2019 Prairie Dunes Midwest Mashie - Is in the books! Best is the West

[V_Halyard]

Well that went well.  Short description? “Prairie Dunes, any questions?”

Now for the longer version. Back story. About a year and a half or so ago, shortly after the Cedar Rapids Event, the ever suave and chilled Ryan Hillenbrand says to me. “ Hey, I’ve been chatting with George (Freeman) about a potential site. It may take a year or two but I just wanted to loop you in, in case we pull it off.”  Me, being of conspiratorial mind quickly surmised, “You guys are hunting Prairie dogs.  Ryan, always a cool customer says keep it low in case they turn me down again. (Ryan by the way, rocks the visor better than anybody EVER has on the PGA Tour) But I digress…

Flash to this past weekend, thanks to Ryan and the Board, Members and Staff at the Prairie Dunes Country Club, the 10th Anniversary of the Midwest Mashie came together in fabulous form at the Maxwell Family Golf Estate! We were regaled with stunning weather, conversation, architectural controversy, (Press or Perry/Tree or Chainsaw?) sun, hospitality, oh and it was "windy and hot AF" (Ask your kids what that means if the nomenclature is unfamiliar)

Also special thanks to this year’s Competition Committee Chair, Jason Thurman for use of fractal geometry and advanced mathematics to determine that the WEST retains the Mashie and will carry that storied club into the roaring 20’s!  Good thing since I travelled to the event from a film site and the actual mashie… did not. At some point, for some reason, yesterday, it seemed like a good idea for us to FaceTime Thurm's good natured wife form the PD Card Room so she could see that “The GCA thing” had some other real Humans.  Mrs. Thurm’s initial quote via text: “I'm suspicious but going along with it... I'll allow it." haha. No damage was done. ohhh, what could have gone wrong?

From all coasts and parts of the country, so many stories and accolades but also of particular note was the chat Ryan arranged at dinner featuring emerging architect Colton Craig. Colton is a learned and staunch Perry Maxwell historian and evangelist.  He shared a number of interesting insights and opinions and provided each attendee with a draft of his upcoming book. Great dinner, great event and again Ryan, superbly played. Colton if you are reading this, thank you for your time and insights.

East Captain and Mashie Chief Technical Officer Chris Titchingser will post a tutorial to make sure we all have the most current learnings regarding how to post some of the fantastic pics from the event.  We continue to struggle... Remarked Chris: "I'm not impressed"... nor am I with the level of incompetence of this group to post pictures. In fact, I am so disgusted, I am going to wait for Chris to post the instructions and see who can follow directions before I actually post any pictures. That is how disgusted I am with the rest of you that don't know how to post pictures as well as Chris and I do. Chris feel free to send me the directions so I can compare them with my version and make sure mine is as technically current as yours.

The Tree on 12: I was chatting with one of the pros in the pro shop:
ME: ”Do members have any problems with the tree on 12?”
HIM: “No, at least none of our good golfers...”    .... ooooowwwwwch
So clearly, as a club, PD “Gives Zero F+^?#$” about our architectural thoughts regarding the tree on 12. I made peace with it… as did Thrum. As witnessed by Freeman, Thurman and Steele, after a spray to the right, I played a links like run under “That Limb” pin high for a par.  I’ll let George, Bill or Thurm chime in regarding any interesting “other approach strategies.” That’s it. Fantastic event, outstanding gathering and conversation with a group of like minded friends.  We are indeed the group that civilians are horrified to be stuck chatting with in the corner of the kitchen at a party.
Great company and golf at an architecturally stunning, classic championship Venue… if you like that kind of thing.

Respectfully Submitted,
Vaughn
Victorious West Captain - who did absolutely nothing of consequence, but retains the captaincy because George asked if anybody else claimed it. Crickets. Ryan declined and I left the Mashie at home so… yeah.

PS: Update note to Brian Hoover. RE: your comment from the first Mashie Thread. I heard the story and almost laugh-choked-out on my dinner.
Happy to report, no bag room personnel were harmed by a 9th hole walk off during the making of this Mashie.  Chris, You have the Conn.

