Deer Creek Golf Club, located at 7000 W. 133rd St. in Overland Park, is one of the more challenging courses in Kansas City. Its location just south of 135th and Metcalf makes it a convenient stop for many of the area’s golfers. Additionally, the 18 hole, par 72 course serves as a very popular setting for special events such as weddings, anniversaries, and reunions. So before we discuss the beautiful golf course and its challenging layout, attention must first be paid to the fantastic event hosting at Deer Creek.
Course Facilities
The course’s facilities include two banquet rooms, each of which can accommodate up to 240 attendees. “Each room . . . includes the use of a patio and beautiful views of the golf course. Our smallest room, Lakeview, is a great space for smaller meetings or can be used as a bridal room for weddings,” says Ashley Dowgwillo, an event coordinator at Deer Creek. “Our beautiful outdoor ceremony site provides couples with the ability to have their entire event at our facility.”
Wedding ceremonies often take place adjacent to the course’s meandering waterways while the reception is held in one of the rooms overlooking Deer Creek. The wooded scenery serves as backdrop for those celebrating a life-defining moment such as the solemn exchange of vows. Many events take advantage of the scenery, including the numerous bridges and other locations throughout the golf course as a backdrop for memorable photographs. In addition to the great facilities, world class dining is also available for special events, something you don’t often see from a golf course. 
The cuisine is prepared by executive chef Tony King who has been well-received at the Overland Park golf course and has hosted several special events for nearly 14 years.
“The most common type of events held in our facilities include, but are not limited to . . . wedding receptions [and] ceremonies, rehearsal dinners, Bar & Bat Mitzvahs, holiday parties, expos, corporate meetings and graduation parties,” says Dowgwillo. The rooms also have a dance floor where newlyweds can dance the night away with their family and close friends.
The Golf
The golf course is a par 72 Robert Trent Jones Jr. design that winds along and across many waterways, including its namesake, Deer Creek. The first hole is a par 4 of moderate length with a sharp left dog leg that requires good placement of a tee shot to avoid fairway bunkers and set up a shot to the green.
The third is the number one handicap hole with an elevated tee looking down on a fairway with bunkers and out of bounds right, and a brushy creek to the left. That creek turns and crosses the fairway just in front of the green, requiring another precision shot to get on in regulation.
The fifth is perhaps one of the most interesting holes on the course. The short par 4 requires a long iron or, for shorter hitters, a fairway wood off the tee. The tight fairway is bordered by a wooded hillside to the left and more creek on the right that again turns and runs in front of the green. Long hitters not adverse to taking on risk can attempt a long fade over the trees to the elevated green, but that is a difficult shot that can end badly if not executed to perfection.
The back nine opens with a hole that anyone who travels down Metcalf south of 135th has probably seen. From an elevated tee, the fairway progressively narrows as it reaches the green. For this reason, some golfers opt not to hit driver off the tee in order to keep their ball in the wider part of the fairway between out of bounds left (otherwise known as Metcalf Road) and the creek on the right. The small two-tiered green requires accurate distance control to land the ball on the same level as the pin.
The long par 3 fifteenth is perhaps the bane of many Deer Creek golfers. The large, elevated green is fronted by a deep creek and features bunkers ready to swallow tee shots that have the length to carry the creek, but not the accuracy to land safely on the putting surface.
And when you are done – don’t forget the great food and beverage that await you at the clubhouse. On most days, they even fire up the grill and offer the kind of fare you might cook up in your own backyard.
Contributing to this article:
Marv Dumon: https://plus.google.com/u/0/