Firekeeper Golf Course

Getting To Know: Firekeeper Golf Course

An Insightful Interview With Randy Towner, General Manager/ Head PGA Professional

By Brian Weis

Whether you have played a course 20+ times a year or looking to play the course for the first time, insights from an insider can help enhance your golf experience. Below is an interview with Randy Towner who shares some valuable tidbits about the course, memorable holes and must eats and treats at the 19th.

Give Our Readers An Overview of the Golf Course/Property
Firekeeper Golf course opened in 2011 to rave reviews and they have not stopped. Ranked #9 best new course in America, Firekeeper has garnered the #1 place you can play in Kansas the past two years. Firekeeper is ranked the #67 best resort course in America and has been recognized as a place to play by all major golf magazines. Designed by Jeff Brauer and Notah Begay III, Firekeeper boast bent grass fairways and excellent putting surfaces. The course can play from 4,500 yards to 7,535, offering something for all skill levels. Firekeeper offers all the beauty of the state of Kansas with the first six holes draped through the prairie and the next for entering the valley and finishing in the woodlands for the final eleven. Firekeeper features state of the art electric carts and exceptional friendly midwest service. We offer a full bar and upscale 19 hole. Beverage cards are available during season. Range balls and yardage books are included in the guest fees and stay and play packages are available through the casino.

If Someone Was Looking To Golf In The Area, Why Should They Play Your Course?
Firekeeper is the premier course in Northeast Kansas. #1 place to play in Kansas by Golfweek in 2011-2012-2013. The condition of the course in fantastic and you are treated well. Firekeeper has matured well beyond its 3 years. The wind can change your strategy drastically as you chart your round. Chose the tees that suit your skill level and you will enjoy you day.

What Tips or Local Knowledge Would You Provide To Help Them Score Better At Your Course?
Firekeeper has no lakes on the course but the native prairie grass and the meandering creek on the back side can claim an errant shot. Generous fairways and big greens allow you to hit driver off of most tees. Wind will offer a challenge. Pick tees that suit your game. Pro suggestions would be Ladies Red Tees Seniors and good lady players and anyone with a handicap over 18 yellow tees Men with a handicap of 5-18 orange tees scratch to 4 Black Tees Tger Woods, Bubba Watson, Gary Woodland, Dustin Johnson Notah Tees

Recent Awards or What You Are Most Proud About The Course?
Just all our recent success and national rankings. The pride that the staff has in the upkeep of the course. Our motto is "everything we do sends a message" and our goal is to send the best message possible. We have hosted the National Professional Tour, The Adams Tour and this year the Ladies Symetra Tour. Will have hosted the Midwest PGA Championship each of the last two years and look forward to the Kansas Amateur in 2018.

What Is The Signature, Most Talked About, or Most Photographed Hole?
The beauty of Firekeeper is that we don't just have one signature hole. From the huge double green that host both #1 and #6 to the 600 yard #4 with menacing bunkers guarding the green to the gambling #18 par four with a go for it opportunity to carry the creek and cut off a 100 yards. High risk huge payoff. Let us know what your favorite is.

What Is Your Favorite Hole? Any Tips to Play It?
I like #2 because I like links golf and this par 4 is right out of Europe. Pot bunkers dot the fairway and a huge coffin bunker guards the green. You can see for about 15 miles from the tee. The course may be in Kansas but for a moment your in Scotland.

Must Have Dish or Drink after the round at the 19th Hole?
Try the Buffalo Sweat a local beer from Manhattan Kansas and the Cobb Sandwich. And eat it with your buddies on one of the many rocking chairs on the porch. Its a great end to a perfect round.

Who Holds Course Record and What Was Their Score?
Oscar Stark shot a 63 in the second round of the Adams Tour in 2013. The course played at 7,200 yards that day. Oscar had 9 birdies and 9 pars in a fantastic round. The scorecard is on display in the pro shop. We will be glad to replace it with yours.

Back Tee Stats
Par: 72
Yardage: 7535
Slope: 137
Rating: 77.1

More Information
Firekeeper Golf Course
12524 125th Rd
Mayetta , KS, 66509
785-966-2100
firekeepergolf.com

Revised: 01/28/2014 - Article Viewed 44,767 Times - View Course Profile

About: Brian Weis

Brian Weis is the mastermind behind GolfTrips.com, a vast network of golf travel and directory sites covering everything from the rolling fairways of Wisconsin to the sunbaked desert layouts of Arizona. If there’s a golf destination worth visiting, chances are, Brian has written about it, played it, or at the very least, found a way to justify a "business trip" there.

As a card-carrying member of the Golf Writers Association of America (GWAA), International Network of Golf (ING), Golf Travel Writers of America (GTWA), International Golf Travel Writers Association (IGTWA), and The Society of Hickory Golfers (SoHG), Brian has the credentials to prove that talking about golf is his full-time job. In 2016, his peers even handed him The Shaheen Cup, a prestigious award in golf travel writing—essentially the Masters green jacket for guys who don’t hit the range but still know where the best 19th holes are.

Brian’s love for golf goes way back. As a kid, he competed in junior and high school golf, only to realize that his dreams of a college golf scholarship had about the same odds as a 30-handicap making a hole-in-one. Instead, he took the more practical route—working on the West Bend Country Club grounds crew to fund his University of Wisconsin education. Little did he know that mowing greens and fixing divots would one day lead to a career writing about the best courses on the planet.

In 2004, Brian turned his golf passion into a business, launching GolfWisconsin.com. Three years later, he expanded his vision, and GolfTrips.com was born—a one-stop shop for golf travel junkies looking for their next tee time. Today, his empire spans all 50 states, and 20+ international destinations.

On the course, Brian is a weekend warrior who oscillates between a 5 and 9 handicap, depending on how much he's been traveling (or how generous he’s feeling with his scorecard). His signature move" A high, soft fade that his playing partners affectionately (or not-so-affectionately) call "The Weis Slice." But when he catches one clean, his 300+ yard drives remind everyone that while he may write about golf for a living, he can still send a ball into the next zip code with the best of them.

Whether he’s hunting down the best public courses, digging up hidden gems, or simply outdriving his buddies, Brian Weis is living proof that golf is more than a game—it’s a way of life.