[Jud_T]

Great event at a wonderful club; it was great to catch up with a bunch of the GCA gang I haven't seen since...Indy?  Thanks again to Ryan who was a gracious host, and a hell of a competitor (he came back from Dormie 4 to get a critical half for our victorious West team!) as well as Vaughn and Jason (math challenged though he was  ).  Thanks also to Colton for driving up as his wife was expecting to display his passion and knowledge of all things Maxwell.  As for the course itself- my question of the weekend was, and remains- what course have you seen that clearly has a superior set of greens to these?  To reiterate the words of our fearless leader, anyone who considers themselves a student of golf architecture who hasn't seen this course needs to make a beeline to Hutchinson ASAP.

[Mike Treitler]

What a fantastic weekend!    This was a truly a dream come true experience.  I cannot thank Ryan, Vaughn, Jason, and anyone else who contributed to putting this event together enough.    Ryan you were a wonderful host.


I already have the 11th hole as my background on my work computer.   


The course was spectacular and the company and accommodations just as good.   Personally, I have no problem with the tree on 12.


Prairie Dunes is big, bold, brutal, gorgeous, and a great test of golf. 


An unforgettable experience and I hope to play more golf with all of you in the future.


Mike

[Jeff Shelman]

It was a great weekend and a great chance to see old friends and meet more of you.


And happy to have been part of another West victory. All we do is win, win, win no matter what!

[John McCarthy]

My thoughts on the course needs more time to process, because superlatives fail. 


One easy thought is the staff at the course is superior, even the high school kids at the bag drop. 


Short take: everything dumb I do as a golfer got punished.  Everything I did to stay within myself was rewarded. 


It is a unique place and if you ever get the chance go.


On edit: Furman's napping stories are about the best.

[Tyler Kearns]

Another fun Mashie!!  Thank you to Ryan and the staff at Prairie Dunes for their hospitality and letting us enjoy their wonderful golf course.  It was nice to re-acquaint with past Mashie participants and meet others for the first time.  Look forward to next year.


Tyler

[Steve Salmen]

Thanks to Ryan, the staff and management at Prairie Dunes for hosting us for such a fine, long weekend.  The golf course exceeded expectations.  I hope to get back one day.
We're all pretty lucky to get to play a private course like PD over several days together as a large group.  I played in the first two Mashies and this was my first return trip.
It was nice seeing old faces, particularly my four ball golf jihad partner, Pat Craig, who nearly made the 25 ft free roll on 18 for win.
It was also nice meeting new folks like Mike Treitler, with whom I played 3 rounds and look forward to seeing again, and Tyler Kearns, my singles opponent who has a fantastic golf game.
I look forward to seeing you all again. Steve

[PCCraig]

As always, I enjoyed seeing old friends as well as meeting new ones.


It's pretty amazing that this was the 10th Mashie, and what an amazing place we were able to play this year to celebrate.


I can't thank Ryan enough for being an incredible host. It's not an easy job to coordinate everything with a group of this size, but everything went off without a hitch.


Everything at Prairie Dunes, from the staff, to the food, to the rooms, was perfectly done.


As Steve "War Eagle" Salmen notes above, we're pretty lucky to be able to spend an entire weekend hanging out and playing golf at a place as special as Prairie Dunes, but we're more lucky that folks like Ryan and the staff there are willing to share it with us.


Many thanks as well to Colton Craig who was nice enough to talk to us about Maxwell as well as share with us a draft of his upcoming book.


Perhaps the sign of a great golf course is that it's impossible to fully digest after one weekend, but I've been thinking (having nightmares?) of PD. As many heard me mumbling to myself after Saturday when we for some reason decided to play the tips in a 40mph wind...I think PD is likely yard for yard the hardest golf course I've ever played. The combination of the wind, the incredible firm/fast turf, but the (relative) narrow driving corridors and small greens makes it into a very tough test. That being said, as we played more rounds (from the more appropriate blue tees) and the driving lines became more clear to me, it helped me to better enjoy the golf course.


I don't know if this is the thread for it, but I think it would be hugely interesting to have a detailed discussion on the golf course from the participants. While we were delayed 6 hours in the Wichita airport we had some pretty spirited discussions on the best holes, worst holes, best greens, etc. which was fun to discuss.


Anyway, thank you to everyone involved in making what was a terrific weekend. Can't wait until the next one!

[Ryan Hillenbrand]

Hey Guys, thanks for the kind words. It was really a lot of fun putting this on and the well deservedly praised staff made it pretty easy on me.


