“It is no shame to have a dirty face- the shame comes when you keep it dirty.”
Truman Capote
‘In Cold Blood’
Holcomb, Kansas is the kind of place that goes pretty much unnoticed.
Not much happens there other than the day to day activities that people do when they are getting on with their lives. When the Holcomb townsfolk want a night out, dinner and drinks, or a movie, they will travel the eight miles over to Garden City. Holcomb is a farming town. They go to bed early out there.
That’s how it is today. That’s how it was in 1959.
When the bodies of Herb Clutter, his wife Bonnie, and his teenage children Kenyon and Nancy, were discovered in their home in the morning hours of November 15th, 1959, the horror of the moment not only gave way to a grotesque scene, but also to a stark contrast to the town’s backdrop. The slow pace of life, and its innocence, had ended. When asked if Holcomb families ever locked their doors at night, Special Agent Alvin Dewey said, “They will now.”
Blood washes away. Memories do not.
The Clutter FamilyIn 1967, the Holcomb Historical Society (which was mostly Holcomb’s governing body) decided to erect a public golf course on some parcels of land that intertwined with the farms of Holcomb. This acreage that had not been tended to since the days of the depression, when plows had destroyed the top soil, giving birth to the dust storm. Roosevelt’s “No-Plow” plan allowed farming towns to section off parts of their acreage to be left untouched, and in return would receive an allotment of funds from the federal government. By the end of the 1940s, Roosevelt’s “No-Plow” plan ended. The parcels of land were not being used. Building a golf course would be beneficial to the community. It would increase property values for the residents, generate revenue for the town of Holcomb, and overall, bring an aesthetically pleasing atmosphere to the surrounding area. Finally, it was decided by the Holcomb Historical Society that the golf course would be dedicated to the memory of the Clutter Family.
Golf Course architect Colton Boomhower was commissioned by the township government to begin construction immediately. There was a certain amount of backlash when it became known that a golf course was being constructed in memory of a murdered family. When news of the course reached PGA President Sal Fraser he stated, “This is absolutely unacceptable. It you want to honor the dead, go to a cemetery. We won’t host tournies there!” The Holcomb Historical Society ignored President Fraser‘s comments, although Holcomb’s Town Manager, Clyde Brody, did said, “Mr. Fraser ain’t going to live here, and he ain’t going to pay taxes here. We’ll honor our townsfolk any way we see fit, and if Fraser don’t like it, he can shut that hole in his face and go back to his golfing.”
Golf Life’s October 1969 Edition
Colton Boomhower with Mrs. Boomhower
On November 15, 1969, the “Clutter Family Memorial Golf Course” opened its gates to the public. A small memorial service was held in the early morning hours prior to the first tee time, commemorating the ten year anniversary of the Clutter Family tragedy. Afterwards, the first tee shot was struck a couple minutes after 6:00am.
As it is today.
The “Clutter Family Memorial Golf Course” has a terrain that it not typical with the flat lands of Kansas. Using the dried top soil left over from the dustbowl days, Colton Boomhower was able to create a hilly terrain, allowing for short uphill shots, as well as long distance downhill drives off the tees. Boomhower’s bentgrass and perennial ryegrass mixtures flourishes in the fertile soil, making for excellent tee boxes, fairways and greens. Furthermore, because of the rich soil, nature’s own growth excels in all areas, allowing its natural beauty to come forward.
The “Clutter Family Memorial Golf Course” was designed to incorporate the private farms that laid within the parcels’ boundaries. Boomhower assure the farmers that they would be able to continue their normal farming activities, including maintaining livestock. As the golf course gain in its popularity, the farms that resided within the golf course began to offer Bed and Breakfast accommodations to golfers from out of state. Occasionally, livestock have escaped through the fences of the farms, and sometimes a golfer will have to play through on a green while a friendly cow grazes, but the cows seem not to mind.
The Boomhower man-made lake runs throughout the “Clutter Family Memorial Golf Course”, allowing not only a hazard for golfers, but also fishing for when golfers have finished their round. Stocked with bluegill and bass, fishing is available year round for golfers and their families. The annual “Boomhower Fishing Derby” is held every first Sunday of May, with the winner of the event awarded a year-long pass to the golf course.
The “Clutter Family Memorial Golf Course” offers a calming challenge for the golfers that stroll the course. Many of the golfers who hit tee shots onto the fairways weren’t even born when the Clutter Family met their tragic end. Perhaps many of them do not even know of the history behind the name of the course, not realizing that the gazebo that overlooks the 18th green, surrounded by a small garden that flourishes, is an unassuming cenotaph to the Clutter Family.
They don’t have to know what it is for. They just have to enjoy it.
The Clutter Family Memorial Golf Course
