Wakonda Club

Located on a beautiful property cut with ravines and depressions in south Des Moines, Wakonda is a textbook example of what happens when golf courses age: they tend to get dulled and more narrow, overgrown, restricted by trees and contracting grass lines, and lose the character that made them exemplary in their day. Wakonda was built by William Langford, one of the most distinctive architects of the Classical Era of the 1920s, but by the 2000s little of his architectural expression remained. A major renovation by Tyler Rae in 2023, however, reversed the aging effect. Rae was able to reestablish Langford’s principles and trademark style, defined by large plateau greens, steep faced bunkers cut into their bases and more spacious fairways that set up strategic driving lines off the tee. Rae considers Wakonda one of the country’s greatest hidden gems, and while the course has always been respected (it ranks fifth in Iowa), the sharpening of the dramatic architecture could push it toward the top of the state list.