[David Kelly]

As usual the course looks in pristine condition.

[Craig Van Egmond]

Absolutely love this hole!!  Par feels like a birdie on this one.   

[Jason Hines]

Mark, don't leave us hanging here!?

[Mark Saltzman]

Mark, don't leave us hanging here!?

Sorry, I'll finish the front 9 tonight.

[Jason Hines]

Excellent,

Kids are in bed, US Open on TV, in the zone...

[Mark Saltzman]

Hole 9: Par 4, 452 Yards

Played from an elevated tee and with a cross-wind, the wide 9th fairway can be difficult to hit.  The bunker on the left side of the fairway protects the ideal line, though at only 225 yards to carry from the back tees, it should not be in play unless the wind is into.

Back Tee View:






Blue Tee View:




The fairway at the 9th, like the fairway at the 8th, is extremely rolling. 







The approach is not intimidating, but it is subtly very difficult.  Bunkering surrounds the 9th green, which is among the most undulating on a course full of undulating greens.








The very large false-front at the 9th green.  Shots landing on the first 15 feet of the green will suffer the same fate as the three shots pictured.




Look at the green.

From short:




Back-right:




Right:




Left:




Behind:






Back-Left:




Behind:

[Morgan Clawson]

Mark -

Thanks for another outstanding tour.

What a great looking golf course.

You've played Crystal Downs, Pinehurst 2 and Prairie Dunes recently.

All 3 are ranked highly and similarly on the Golf Week Classic list - #s 10, 11, 13 respectively.

Please take a minute to compare and contrast the 3 courses for us.

[Mark Saltzman]

Note: Gold and Blue tees play 185 yards


Though few would identify this hole as the best par-3 on the golf course, I have heard and read that Perry Maxwell considered this the best par-3 at Prairie Dunes and one of the best in the country.  Really it is a genius piece of routing to find this par-3 tucked between the dunes. 

The 10th tee is only a handful of yards from the 18th green site, but one must not be too focused on the 18th as the short-ish 10th is no easy par.  From the tee, the dunes hide most of the putting surface from view and make the demanding tee shot feel even more difficult.  While a single bunker short of the green can be seen, there are two more bunkers -- one short of the visible one, and one left of the green -- that will catch errant shots.

Tee View:






From 30 yards short of green the bunkering and green are more easily seen:






Another very good green, this one with portions right and back-left that are very well-guarded by the bunkers (and thus very difficult to access).

From short-right:






From right:




From back-right:






From back-left:

[Mark Saltzman]

Note: Hole 11 plays 452 yards from Gold and Blue Tees

A new free-form tee has been added about 30 yards to the right of the original teeing ground laid-out by Press (interestingly, this teeing ground is likely near the original teeing ground for the current 17th, original 8th, hole).  This hole is designed to be played downwind, with the bunker on the left carry able by some (about 270 yards) and tee shots can easily run through the fairway on the right.  However, into the wind as it was the day I played it, four decent golfers had little hope of reaching this par-4 in two shots.

The new free-form 11th tee and a look at the tee shot:






And the tee shot from the original left tee:




While few will face this shot on a downwind day, into the wind this massive fairway bunker hides the left-side of the fairway making the lay-up more difficult.







Once passed the corner the entire green site comes into view.  It seems Perry chose many of the very best green sites in the original 9 holes as several of the Press greens have a less natural and less dramatic feel to them.  While the contouring of the green is excellent, on par with much of Perry's work, somehow it feels that the integration of the green into the surroundings was a skill uniquely possessed by Perry.





Several looks at the green and green site.  Note the severe false-front...

From short-left:




From short-right:




From short:




From back-right:






From 12th tee:

[C. Squier]

Mark, really wonderful pictures.  It is incredibly hard to try and capture just how great the greens are at PD and you've done the best I've seen to date.  I used to try on my visits and could never do them justice in pictures.  I truly believe Perry Maxwell may be the best green designer the game has ever seen. 

