News:

Welcome to the Golf Club Atlas Discussion Group!

Each user is approved by the Golf Club Atlas editorial staff. For any new inquiries, please contact us.


Mark Saltzman

  • Karma: +0/-0





The start to a perfect day at Prairie Dunes...




Prairie Dunes = Grounds for Golf




The Routing

Originally looked like this (the original 9 holes were laid out by Perry):




And the completed 18 looks like this:




Perry's original 9 is completely intact, with the exception of hole 8 (now 17), which had its original tee moved farther to the left changing what was once a dogleg into a now straightaway hole.

The Perry holes are: 1, 2, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 17 and 18.

The Press holes are: the rest  :)



Much like the acclaimed Crystal Downs, the routing at Prairie Dunes has two distinct sections.  The first 11 holes at PD treks in and out of the, well, dunes.  Once the golfer leaves the 10th green he finds himself on flatter, more links-like terrain (similar to the transition from 11-12 at Crystal Downs).  Again, just like at CD, the final two holes return to the original character of the course, leaving the flatter terrain behind.


One of my favourite posts on GCA.com comes from Ian Andrew regarding Prairie Dunes:

There are few courses more surprising than Prairie Dunes. The hour long drive in from Wichita makes you wonder where you made the wrong turn. It’s only a quarter mile from the course where you see the first slight rise. There is not a single dune right up until you get to the golf course, and then there they are fifty feet high, a series of dunes reminiscent of the coastline in Scotland. It only makes sense once you realize that Kansas was once underwater and these are actually coastal dunes.

The next surprise is the landscape. Everything that is not golf course is either native prairie grass, perennial or thicket shrub. The club has long embraced the importance of this beautiful but disappearing landscape. They actively manage the native areas with controlled burns and other programs designed to help the native areas flourish in their natural state. They don’t fight nature instead they encourage it as a significant part of the course. The splashes of colour along with the beautiful golden grasses provide the club with a magnificent texture unique to only Prairie Dunes. When you combine that with the wonderful dunes and copses of ancient Cottonwood, you truly have something very special.

The routing does a wonderful job of playing through, along, up on to and off the main dune lines of the property. The driving areas are beautifully defined by the dune lines and it’s probably one of the best driving courses I have had the pleasure of playing. The green sites are well mixed with just as many set down inside natural valleys between the dunes as there are set up on plateaus up in the dunes.

Perry Maxwell in my estimation was the greatest designer of greens the game has seen. His work at places like Pine Valley and Augusta (seven of the existing greens) has no peer. The greens at Prairie Dunes are even more impressive. The mixture of exceptional interior contouring, false fronts, side droops and internal ridges has developed a set of greens where certain pins require you to play from particular locations on the fairway. I was lucky enough to experience multiple plays in changing winds with different pins and saw how placement dictated position back in the fairway.

The bunkers are the focal point for many. The integration of native grasses, the inclusion of yucca plants and the raw torn out appearance is very reminiscent of the pictures of the earliest bunkers from the book British Links. Some of this is actually recent work well intigrated into the surroundings. I found each bunker had character, each one blended into the surroundings perfectly and all of them did a wonderful job of adding some architectural and visual accents to the course. The wonderful part of the bunkering is that it reinforces the strategy created by the routing often by sitting to the sides and collecting the mistakes or aggressive play rather than imposing as the singular strategy of the hole. For this reason the course is eminently playable and fair, in fact a running shot often is a good solution, but because of the green sites and internal green contour the course remains tough as nails at the same time.

As we headed out of the parking lot I stole one last glance over my shoulder at that magnificent golf course and thought to myself I should join. We rolled a quarter mile down the road and the dunes were gone and all I saw was the flattest land you can imagine. I would have had a long face, except I could see every hole and every bunker of that golf course as fresh as if I was standing on the fairways and tees again.

Prairie Dunes met all my very high expectations ad often in cases such as the greens, exceeded them. I see it as one of the Dozen Best Courses in the World.



