The Indian Creek Club shines like a gem this week. “We wanted to build a place that was nice for every Joe Smith who wanted to play. You didn’t have to join a club, “said Bill Gottsch.
KENT SIEVERS / THE WORLD-HERALD
See what you started, Bob?
The Indian Creek Club shines like a gem this week. PGA Tour trucks and some of the best golfers in the country invaded the Elkhorn course. The stage is ready for the Pinnacle Bank Championship, the area’s annual pro golf tournament.
This was not so much a vision as a courage.
Bill Gottsch laughs as he tells the story of how Indian Creek was born one day in 1990 in the Gottsch family’s living room.
“Sometimes our family motto is to shoot, then aim,” said Gottsch.
“My brother Brett and I were sitting at home and complaining about not being able to take a break for Omaha. In the late 80s and early 90s, it was so crowded that you couldn’t get one.
“My father looked at us and said, ‘Why don’t you build yours?’ “
Bob Gottsch Sr. did not have to ask his children twice. Bill and Brett purchased the land from Uncle Pat, a collection of rolling hills and trees near 204 ° and Maple. That in 1991, it seemed more suitable for family cattle feeding.
In the spring of 1992, the Gottsch brothers opened Indian Creek, which has matured on a difficult track and one of the best golf facilities in Nebraska.
Today Bill and Brett remain co-owners. Brett played in the PBC pro-am on Wednesday. Bill, saddled with a bad back, hasn’t hit a golf ball for several years. He led me to a free office in the club house, where he told me the story of Indian Creek and how the public runway came to host a Korn Ferry Tour event.