Additionally, Stan George and his grounds crew deserve heaps of praise, they do an incredible job in relatively harsh conditions between the summer heat and constant wind.  The course is perpetually in perfect condition.

[Chris Clouser]

Mark,

Great job.  I think you are in the part of the course that is the weakest on the course.  11 and 13 are good holes, but 12, 14, and 15 seem to come across as the weak links to me at PD.  I don't think it is a coincidence that those three were all Press holes.  I'll always wonder what Perry would have done on that back nine if he had been able to do it. 

[Mark Saltzman]

Clint, thank you -- I took over 600 pictures in one day in three times around Prairie Dunes.  I was fortunate to get some really perfect light for the last time.

Chris, as I said in the description of the 11th hole, I found that the biggest difference between the Perry and Press holes was how the green integrated into the surroundings.  Now, this may just be the result of Perry choosing the best and most natural green sites to use for the first 9.  While the push-up 11th does not look natural, it's not like Perry was opposed to building greens like this (Oakwood has a few of them).  The Press holes seem to integrate Perry's philosophies well -- blindness and semi-blindness, a par-3 over a ridge, preferred lines from the outside of the dogleg -- and the green are as interestingly contoured as the rest of the golf course, but somehow the way the green lay on the land is just not quite as good.

I wonder if you could pick out the Perry holes and the Press holes with no advance knowledge.  I'd like to think I could identify them, but I'm sure I'd get a few wrong.  How could someone say 2 and 4 were build by different architects?

[Sean Leary]

Mark,

What makes 11 for me is the knob front right of the green. Downwind, it totally affects how you play your approach, as it can kick it left, right or short without the properly struck shot. Into the wind, less so, so I am not surprised that it didn't catch your attention. But you can surely see it in one of your pics, perfectly...

[Mike Hendren]

It's always delightful to be blown away yet again on this website.  Can't believe I passed on an invitation to play PD.  Simply stunning.

No digging the free-form tee at all, however. 

Bogey

[Mark Saltzman]

Hole 12: Par 4, 390 Yards

Accuracy is at a premium on the 12th as a series of Cottonwoods (yep, trees at Prairie Dunes!) guard the entrance to the green.  Shots that are even slightly off-centre will have to deal with some tree-limbs.

A series of bunkers from 200-270 yards guard the left side of the left-to-right tilted fairway -- finding the centre will require challenging these bunkers.

Upper Tee View:






Lower Tee View:




Finding the left-centre of the fairway is extremely important if one wants a clear look at the green...




As even approaches from the right side of the fairway must deal with limbs...






Bunkers short-left and short-right will catch most balls played under the tree limbs...






But the real trouble starts when balls run through the green and down the swales back-left and back-right of the 12th green:




This may be the most contoured green on the golf course, with 'wings' on the back-left and back-right portions of the green.  Clever golfers can use these contours to attack a pin position, but find yourself on the wrong side of the wing and you have a very difficult two-putt.

Several looks at the green.

From short:






From right:




From back-right:




From behind:

[Craig Van Egmond]

#12 is hole people either love  or hate.. although it seems much more controversial for guests than members.

The hole has gotten easier over the years as storms have taken a toll on the cottonwood on the right side of the fairway.

Another fantastic green!

 

[K. Krahenbuhl]

#12 is hole people either love  or hate.. although it seems much more controversial for guests than members.

The hole has gotten easier over the years as storms have taken a toll on the cottonwood on the right side of the fairway.

Another fantastic green!

I really like the 12th and I love that green.  It's one of the best out there in my opinion.

[David Kelly]

Great green. The first four times I played the hole I went birdie - putted off the green - birdie - putted off the green.

I would remove or cut waaay back all of the trees down the left side of the hole.  The bunkers and gunch would eliminate anyone from going too far left and it would make golfers play towards the bunkers to set up a good angle into the hole.  Being in a leftside bunker is now a double penalty since the trees are between you and the hole when you are in one of them.

