The US Senior Open (for golfers 50 years and older) is being played this week at Prairie Dunes Country Club in Hutchinson, Kansas, just up the road from Wichita.
Prairie Dunes is a fascinating course that is a favorite of golf course-design experts. The course sits in the windy heartland of America, but it has many characteristics of a seaside links course. Its original designer — Perry Maxwell — was a banker who designed some of the best golf courses in the central United States, such as Tulsa’s Southern Hills. Maxwell began construction of Prairie Dunes in 1937, but the masterpiece was not completed until almost 20 years later.
Despite its somewhat isolated location, Prairie Dunes is now regularly recognized as on one of the best golf courses in the U.S. Although only a modest 6,600 yards in length, the course is holding up well in the tournament and receiving rave reviews from the participants, most of whom have never played it until this tournament. The Prairie Dunes Country Club hosts this excellent virtual review of the course, and I highly recommend that you take a moment to admire this gem of America’s heartland.