The Dunes Course Earned the 184th Spot from Golf Digest

 

Golf Digest named The Prairie Club to a position on the 2017-2018 list of “America’s Second 100 Greatest Golf Courses” for the first time in their history.

 

The biennial list of greatest golf courses is designed to accumulate all private and public golf courses in the United States and rank them based on the scrutinous evaluations of the national course raters. 

 

The Dunes Course

The Dunes course, crafted by Tom Lehman and Chris Brands in 2010, earned the 184th spot on this years list. The links-style course is recognized for its dramatic elevation changes, endless views of the Sandhills in all directions and immense blowouts that are easily viewed by space satellites.

 

America’s Greatest Golf Courses List Criteria

The list is produced based on the sentiments of a Golf Digest panel. A course must receive a total of 45 evaluations within the past eight years to qualify. This is the third time that Golf Digest has produced this list.

 

After playing and scoring the courses, the panelists base their ranking decision upon seven criteria. Here is how the Dunes rated in each area.

 

Shot Values – 7.3166

 

How well do the holes pose a variety of risks and rewards and equally test length, accuracy and finesse?

 

Resistance to Scoring – 7.3454

 

How difficult, while still being fair, is the course for a scratch player from the back tees?

 

Design Variety – 7.3245

 

How varied are the holes in differing lengths, configurations, hazard placements, green shapes and green contours?

 

Memorability – 7.3078

 

How well do the design features provide individuality to each hole yet a collective continuity to the entire 18?

 

Aesthetics – 7.3923

 

How well do the scenic values of the course add to the pleasure of a round?

 

Conditioning – 6.9498

 

On the day you played the course, how firm, fast and rolling were the fairways, how firm yet receptive were the greens and how true were the roll of putts?

 

Ambiance – 7.1597

 

How well does the overall feel and atmosphere of the course reflect or uphold the traditional values of the game?

 

The Prairie Club (Dunes) Total Score:  58.1127

 

Other Recent Prairie Club Accolades from Golf Digest

Golf Digest also produces other lists to show the best of the best to their readers. The Prairie Club has earned the following recognition from Golf Digest in the past two years.

 

1. The Dunes Course (#35) and the Pines Course (#75) both placed in the 100 Greatest Public Courses for 2015-16.
2. All three current courses earned a spot in the Top 50 Most Fun Courses in 2015; Horse ranked #10, Dunes took the 19th spot and Pines ranked 32nd.
3. In the Best in State Courses both Dunes (#3) and Pines (#6) made the list of ten courses in Nebraska for 2015/16.
4. The Horse course was #7 on the list of 16 Exceptional Hybrid Courses in 2016.
5. The Prairie Club was named one of the Best Golf Resorts in The Rockies/Great Plains in 2016.

 

Both the Pines and Dunes courses have also earned a number of kudos from Golf Digest, Links Magazine, Golf Magazine and Golfweek since 2011.