Prairie Dunes Country Club, KS, USA
Green Keeper: Stan George
As seen with this picture of the 9th green in the foreground and the 8th hole in the background,
the landscape at Prairie Dunes will inspire any golfer.
Prairie Dunes enjoys a colossal reputation in the world of golf and yet, curiously enough, not but so many people make the trek to Hutchinson, Kansas to see the course. They know that the wind, humpy-bumpy fairways, plum thicket and firm playing conditions make it play akin to the links courses in the United Kingdom. But, unlike in the U.K., where for instance, Turnberry, Prestwick, Royal Troon, and Western Gailes are in a cluster, Prairie Dunes stands alone. Also, too, they reason that a visitor must be accompanied by a member as is the typical policy at leading private clubs in the United States.
In this last regard, Prairie Dunes is more like the leading British clubs whereby a proper Letter of Introduction can help a visitor gain access to the course at certain times through the week. In short, the people here believe in sharing, which effectively makes Prairie Dunes the very definition of a national treasure. And with the Wichita airport readily accessible and with travel so easy in the 21st century, there is simply no reason that any student of the game shouldn't beat a path to play this course.
The best way to convince someone of the merit of such a plan is simply to showcase each hole because they are individually of such a uniformly high standard that no one's architectural education could be considered complete without studying this course.
Scorecard of the Course:(side note: While Perry Maxwell routed eighteen holes in 1937, the Carey family elected to open only nine holes prior to WWII, and in general, they were the holes closest to the clubhouse. Four years after Perry's death, his son James Press Maxwell completed the job in 1956. As Perry Maxwell's original 18 hole routing plan may not exist (like Pete Dye, one can imagine him saying 'Plan? Why do I need plans? I'm always there!'), the question arises as to whether Press followed his father routing and/or whether he perhaps found some of the holes himself. Regardless of who routed what, the man who built each hole is noted below).
1st hole, 430 yards (Perry); Though the diagonal angle off the tee makes it a first rate driving hole, the golfer is confronted with a design tenet that the Golden Age architects seemed to follow: defend par at the green. In this case, the green starts out as an extension of the fairway before rising to form a back right bowl. The hole remains a delight to play regardless of wind direction thanks to its open green front coupled with the uniformly firm and fast playing conditions through the green. Unlike too many great American classics like Bel-Air and of course Augusta National, the club board has shown the continual wisdom over the decades not to tinker with the design, other than to add three back teeing areas. The club has a long standing relationship with the firm of Coore & Creenshaw to insure that the mowing lines, green contours and green sizes remain faithful to the Maxwells' shared vision. Coore & Crenshaw have performed such work to the 1st and 2nd green complexes.
Just the site of such a hole makes one want to rush directly from the car and onto the first tee.
The ideal tee ball is at the far bunker with a draw.
The lower left hole location is much easier to access than the...
...the back right one as the two foot rise in the green helps act as a backboard for the lower hole locations.
2nd hole, 160 yards (Perry); The 12th green at Augusta National is famous for its diagonal angle that makes the player first determine his line and then select his club. Perry was performing consulting work at Augusta National the same year that the first nine holes opened at Prairie Dunes and it seems likely to the author that the strategic merit of the 12th was fresh in his mind as he built the 2nd hole (though the 2nd runs from front right to back left). A twelve foot deep bunker guards the front and yet to go over the green is worse. Unlike the 12th at Augusta National, the putting surface is full of character and undulations. When the U.S. Women's Open is held here from July 1st-7th, 2002, the contestants would be wise to treat it with the same respect/fear as the 12th at Augusta.
The 2nd green is set on a diagonal from the tee.
Believe it or not, missing the green in the front right bunker beats going over.
3rd hole, 355 yards (Press); Thanks to the long time former Green Keeper Doug Petersan, the back markers were relocated in the 1970s to the highest spot on the course atop the sand dune that dominates the front nine. As such, the golfer is exposed to the full effects of the prairie winds, which can change the hole from a three wood/flip wedge in the morning to a driver/punch five iron in the afternoon. Importantly, Petersan created a strategically appealing diagonal carry over the plum thicket when he moved the back markers up and to the left from the original Press teeing area.
The tee ball from high atop the dune on the 3rd tee can be unnerving, especially when the wind is up.
4th hole, 170 yards (Press); As at the 2nd hole, the green is superbly situated on a shelf with menacing bunkers cut out from the dune. While the 2nd green provides the opportunity for more four (!) putts, the 4th hole is longer and as such the ball is in the air longer, creating more time for drama to unfold as the wind grabs it and does mean things with it.
A perfectly conceived green complex - the 4th at Prairie Dunes. Even at this early stage, the golfer
starts to appreciate that the Maxwells never did anything forced or contrived with the land.
5th hole, 440 yards (Press); The golfer needs to play this hole as it is laid before him, which is to say straightaway. Any approach angle becomes progressively worse other than from the right center of the fairway. Generally, this hole plays into the wind and as such requires a very good long iron approach held underneath the wind. And yet, downwind the hole may even be harder as the golfer must use the bank in front of the green to brake his ball.
A drive at the right greenside bunker will keep all approach options open to the golfer.
A view back at the 5th teeing areas indicates how well integrated the tees are into the landscape.
Best to avoid the left side of the 5th hole altogether.
A view from the 6th tee back at the 5th green indicates how much longer the green is than wide,
which highlights the need for attacking the green head on. The short walk from green
to tee shows why the course is a walker's delight.
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