I know there have been many Prairie Dunes threads, but there has not been a hole-by-hole photo tour.  I will post one hole at a time and hope that we can have some great discussion!  For those that want a peek ahead (or find that this moves too slowly), Clint Squier's very  nice tour from last year: http://www.golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,41816.0.html





1st Tee:




Looking back from fairway toward clubhouse:







Approach from the inside of the dogleg leaves a shorter but semi-blind approach over the corner of a dune:




Approach from outside of the dogleg (bunker is a recent non-original but well-integrated addition).  From here one has the option of running the ball onto the green, which lay in clear view:




From short of green:




A bunch of looks at the green and the green site.  On many courses the a green like the one found at the 1st would easily be the most severe on the golf course.  At Prairie Dunes, it is just a sign of what is to come...

From short:




From short-left:




From left:




From right:




Back-Left:




Behind:









1st green with 3rd fairway in background:

« Last Edit: July 04, 2012, 08:19:34 PM by Mark Saltzman »

Brandon Urban

  • Karma: +0/-0
Thanks for the photo tour Mark. Prairie Dunes is one of my all time favorites so I'm looking forward to some great discussion (which I am sure will include something about fairway/rough mowing lines).

I love Ian Andrew's quote about not being in KS. I have lived in this state my whole life and the first time I was lucky enough to visit Prairie Dunes was 5 years ago. Once I had driven in the gate I didn't believe I was in Kansas, either. It is an unbelievably stunning landscape for golf.

I think of #1 as the perfect start to a perfect golf course. The drive is very manageable depending on how long you'd like your second shot to be. You can bail out to the right where there is plenty of room or try to cut a little more off the corner on the left. On the approach there is a good chunk of room to the left to bail out if you choose to stay away from the bunker right. I love all of the short grass around the green and the recovery options are endless. Once on the green, a two putt is not guaranteed especially if you're starting out on the wrong tier.

The new work readjusting and redefining of the #1 and #8 teebox and area behind #7 green is also fantastic.
181 holes at Ballyneal on June, 19th, 2017. What a day and why I love golf - http://www.hundredholehike.com/blogs/181-little-help-my-friends

Matt_Cohn

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Prairie Dunes CC (Maxwell/Maxwell) - A Photo Tour - Hole 1 Posted
« Reply #2 on: June 01, 2012, 01:13:52 AM »
When one thinks of "Maxwell Rolls", it's hard not to think of Prairie Dunes. Your photos of #1 do a great job of capturing them.

Craig Van Egmond

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Prairie Dunes CC (Maxwell/Maxwell) - A Photo Tour - Hole 1 Posted
« Reply #3 on: June 01, 2012, 08:35:09 AM »
One of my favorite opening holes ever!  First time I played it I got a birdie, haven't birdied it in 10 years since. :)

John Mayhugh

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Prairie Dunes CC (Maxwell/Maxwell) - A Photo Tour - Hole 1 Posted
« Reply #4 on: June 01, 2012, 01:50:13 PM »
Craig,
I managed a hole out for eagle a couple of years ago, but things went downhill soon afterwards.

Mark,
Thanks for the extensive tour.  The photos of the green from behind do a really nice job showing some of the contours.

The first is a such a good introduction.  You don't want to be too conservative on the tee shot and have a long approach in, so a bit of blind carry and the bunker confront you from the start.  Easy enough for a three putt too.

George Pazin

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Prairie Dunes CC (Maxwell/Maxwell) - A Photo Tour - Hole 1 Posted
« Reply #5 on: June 01, 2012, 01:58:04 PM »
Thanks, Mark, looking forward to the rest.

Does anyone know if the famed Maxwell Rolls were planned, or more or less randomly created?
Big drivers and hot balls are the product of golf course design that rewards the hit one far then hit one high strategy.  Shinny showed everyone how to take care of this whole technology dilemma. - Pat Brockwell, 6/24/04

Sean Leary

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Prairie Dunes CC (Maxwell/Maxwell) - A Photo Tour - Hole 1 Posted
« Reply #6 on: June 01, 2012, 02:00:30 PM »
Craig,
I managed a hole out for eagle a couple of years ago, but things went downhill soon afterwards.

Mark,
Thanks for the extensive tour.  The photos of the green from behind do a really nice job showing some of the contours.

