Course

Reviewers come back to the same two words: forgiving fairways. The corridors are wide enough that you can swing freely off the tee, and sand bunkers are sparse. Water carries the load on the hazard side and is in play on a handful of holes. If you keep your ball dry and hit greens in regulation numbers, you'll post a score.

The trickier element is wind. Elk City sits on the high plains of western Oklahoma and 20-plus mph gusts are part of golf out here. A 6,072-yard Blue card starts feeling longer fast when a steady west wind is at your back on one nine and in your face on the other. Bring a low-flighted bag for windy mornings if you have one.

Conditions are consistently rated good across review platforms. Yelp's lone full-length review calls it one of the nicest, well-maintained courses around, and a GolfPass review from a regular intermediate player flagged value, conditions, and friendliness all positively. The 18Birdies score sits above 4.8 across more than 100 reviews.

Practical Details

The course is private in name but public-friendly in practice. Stymie's records show walking is allowed and there's a pro shop on site, and the clubhouse runs a kitchen for members and guests. Rates lean affordable for an Oklahoma 18, which lines up with the value reviews.

You'll find the course at 108 Lakeridge Road, only 1.8 miles south of Exit 38 off Interstate 40 on the west side of US Highway 6. That makes it an easy stop for anyone driving I-40 between Oklahoma City and Amarillo, and it's a useful round for travelers who want more than a roadside par-3 layout. The phone is 580-225-3556 if you need to confirm a tee time during local tournaments.

Worth a Loop

Elk City Golf and Country Club isn't a championship venue and it doesn't pretend to be. What it is is a well-kept 18 with real history, a sensible Sechrest layout, and access and pricing that make sense for the region. If you're moving through I-40 country with clubs in the trunk or you live within a couple hours of Beckham County, it earns the stop.

For the full scorecard with slope and rating breakdowns by tee and yardage by hole, check the Elk City Golf and Country Club page on Stymie.