Holiday Inn Express Pella

Mostly positive things to say about Bos Landen. It's a fun and challenging track that is worth playing if you're within an hour or two of the course.

There are a ton of sand traps, water and out of bounds. Unless you're playing from the tips, you won't hit driver much. Some fairways are wide and friendly, but wind comes into play. Some fairways are narrow in the woods. There is a ton of elevation to this course. You can walk it, but I don't recommend it unless you're in pretty good shape and are a pretty skilled golfer. I've played here approximately 15 times, and riding definitely helps over 18 holes. Bos is usually in great shape.

The couple things I'm not a fan of - Firstly, there are a lot of blind tee shots and second shots. Having all the course knowledge you can get will really help. It's tough to play well when playing here your first or second time. A few blind shots are fine, but I just think there are too many.

Secondly, I'm not a fan of No. 7 or No. 14. No. 7 is a dogleg left with nearly a 90-degree turn. There are trees and out of bounds with houses protecting the dogleg on the left, which is obviously fine. However, the left side of the fairway is weird. It slants to the right, so if you hit the left side of the fairway, you're second shot you'll be hitting a ball below your feet (if you're right-handed) and trying to hit a huge draw or hook. You're hitting a long iron off the tee to essentially the middle or right side of the fairway, but you also have to hit it hard enough to make sure you have a clean look at the green. I'm all for a par-4 where you need to hit a long-iron off the tee, but I don't think the design sets up well. As for No. 14, you either love it or hate it. When you get to the tee box and see the amazing view for the par-5, it looks like a great hole. However, you're essentially required to hit long-iron, mid-iron, wedge to the green. The long-iron is to a section of fairway with woods on the left, OB on the right and a creek that runs through the fairway. The mid-iron goes downhill and over the creek to another fairway patch with woods on both sides. The wedge is straight up hill to a severely sloped green from back to front. Furthermore, when the greens are rolling quickly and the pin is in certain spots, you can putt to the hole and have the ball roll back down 10-15 feet below the hole every time until you make it. Granted I've only had this happen to me once or twice, but I've seen people walk off in a tournament and heard several stories. It was basically miniature golf. However, this was roughly 10 years ago when this happened, and maybe the new management did something to fix this that I'm unaware of.

Truthfully though, there are some holes I love here, and it's overall a good and fun design. No. 2 - No. 6 is my favorite stretch, and No. 17 - No 18 is a brutally exciting finish.

There are five sets of tees, so it's a good place for most skill levels. Try and play the tee box to the distance you hit off the tee, because when I was in high school and forced to play yellow tees here in a tournament, I hit as little as 8-iron off the tee. The fairways get narrower from the target landing spot toward the green. Best shot tournaments here are awesome since there are several aggressive lines you can take without worrying about penalties.