The first is a such a good introduction.  You don't want to be too conservative on the tee shot and have a long approach in, so a bit of blind carry and the bunker confront you from the start.  Easy enough for a three putt too.

Agreed. The contours are even more severe than they appear, actually, but you can get a taste from these pics. This green is very underrated on a course full of great greens.

The tee shot on 1 has actually changed a bit when they redid the teeing area. They moved the tees back and right so the tee shot is a bit more difficult IMO.

Mark, too bad you got the north wind on your day there. It certainly plays harder that way, but  I much prefer the prevailing south wind.

Jeff_Brauer

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Prairie Dunes CC (Maxwell/Maxwell) - A Photo Tour - Hole 1 Posted
« Reply #7 on: June 01, 2012, 02:35:47 PM »
One of the most surprising things about PD is that the ground water is only a few feet underground there, which I suspected when working 20 miles east at Sand Creek station, and confirmed when touring Faldo's Cottonwood Hills, where it gave construction crews some trouble.  There are no such apparent problems at PD.
Jeff Brauer, ASGCA Director of Outreach

Sean Leary

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Prairie Dunes CC (Maxwell/Maxwell) - A Photo Tour - Hole 1 Posted
« Reply #8 on: June 01, 2012, 02:37:59 PM »
Jeff, when you did a routing for a 3rd nine, where was it? Right of 5?

Mark Saltzman

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Prairie Dunes CC (Maxwell/Maxwell) - A Photo Tour - Hole 1 Posted
« Reply #9 on: June 01, 2012, 09:40:43 PM »


Note: Despite the yardage on the marker, this hole plays to 165 yards on the scorecard


The short but extremely difficult second is one of the best par-3s I have ever seen.  The green is benched naturally into the side of a hill, just above a steep drop-off to the left.  While the trio of bunkers left will intimidate the golfer, the golfer will find himself in the most severe trouble if he misses to the right.

Tee View:








A photo of the hole from shortly after construction.  Very nice to see how little this great par-3 has changed, though the bunkering now looks more uniform and slightly less natural.




A look at the bunkering/hill guarding the left side of the green.




This enhanced black and white photo is the best I have that shows the severe contouring on the second green.  What it fails to show is how severely the green slopes from back-right to front-left.  The pin position shown is unbelievably difficult, located on a tiny tier; any sensible golfer will aim for the front of the green and hope for a long, uphill two-putt.  I didn't get to play it, but a front pin would be near impossible.




Green from short-right:




Green from Right:




Green from Back-Left:




Green from 6th tee:




Green site from 6th fairway:



K. Krahenbuhl

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Prairie Dunes CC (Maxwell/Maxwell) - A Photo Tour - Hole 2 Posted
« Reply #10 on: June 01, 2012, 11:20:41 PM »
The front hole location on 2 is actually the easiest.  The ball feeds back to it on a well struck tee shot.  When I was there in April my friend hit a hole in one to that hole location.  Early the next morning to the same hole location there was another ace.

The back right of the green was softened 2-3 years ago with great success.

Morgan Clawson

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Prairie Dunes CC (Maxwell/Maxwell) - A Photo Tour - Hole 2 Posted
« Reply #11 on: June 02, 2012, 01:06:58 PM »
Wow.

2 great looking holes!

I like how the wooden steps lead your from the 2nd green to your next adventure.

Greg Ohlendorf

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Prairie Dunes CC (Maxwell/Maxwell) - A Photo Tour - Hole 2 Posted
« Reply #12 on: June 02, 2012, 04:47:18 PM »
I love those two opening holes as on my first visit I went 2-2 with the shot on two lipping out to the front pin Kyle just talked about. The angle of the green on two makes the different pin positions extremely interesting in the wind...which is always blowing everytime i'm there.

The cool thing about PD is that it just keeps getting better.

Greg

Mark Saltzman

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Prairie Dunes CC (Maxwell/Maxwell) - A Photo Tour - Hole 2 Posted
« Reply #13 on: June 02, 2012, 05:45:47 PM »
Hole 3: Par 4, 355 Yards

It's a bit of a trek up a set of stairs to reach the gold tee, but man is it ever worth it! The back tee is the highest point on the golf course and from there one is treated to some wonderful pan panoramas of Prairie Dunes.

