Briarwood Golf Club

Ankeny sits just north of Des Moines and has grown into one of Iowa's fastest-expanding suburbs, bringing with it a genuine local appetite for golf. The surrounding landscape is quintessential central Iowa — open, gently rolling prairie terrain with wide skies that leave little shelter from the wind, which on any given afternoon can quietly transform a manageable round into something far more demanding.

Briarwood Golf Club serves the everyday golfer in this community, the kind of course where regulars walk familiar ground and weekend foursomes sort out the week. A par-72 layout in this part of the country typically works with the land's natural contours, threading fairways through whatever mature trees the property offers while leaning on firm, fast conditions when the summer heat settles in.

Central Iowa's golf season runs hard from April through October, and courses like Briarwood carry much of that weight — accessible, honest tracks that don't ask for a tee time six months out or a membership card at the door. For Ankeny residents, it's simply where golf gets played.