“I’m part of that club. Grew up there. It got me out of the west end and, through that, I got to meet a lot of the kids from all over the town. I’m proud of it. It’s my golf course.” — Dick Schmidt

 

“I love to see the member's faces when we’re in Golf Digest and GolfWeek Magazine, and how proud everybody is. The entire vibe of the club has changed in the eight years I’ve been here. When I came here, people were unsure of what we were doing. About Year Two, Three and Four, everybody could kind of see the vision we had, and how good the golf course is. Now, everybody’s proud to be out here. And everybody loves the golf course.” — Dean Sparks

 

“I’ve played it thousands of times. You can come out here and play it every day. You never have the same lie twice and you never get tired of it.” — Al Arkin

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“This course deserves the notoriety that it has today, based on what it’s always been and what it is today. The rekindling of history has absolutely escalated it to where it is today. The layout itself, the roots of it. Also, members understand the history. I think the members are pretty proud of what they have here.” — Kevin Kwak

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“Me and the superintendent at Crow, we’d kid each other. I said,  ‘You know what? We’re the No. 1 golf course in the state of Iowa. You’re going to have to get used to it.'” — Warren West

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“I was a middle-class kid when I first joined as a junior member. My dad played public courses. But I was never, ever made to feel 'Who is this kid? He doesn’t come from McClellan Heights. He’s not a doctor’s kid.' I was never made to feel like I was an interloper. It was a real privilege for me to grow up on this course and learn how to play the game on the course. Make the friends I did. It was definitely a big, big, big part of my youth.”  — Pat Stopulos

 

“Historically, it has been our summer vacation. Our kids growing up had the same experience. We don’t take off for summer vacation like a lot of families do. The country club is our summer vacation.” — B.J. Weigle

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“After moving back to the Quad Cities, we lived in town.  Growing up here, I had no connection to the club.  After joining, I told my wife “if we ever move, I’d want to be closer.” The next week, we’re looking at houses nearby to enjoy the property and those associated with the club.” — Adam Kunkel

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“It’s a big part of our summer. We’re at the pool. I’m golfing. She’s golfing. We bring the kids out one weekend night, play a fivesome and don't have to worry about holding anybody up.” — Tim McClimon

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“Our women’s program is really strong and it’s growing pretty fast. I learned golf at an early age, but a lot of women I play with out here are just picking it up now and it’s just so much harder. We have the programs here to support them.” — Meagan McClimon

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“Charles Hugh Alison was a name that was not known or recognized outside of golf architecture aficionado circles. Everybody knows about Alister McKenzie and everybody knows about C.B. MacDonald and everybody knows about Donald Ross. It’s a relatively short list. Alison ranks up there with any of them, and when you look at the way this course was laid out and its design, he did a brilliant job.” — C. Dana Waterman III

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“This golf course is fantastic. The greens are the best they’ve ever been in the 60 years I’ve played here. The conditioning of the fairways. We have an incredible golf course here and the golf course in my opinion is what drives the club. People come here and say, ‘Boy, this is one fantastic course.' Every day, it’s different. You don’t get bored. You might get frustrated. I’m a huge supporter of our greens staff and our management staff. I think we have the best pro shop people we’ve ever had. John Panek has led the charge there and trained the people we have. So the future is very bright.” — Cal Werner

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“I always loved the golf course. It’s just a beautiful piece of property. I wasn’t sure when they did the renovation whether that was going to be the right thing or not. But it was definitely the right thing. Every time I go back it’s just better and better and better. It was good before. It’s just great now.” — Sam Allen

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“I had never seen a course like this until I played here. It’s still my favorite of all. I don’t know that I have seen a course have so many holes that are pleasing to my eye. They are pleasing from the tee box as well as from the green when you look back. Not every course can pull that off.” — Laura “Divot” Ekizian

 

“If you took this golf course and you set it in Chicago you would be able to charge a $100,000 initiation and whatever dues you want because this place would be the best golf course they have. But it’s cool that we have this and not everybody knows about it. We’ve got a great country club community here. There’s no stuffiness here. Nobody asks what you do. Nobody cares how much money you make. That’s not what’s important. What’s important is that we all get along and we have this to play on.” — Jeff Hassel

 

“I enjoy coming to work every day, talking to the members, learning about the history this place presents. The longtime members share stories of the culture that has been here for 100 years. I grew up in the area and never really understood how good this place was until I came back. There’s a rich history of golf that most people around the country don’t understand. For me it’s home, and that’s why I’m here and continue to stay here.” — Brian Delaney

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“DCC is an unusually dynamic landscape. It has holes that are almost flat, holes that play along the creeks with the limestone cliffs, with dramatic drops in elevation. There are uphill holes, downhill holes and holes that do both. Alison in his routing used the ridge lines superbly. You have holes like 11 and 12 going out along the ridge tilting right, and then holes coming back on the other side of the ridge that again tilt right. Yet you have tremendous variety. He just took full advantage of all the topographic advantages that were there.”— Ron Forse

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“It’s interesting to see a course like Davenport that was always ranked among the top 5 in Iowa in Golf Digest but it never had much national attention. And now I think it gets some national buzz and I’m happy to see that. It’s a very distinctive course.” — Ron Whitten

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“I just couldn’t imagine not belonging to the Country Club. Other courses, you have all that housing. People driving by in cars. You never had that at Davenport. It’s beautiful. We knew we’d never leave.” — Nancy (Frank) Von Maur

 

“There are so many courses you play and when you’re through you can’t visualize each hole. Davenport has holes that stick with you for a long time. There are a number of holes that just are unbelievable how good they are.” — Scott Azinger

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“Unexpected in Iowa, I think that’s what I would say. When I bring my college buddies, the reaction is 'Oh, my God. This would be 10 times the cost in Chicago.' I think it surprises people. The culture of the club is really good. It’s very inviting and that’s not what you see at the Medinahs, the Olympia Fields. You don’t see that everywhere.” — Matt Blaylock

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“We work some crazy hours and are asked to do a lot. But the membership really does care about your well-being and making sure you’re happy.  They are very thankful you’re here and you’re working your tail off. They understand that." — John Panek

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“This club is sacred ground. Truly sacred ground. Even when the weather was terrible, I’d go out and walk around the golf course. When my dad was sick, we would go out and drive around. It’s always been sort of a magic place. We were so blessed to have had the opportunity to be here. It wasn’t like my father was a brain surgeon. He was a pediatrician. But he gave us this opportunity to experience this, and it changed all of us.” — Joe Kehoe