The story goes that in Perry's original 18 hole routing the idea was for the third tee (presumably the lower tee?) to be the teeing area for the third, but the hole was to play to the 4th green.  What an unbelievable hole that would be.

That being said, what's on the ground today is exceptional.  Depending on wind direction, one must choose just how much of the bunch one wants to bite off.  The bunkers on the outside of the dogleg serve to contain any errant shots, but also to protect the ideal line into the 3rd green.

Back Tee View (note the 4th green at far-left corner of picture):






Lower Tee View:




From just short of the fairway it is clear that there is just a bit of reverse-cambre on the 3rd fairway. 




Approaches from the right have the option to run the ball onto the green through a narrow gap between the bunkers, but more importantly these approaches are played into the general tilt of the green making them easier to control.








Bunkers short-left:




Bunkers short-right:






Another wild green with plenty of fairway cut surrounding the green to repel slightly errant approaches. A few looks at the green...

From short-right:




From right:




From long-left near 4th green:




From behind:


Jason Hines

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Prairie Dunes CC (Maxwell/Maxwell) - A Photo Tour - Hole 3 Posted
« Reply #14 on: June 03, 2012, 12:05:00 AM »
Thanks Mark.

What’s amazing to me is that if you go back to the aerial or scorecard of # 3 that nothing necessarily jumps out at you.  Then you look at these photos and you get to visualize the genius of the angles on this hole from the tee.  Also, you can see that if you execute the angle on your tee shot, that you may be duped into the appearance of a “simple” approach shot until you walk up to the green site.

Mark, how did you play your tee ball and approach?

P.S. - I also love the comforting, but potentially deadly feel of the dune to the left of the fairway in the 3rd picture.

Mark Saltzman

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Prairie Dunes CC (Maxwell/Maxwell) - A Photo Tour - Hole 3 Posted
« Reply #15 on: June 03, 2012, 09:33:32 AM »

Mark, how did you play your tee ball and approach?


In the morning round it was about 50 degrees and the wind was blowing like crazy into and from the left -- the tee shot was unbelievably difficult.  I was happy to flail at one that came down between two of the bunkers on the right, leaving me about 150 yards that played like 180.  With the wind blowing that hard and coming from the rough I was happy just to get it near the green.

Afternoon from the lower tee it was a different hole (and the wind had calmed down).  A good drive left just a little sand wedge and into the wind it was possible to get it to land and stick (and maybe even spin a little). 

If playing the hole with the predominant wind, with which 3 would be downwind, finding the green even with a wedge must be a real challenge, especially if not coming in from the right angle.

Brad Isaacs

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Prairie Dunes CC (Maxwell/Maxwell) - A Photo Tour - Hole 3 Posted
« Reply #16 on: June 03, 2012, 09:59:41 AM »
Do you think it is worth tying to drive the green?

Jim Johnson

Re: Prairie Dunes CC (Maxwell/Maxwell) - A Photo Tour - Hole 3 Posted
« Reply #17 on: June 03, 2012, 10:43:23 AM »
Mark, thanks for another great photo tour. Looking forward to the remainder.
Those greens look amazing.

K. Krahenbuhl

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Prairie Dunes CC (Maxwell/Maxwell) - A Photo Tour - Hole 3 Posted
« Reply #18 on: June 03, 2012, 11:40:28 AM »
Do you think it is worth tying to drive the green?

Usually not.  It's only reachable downwind and that green is nearly impossible to hold with the wind helping.  At other times it isn't even an option.  I've hit 3 wood long and driver 150 yards short of the green depending on the conditions.

Mark Saltzman

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Prairie Dunes CC (Maxwell/Maxwell) - A Photo Tour - Hole 3 Posted
« Reply #19 on: June 03, 2012, 04:06:32 PM »


Note: Hole Plays to 168 Yards from Gold and Blue markers


The 4th is quite similar to the second, with its green benched into the side of the hill.  Once again, one is intimidated by the bunkering short, but it is the areas long of the green that will really spell trouble.