Safe to say you all got the full Prairie Dunes experience with 30 mph winds and heat baking out the greens by the afternoon. Glad not many of us are too concerned about score. I can also see now why Ran left it off the Custodian list


As I mentioned to Bill Steele, what I love about the course is it does a great job of not revealing the next hole until you putt out and make the journey to the next tee, which leads to hearing a lot of "wow" as we journey from hole to hole.


Enjoyed meeting lots of new people and putting faces with online comments. Looking forward to the next one!






Ryan (aka The Visor)

[Criss Titschinger]

Didn’t realize I was going to be put on blast for my comments on others posting photos.  Perhaps this is a conversation Ran and I can take offline. As a former member of the GCA Youth Movement (now Intermediate Member status, but not quite Regular Member), and working my whole career in website development and infrastructure, I get it’s easier for me to know how to upload and post a photo on this site. And I can see it now: let’s see how well you litigate a case, Criss. Okay, I don’t know how to do that. What I do know is storage is cheap nowadays and there are better methods to get this done; especially with the proliferation of mobile devices, from which most of us took our photos.

On to brighter things…




This was my 6th Midwest Mashie in a row, dating back to 2014. It’s amazing how many great people I’ve met during this event over the years. This event has become my big golf trip every year, and it never disappoints! The courses, the people, the matches; all good stuff! It was so good to see the Godfather back in action after a long absence. I even got an action shot of him of perhaps the only time he made it in the gunch. I can assure you he was 300 off the tee in this picture; just a little wayward. 😉



Ryan was a terrific host and I was lucky enough to play with him twice. Hearing his knowledge of the course during my first round was invaluable going into the weekend. He kept on asking if he should stop talking about the course, and I said to most certainly continue. The staff at Prairie Dunes was beyond accommodating. Everyone from the bag room, to the clubhouse, to the greens staff were top notch. I always appreciate clubs going out of their way to treat guests so well. We were very lucky to be able to play here.



As a mid-capper, I found the course surprisingly playable. That’s not to say my travel bag wasn’t much lighter on the return leg. The corridors are decently wide enough on the tee shot. Things get hairier on the approach, and the greens were certainly as advertised. Within the top 2 I’ve played for sure; probably the best. Surprising to hear that on Friday, they were not even close to full speed. I hope that Sunday’s round is about as fast as they get.



There are still many holes I’m still trying to figure out how to play even after 4 rounds. And for me, there’s not a weak one in the bunch. Come at me on “The Chute”. Well, I only played that one from the back tees once, and the white tees don’t really have the obstacle presented from a few yards back.



All-in-all, I’d have to say my 2019 Mashie experience was the opposite of a crap sandwich. It started out getting stormed out at Wichita CC and ended with me having to stay overnight in Wichita on Sunday due to plane issues. Everything in-between was heavenly!

[James Brown]

This looks so great.  Was so happy to have been on the list at one point and sorry my plans changed and couldn’t do this one.


Where next year?

[Adam Clayman]

Curious if the discussions ever got to the courses role in spurring on the more natural looking, Prairie links movement?


For those virgins that attended, just imagine David Frost's 62 in the final round of the Senior U.S. Open and how remarkable that was.


I'd like to know if anyone has any thoughts on Dave Axland's work on #7?

[Jason Thurman]

It was an awesome weekend. Huge thanks to Ryan, the entire staff and club, and everybody who came. Great course, great company, mediocre golfing talent. Always a fun recipe.


Adam, I really love the work around 7 green. While different in appearance from the rest of the course's bunkering, I found it more complementary than distracting.


At the same time, I like the simpler bunker shapes that dominate the course. The course feels of its time. Like anyone else, I have enjoyed the jagged edge bunker craze the last 20 years, but love Prairie Dunes' unique presentation relative to some of its prairie links peers. Notwithstanding the gunch...

[Ryan Hillenbrand]

Curious if the discussions ever got to the courses role in spurring on the more natural looking, Prairie links movement?


For those virgins that attended, just imagine David Frost's 62 in the final round of the Senior U.S. Open and how remarkable that was.


I'd like to know if anyone has any thoughts on Dave Axland's work on #7?

