Red Carpet at Red Carpet Golf

Red Carpet Golf in Waterloo, Iowa, is a Tom Bendelow design that reflects the prolific architect's work during the early decades of American golf course development. Bendelow, who laid out hundreds of courses across the United States in the early 20th century—often working quickly and economically—brought golf to many communities that might not otherwise have had access to the game. His designs typically feature straightforward routing that works with existing terrain, making them both playable for everyday golfers and practical to maintain.

The course sits in northeastern Iowa, where the landscape offers gentle rolling terrain characteristic of the region. Bendelow's approach here likely emphasizes strategic bunkering and green complexes that reward accurate approach shots, hallmarks of his design philosophy even when working within modest budgets. The layout provides a traditional test of golf without excessive length, focusing instead on shot placement and course management.

Red Carpet serves the Waterloo community as an accessible municipal or daily-fee facility, continuing Bendelow's legacy of bringing golf to the broader public. The course represents an era when golf architecture prioritized functionality and local recreation over dramatic features or championship aspirations. For those interested in golf history, playing a Bendelow design offers a connection to the formative period of American golf, when the game was spreading rapidly from coast to coast and architects like Bendelow were instrumental in that expansion.