Glen Oaks Country Club
West Des Moines, Polk County, Iowa · Des Moines Metro golf market
- Access
- membership optional
- Holes
- 18
- Architect(s)
- Tom Fazio
- Gated
- Yes
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Glen Oaks Country Club is West Des Moines' flagship gated golf address: a Tom Fazio-designed 18-hole course opened in 1994 at the center of a 532-acre residential development that was, at the time, the first gated community in central Iowa. Development began in 1991 on former farmland west of I-35 between Grand Avenue and Mills Civic Parkway, and the finished community holds 506 platted lots -- 448 built as of the most recent source found -- across a mix of single-family homes, townhomes and condominiums under several sub-associations.
The club's ownership history is a real, documented part of its story. It struggled through the Great Recession as a member-owned club, and both the club and its homeowners' association defaulted on a bank loan; a group of Glen Oaks residents (including Mark and Jill Oman, Ron and Ruth Pearson, and Robert and Deb Pulver) bought the club back from West Bank for roughly $4.7 million in October 2010, when it had 475 members. In January 2022, that ownership group sold the club to Concert Golf Partners -- a national boutique owner-operator of private clubs -- for a reported $12.5 million, the company's first Iowa acquisition.
On the golf side, Glen Oaks was named the #1 golf course in Iowa by Golf Digest in 2011, and it hosted the PGA Tour Champions' Principal Charity Classic in 2001-2004 and again in 2006-2012 (the tournament moved to Tournament Club of Iowa for one year in 2005, then to Wakonda Club in 2013, where it has been held since). For a golf-oriented buyer, Glen Oaks is the metro's clearest combination of a real private-club product and a large, purpose-built gated residential neighborhood -- with the important nuance that the two are administered separately, and homeownership does not appear to require or automatically include club membership.
Golf & Course
The Tom Fazio-designed 18-hole championship course opened in 1994 after construction began in 1993, and has repeatedly been ranked among Iowa's top courses (Golf Digest's #1 in Iowa, 2011). It hosted the PGA Tour Champions' Principal Charity Classic for nine editions across 2001-2012 (with a single-year gap in 2005 when the tournament played at Tournament Club of Iowa), before the event moved permanently to Wakonda Club in 2013.
Membership & Access
Does buying a home here include club membership?
Club membership at Glen Oaks is a genuine private-club product with real cost history (a $20,000 initiation fee and $130-$570/month dues reported in 2018, pre-dating the 2022 ownership change) -- but it is not confirmed to be required for, or automatically bundled to, home purchase in the surrounding gated community. The residential development is governed by its own owners' association structure, separate from the country club's membership rolls, and available sourcing (including a Yelp listing) indicates membership is not mandatory for residents. A prospective buyer should not assume the 'gated community' marketing implies automatic club access -- verify current membership availability, cost, and any homeowner priority directly with the club.
Living in Glen Oaks Country Club
Glen Oaks is West Des Moines' original gated golf neighborhood, developed on more than 500 acres of former farmland starting in 1991. It contains a mix of housing product -- single-family estate lots, townhomes, and condominiums -- reflected in several named sub-associations (including The Pointe at Glen Oaks and Townhomes of Glen Oaks) operating under an overall Glen Oaks Owners Association / Village at Glen Oaks Homeowners Association structure.
Lifestyle & Amenities
The club offers a resort-style aquatics park, a patio bar and ice cream shop, on-site executive-chef dining, and a fitness room with a personal trainer, alongside the golf course itself.
Location & Surrounding Area
Glen Oaks sits west of I-35 between Grand Avenue and Mills Civic Parkway in West Des Moines, one of the Des Moines metro's fastest-growing and most affluent western suburbs.
Costs & Fees
Figures below are labeled Current only when the source itself frames them as presently accurate. Everything else is labeled Historical — a source checked today does not make an old fee a current one.
Golf membership initiation
Historical — as of 2018-08-01$20,000
CityView's 2018 Des Moines-area country club roundup reported a $20,000 initiation fee and $130-$570/month dues with ~700 members at that time. This predates the 2022 Concert Golf Partners acquisition; current figures are not published by the club. IMPORTANT: a same-titled 'GlenOaks Country Club' membership-information PDF found in search results (glenoakscountryclub.com) belongs to a DIFFERENT, unrelated club in Prospect, Kentucky -- that PDF's 2021/2024 fee figures were deliberately NOT used here to avoid the exact cross-state entity-identity blending this project's discipline warns against.
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What Buyers Should Verify
- Confirm current initiation fee and dues directly with the club post-2022 Concert Golf Partners acquisition; no current figures are published.
- Confirm directly whether any specific address's sub-association (Glen Oaks Owners Association, The Pointe at Glen Oaks, Townhomes of Glen Oaks) carries any club-related obligation.
- Confirm current membership category structure and waitlist status directly with the club.
Notable
- Iowa's #1-ranked golf course per Golf Digest, 2011.
- First gated residential community in central Iowa when it opened in 1994.
- Hosted the PGA Tour Champions' Principal Charity Classic in 2001-2004 and 2006-2012.
- Sold by member-investors to Concert Golf Partners for a reported $12.5 million in 2022 -- the company's first Iowa club.
Related Comparisons
Considering a Move to Glen Oaks Country Club?
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US Golf Living provides independent real-estate research and can connect consumers with real-estate professionals. Golf membership, availability, fees and approval are determined independently by the applicable club.