[Mark Saltzman]

Just a thought... Could we cut down the trees?

Into the wind, as it was when I played PD, it is quite the task just to find the fairway, nevermind the left-centre portion of it that must be found to have a clear look at the green. Reasonably good tee shots in the fairway are left with little chance to find the green on the approach. Some would call that goofy; I'm inclined to agree.

Downwind, even without the trees, pitches are difficult because of, well, the wind. The segmentation of the green calls for the utmost in precision, which is no easy task downwind, and the runoff and bunkering long is designed to penalize the long miss (not to mention the bunkering short calls for most approaches to be flown onto the green and , again, downwind these shots will be difficult to stop).

Does anyone know the evolution of these trees (yes, I know, they were once smaller and are now bigger). Are they original? Did Press design the hole with them as a feature? If not, when and why we're they added?

[Chris Clouser]

Mark,

Mal Elliott would probably be the best person to answer whether those trees were there or not.  They are indigenous, but whether they were located at that spot on the course or not I doubt anyone other than him might actually know.  Some of the members I talked with during my one round there several years ago thought that area of those holes was cleared and then trees were then replanted once the construction was done.  I've seen older photographs where the trees did not look as pronounced as they are today on 12, 14, and 15.  

I feel they could leave only the one tree on the right and it would be much better.  If it wasn't for that tree and the green, the hole would be almost forgetable.  That green is wild.  Probably the best putt of my life was from the back left to a front right pin location.  I swear it broke three times with at least two feet of break on each and found its way into the hole for a birdie.  One of only three on the day, the others were on the ninth after a great approach shot to within three feet and the tenth with perhaps the best 2 iron I have ever hit.  Pretty good stretch of three under in four holes.  Too bad I had screwed up the first 8 holes so badly.    

[Jeff Loh]

"only three"
at PD?
sheesh

[Mark Saltzman]

Note: Gold tee now plays 445(!) yards


A tee shot that requires some thought, especially if the wind is blowing.  Longer hitters will consider playing over the bunker on the left to leave a short-iron into the green, but, appropriately, this is one of the deepest and most penal fairway bunkers on the golf course.  Running along the right side of the fairway are a trio of fairway bunkers to catch those golfers bailout out on the tee shot.




A closer look at the left-side fairway bunker.  Look at all that yucca!




Shots that successfully carry the bunker will be rewarded with this speed-slot in the fairway and a very short shot into the green.




As was typical of Perry (and I suppose followed by Press), the ideal angle of approach is from the outside of the dogleg -- a clearer line into the green and a shot played into its slope.




Several looks at the green...

From short-left:




From left:






From back-left:






From 15th green (right):




From behind:

[Brandon Urban]

I may be in the minority, but 13 green is one of my favorites on the course. The ledge where the pin is located in Mark's photo is about the size of a car hood. In keeping with my theme of places not to play from at PD, I would nominate long or left on this hole especially to that pin. Six is a good score from there!

[Chris Clouser]

This was my favorite Press hole on the course.  It felt very much like the older holes with the use of the dune on the left side and placing the green into it the way Press did.

[David Kelly]

Note: Hole 11 plays 452 yards from Gold and Blue Tees

A new free-form tee has been added about 30 yards to the right of the original teeing ground laid-out by Press (interestingly, this teeing ground is likely near the original teeing ground for the current 17th, original 8th, hole).  This hole is designed to be played downwind, with the bunker on the left carry able by some (about 270 yards) and tee shots can easily run through the fairway on the right.  However, into the wind as it was the day I played it, four decent golfers had little hope of reaching this par-4 in two shots.

I was at Prairie Dunes this weekend and was told by a few people at the club that the new free-form tee is going away.  The blue and gold tees will still be over there but the tee box will be rebuilt to make it tie in with the rest of the tee boxes.  Same with the long new teeing area on #14.  It will be reconfigured to make it more consistent with the rest of the tee boxes.  A later discussion with some green committee members confirmed this.

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