A few looks from the tee, at different times of day:








The bunkering benched into the side of the hill short of the green.  Yucca plants grow out of the top of the bunkers, adding an element of luck as any shot that finds one of these plants will be an unplayable lie.






A significant false-front guards the left portion of the green.  Shots a little short or left will trundle all the way back down to the rough line.






A few looks at the green.  Easily the tamest thus far on the golf course, but maybe the hardest to hit.

From the front-left edge:




From front-right:




From back-left near the 5th tee:




From front-left:




From back-left:


Mark Saltzman

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Prairie Dunes CC (Maxwell/Maxwell) - A Photo Tour - Hole 4 Posted
« Reply #20 on: June 04, 2012, 11:40:49 AM »


Note: The 5th plays from 490 yards from the new back tee and 438 yards from the old gold/blue tees


Playing into the prevailing wind, the 5th hole is unbelievably long.  From the new back tee at nearly 500 yards, this hole will play much more like a par-5 than a par-4 (but hey, par doesn't matter, right?)

The 5th features one of the widest fairways on the golf course, protected by a single deep bunker on the left.  The fairway tilts slightly from left to right and approaches from the right are ideal.

Back Tee View:




Gold/Blue Tee View:






White Tee View:




I'm not sure whether this green is harder to hit with 3W into the wind or 6i downwind.  This uphill approach with little room to run the ball onto the green is very difficult downwind -- almost any shot landing on the putting surface will run through the green.  The golfer must deftly land his approach into the upslope short of the green and have it trundle onto the putting surface.

Approaching from the left bunker is the worst spot (gunch excepted) to come in from:




Approaches from the centre of the fairway must deal with deep bunkering left and right leaving no room to miss this approach:







A closer look at the greenside bunkering:








And the putting surface:

From front-left:




From back-left:



From behind:






A couple of looks from near the 6th tee:




K. Krahenbuhl

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Prairie Dunes CC (Maxwell/Maxwell) - A Photo Tour - Hole 5 Posted
« Reply #21 on: June 04, 2012, 11:48:09 AM »
The new tee at the fifth is the one addition (of 3) that I like.  It is a great hole from there and I really like the way the tee shot is framed by being pushed to the side.  I don't think you'd ever see that setup played into a strong wind.  It was driver/3-wood from there when I played it that way.  It is a much needed addition downwind as the existing back tee played as driver/wedge in those conditions.  It's nice to have a little flexibility here.

Sean Leary

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Prairie Dunes CC (Maxwell/Maxwell) - A Photo Tour - Hole 5 Posted
« Reply #22 on: June 04, 2012, 01:04:37 PM »
The new tee at the fifth is the one addition (of 3) that I like.  It is a great hole from there and I really like the way the tee shot is framed by being pushed to the side.  I don't think you'd ever see that setup played into a strong wind.  It was driver/3-wood from there when I played it that way.  It is a much needed addition downwind as the existing back tee played as driver/wedge in those conditions.  It's nice to have a little flexibility here.

Agreed.

I thought the free form tees on 11 and 14 looked kinda funny..The guys I played with like the new angle on the tee shot on 11. I am unsold.

Will Lozier

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Prairie Dunes CC (Maxwell/Maxwell) - A Photo Tour - Hole 5 Posted
« Reply #23 on: June 04, 2012, 01:32:43 PM »
Too bad about that awful cart path on #4!  You would think that the rough would be allowed to grow between tee and green to hide that thing?

Cheers

Sean Leary

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Prairie Dunes CC (Maxwell/Maxwell) - A Photo Tour - Hole 5 Posted
« Reply #24 on: June 04, 2012, 01:52:50 PM »
Too bad about that awful cart path on #4!  You would think that the rough would be allowed to grow between tee and green to hide that thing?

Cheers

All of the par 3s are tee to green cartpaths for some reason. Of course, pics make it look way worse than it does in person but I agree that it looks bad.

Tags:
Tags:

An Error Has Occurred!

Call to undefined function theme_linktree()
Back