Adam - Colton Craig talked about this at dinner. He called Prairie Dunes the original "destination" type golf club, where a course was built upon great golf land in an area fairly remote from major cities. While I don't think that was the vision of the Carey family who actually lived in Hutchinson, as years went on it became that. He said without it as the template, he's not sure a place like Sand Hills gets built.


Wish I could find footage of that Senior Open but shooting 62 is mind boggling. I can only assume he caught it on a windless day

[Bill Seitz]

My sixth Mashie, and like all the others, it was a great weekend of golf and camaraderie.  Played Wichita County Club on Friday afternoon, though the greens were a little slow and soft from recent punching, the layout was fun and creative.  Diddle did a really nice job on the property he was given, and the creek was put to good use.  The staff was very accommodating, and the lunch buffet lived up to the hype.


Prairie Dunes was terrific.  Though I'd played it a hundred time on the old Links PC game, it didn't hold a candle to the real thing.  The use of the huge dune on the front nine was awesome, and the view of that piece of property from the 18th tee was breathtaking.  Not a fan of the tree on 12, though having played it twice with the prevailing wind, the overhang from the right works with the left to right wind, as the player can go at the left-center of the green and let the ball work its way back.  I was surprised at the number of holes that seemed short by today's standards, but played really long, mostly due to the wind. 


I'd have to agree with Ran that the gunch does keep it from true top of the top tier status (it almost plays like water, and any course with that much water would be panned here).  Somehow Ross Harmon found my ball four times, which must be a course record. The playing corridors are plenty wide, but still, the gunch is practically a one shot penalty.  I'm not an agronomist, so I'm not sure what they can do to make it more playable (my allergies were also not a fan, but that's my fault).  My home course also features a lot of native areas, but your ball is usually findable and playable.  Could be time of year as well, I suppose.  The wind, uphill nature of a lot of approaches, and the myriad false edges on the greens require a lot of thought and execution.  I'd rate it my second favorite Maxwell, behind Old Town after the recent renovations. 


The facilities were outstanding, and the members and staff were very accommodating.  I had a great time reconnecting with a lot of old friends, and meeting some new ones in the process.  Thanks to Ryan, Vaughn, and everyone else who played a part in pulling this together.

[Jake Marvin]

Thanks to Ryan, Prairie Dunes and the whole Mashie contingent. This event gets better by the year as I recognize more faces. I played Cottonwood Falls CC (which I'm guessing has not been mentioned here before), a sand greens course a couple hours east of PD, early Friday. It was a novel experience and a quirky layout including a blind 170-yard par three playing over and against a creek and a 120-yard volcano hole (which, to add to the absurdity, played across each other. Luckily it's a low-traffic place). Sand Creek Station is a solid Jeff Brauer course with some memorable holes, including the Road Hole-inspired sixteenth. It lives up to the name with trains coming through the area frequently. After charging $27 including a cart (it'd be a tough walk), range balls, and two free drinks, I'm honestly not sure how the place stays open, but I'm glad it does.


Prairie Dunes was glorious, contrary to what one might think if listening to the mutterings of Mashie participants wading through gunch. I drove in during the evening sunshine, and if the light hitting the contours of the rumpled fairways at eight and nine is not enough to excite one for a round of golf, I doubt anything ever will be. Obvious standout holes in my mind include the stretch from six to eight and ten through twelve. While twelve is bound to induce controversy, I see it as asking for a type of shot the rest of the course does not require. While playing a whole round through such tight tree lines would be a slog, I think it's fine, and even an added shot of variety, to do it on one hole. Seventeen, while not a bad hole by any means, was one I didn't quite get (especially with other people discussing it as a favorite). It seemed fairly simple, but perhaps it's the sort of hole that requires a few plays. I will say the severity of the green surrounds make the placement of the second shot crucial, which is impressive considering the field Maxwell gives the player to hit at.


I'll join the other Armchair Agronomists suggesting something should be done about the gunch. It seems as though it should be possible to thin it out somehow, but if not perhaps cutting it back in spots would be helpful. I didn't enjoy watching solid shots bounce a yard over greens into what's basically a stroke penalty. As one of my groups discussed, it plays like a water hazard, but it's really harder than that because once in a while, the golfer finds his ball in it and convinces himself he can get it out. Good luck.


Great golf, great group as always. Looking forward to next year.

