Coldwater Golf Links

Ames sits in the heart of Story County, where the landscape rolls with the open prairie character of central Iowa — wide skies, exposed terrain, and the kind of honest Midwestern golf that rewards shot-making over spectacle. Coldwater Golf Links takes its name from Coldwater Golf Links takes its name from Coldwater Creek, which winds through the property and shapes the routing in ways a yardage book can only hint at.

The "Links" designation here isn't purely cosmetic. Central Iowa's open, wind-prone conditions mean that course management and trajectory control matter as much as raw distance, and the layout's par of 71 suggests at least one asymmetry — likely a pair of par 5s on one side — that keeps the card from feeling formulaic.

Ames is a college town anchored by Iowa State University, which gives the local golf scene a lively, accessible energy. Coldwater functions as a public facility serving both the university community and the broader region, making it a natural first stop for anyone exploring golf in central Iowa.