[Joe Zucker]

This sounds like another exciting Mashie and I'm disappointed I couldn't be there.  Was there much discussion on the Perry vs Press holes at Prairie Dunes?  If I'm remembering correctly from an old thread on PD, there was some agreement that the Perry holes were better, but the course is better for having the Press holes and making it a full 18.  So many of Press's holes and greens are very good.  They fit so well into the existing 9 that it almost seems impossible that there wasn't some thought into where they would go during the initial construction. 

[Jason Thurman]

Joe, comparing the two architects' work definitely came up on the course. It's interesting... I think the Press holes are consistently excellent. I really love 3, 4, 5, 12, 13, 14, and 15. But a thought in my head all weekend came from reading PD's description in the Confidential Guide: that the Perry holes may still be the nine best on the course. While I think there's a case to be made for 4 and 12 cracking the top nine out there, I think the Perry holes are decisively stronger.


Yet, hole-for-hole, the course is about as good as it gets. It's hard to pick a favorite, and just nutty to think about how good my least favorites there are. I mean, 16 is an excellent par 4 that would be memorably good on any course. And it might be my least favorite hole there. If I had to pick...

[George Freeman]

Hell of a Mashie gentlemen!  It was fantastic getting back after a four year hiatus.  (Shockingly, my oldest child is four years old.)  HUGE thank you to Ryan H. for 1) his unsolicited offer to host the Mashie at PD and 2) handling much of the heavy lifting re: scheduling, logistics, club communication, $$$ tracking, etc.  Another shout out to Vaughn:  great job with all the threads and consistently rallying the troops.  The pre-event stuff isn't easy or exciting, but Vaughn crushed it.  He is a phenomenal cat herder.  And one more thank you to the official Mashie Ambassador Jason Thurman.  Somehow he got roped into being both the master of ceremonies and head match-maker.  He managed both duties with class and skill.

As always, it was awesome to see old friends and make some new ones.  When I tell people I'm flying halfway across the country to spend a weekend playing golf with a bunch of guys I met on the internet, I almost always get a puzzled look.  But as is always the case, our band of kindred spirits gets along swimmingly and has a blast immersing itself in our hobby (i.e. obsession).

As for the course itself:  I feel like I am still digesting.  (The staff, food, lodging, etc. were all superb.)  It is certainly one of the best courses I have ever played.  But a combination of factors make it a little more challenging to digest than normal (at least for me): 


1) its brilliance seems to really lie in the subtle, hard to see/experience stuff (particularly the greens and green contours as well as approach angles), even though the course is pretty visually stunning;
2) the uniqueness of the club's genesis:  nine holes done by Perry; nine holes done by his son decades later; Perry & Press holes are intermingled;
3) gunch, wind
4) blind/partial blind shots

As I continue to chew on this delicious morsel that is Prairie Dunes, I'll chime on this thread and the other.

[Tyler Kearns]

When I tell people I'm flying halfway across the country to spend a weekend playing golf with a bunch of guys I met on the internet, I almost always get a puzzled look.

George,


It is that very explanation that had US Customs ask me to pull aside so they could search my car and ask me further questions in a tiny room on my way down to a GCA event many moons ago.  I dread the "are you meeting anybody down there", "how do you know them" questions!!


Tyler

[Charles Lund]

Many thanks to Ryan, Vaughn, Prairie Dunes, and the other participants for an enjoyable experience.  It was great meeting the other participants, with enjoyable conversations, interesting perspectives about the course, and sharing golf experiences.


I couldn't ask for a better group of people as co-participants in a golf outing.


Charles Lund

[V_Halyard]

Didn’t realize I was going to be put on blast for my comments on others posting photos.  Perhaps this is a conversation Ran and I can take offline. As a former member of the GCA Youth Movement (now Intermediate Member status, but not quite Regular Member), and working my whole career in website development and infrastructure, I get it’s easier for me to know how to upload and post a photo on this site. And I can see it now: let’s see how well you litigate a case, Criss. Okay, I don’t know how to do that. What I do know is storage is cheap nowadays and there are better methods to get this done; especially with the proliferation of mobile devices, from which most of us took our photos.
...

All-in-all, I’d have to say my 2019 Mashie experience was the opposite of a crap sandwich. It started out getting stormed out at Wichita CC and ended with me having to stay overnight in Wichita on Sunday due to plane issues. Everything in-between was heavenly!

Excellent Pics Chris!