Prairie Club, Valentine, NE

[oldpalchamp]

A few friends and I are considering a 3-day (or so) golf trip and have been considering the usual options. Right now Pinehurst is the leading contender, but in doing some research, I have become fascinated with the Prairie Club. I first heard about it on a golf course architecture db and checked out its website. It looks fantastic and was wondering if anyone has been there and played the courses.

[TheHumbleGolfer]

I was there last year and loved it. The Dunes course is one of the most interesting and engaging golf courses I have ever played. I will probably get skewered for saying this, but I enjoyed my 2 days at The Prairie Club just as much as my 2 days at its more famous neighbor down the road in Mullen -- Sand Hills.

I'm not sure what the policies are on linking to other sites, but here is a link to my blog (which has no advertisements on it), with reviews and photos of both courses...

Dunes: http://onegolferstravels.blogspot.ca/2012/04/prairie-club-dunes-golf-course-review.html
Pines: http://onegolferstravels.blogspot.ca/2012/07/the-prairie-club-pines-golf-course.html

[The Pearl]

Humble,

I am seriously considering a trip to The Prairie Club. Could you expand on your experience? Walkable, caddies, lodging, crowded?

Thanks

[TheHumbleGolfer]

Pearl,

Sure. As I said earlier, I was there for 2 days and played 4 rounds on the Dunes and 2 rounds on the Pines as well as 2 loops around the Horse course. It was a lot of golf, but it's light until very late in June. Both courses are walkable, the Pines moreso. The Dunes is a very expansive layout making it a long, though not necessarily difficult, walk. When I was there the walking paths through the gunch were very poorly defined and I heard too many snake stories to feel comfortable trekking through the tall stuff. As a result, I walked the cart paths which makes the walk much longer. Hopefully they have the walking path issue figured out (I was there in June, 2011).

Lodging was simple but adequate. I had a single room with a shared bathroom (no one was in the other room, fortunately). Food was good enough for me -- I'm there for the golf so as long as the food is edible I'm fine!

Crowded? Not when I was there. Probably 20-30 golfers on property. Each day one course is the member course and one is for resort guests. The pro was nice enough to let me play the member course each day (I am in the industry) so I was one of 5 golfers on the member course each day I played.

Horse course is a great concept. Very fun to grab a beer, a wedge and a putter and to mess around with your group.

Overall, I strongly recommend visiting TPC. If possible, see if you can spend a day or two at any of Dismal River, Sand Hills and Ballyneal while you're out there. Bayside and Wild Horse are both enjoyable public options.

Hope that helps.

[sodak77]

Try using the search as you will find a couple of threads regarding the PC. I have played at the Prairie Club twice with the most recent being last August. I highly recommend going there as both courses are great along with the Horse course. For me the Dunes course is easier than the Pines which is one tough track but both are fun to play and challenging especially if the wind picks up. A third course is in the works, not sure when it will be completed but I don't think it will be 2013. Also keep in mind that while both are links style (especially the Dunes) neither really play that firm and fast around the greens. I am always surprised by how lush both courses generally are but being close to the river gives them good access to water despite how hot it can get out there.

I wouldn't recommend walking if you go here during the summer heat as it can get pretty hot and the Dunes course is very spread out. Just the walk to the first tee of the Dunes course is close to a mile. I usually walk the majority of my rounds but I never even thought about it here. In my two times there I only saw one person walking and it was on the Pines course and it was late in the day. They have caddies available but we have never made use of them since the yardage books they provide are pretty good. Talking to the caddies it sounds like they get used more as Fore Caddies if people do in fact hire them.

Definitely not crowded during either of my trips there. The first time we played it we waited maybe a hole or two over two days and 36 holes a day. The second time we never waited once nor saw anyone ahead or behind us.

The lodging and food is pretty darn good as well given the fact you are out in the middle of nowhere.

[tommyv985]

The place is pure golf, no way around it. Its perfect for a buddies trip, as there isn't much else to do unless you want to fish or possibly hunt in the area you can even forget about cell service out there. I had a short 3 day weekend of golf there and I felt like I didn't get enough golf in. It was early October so we didn't get the amount of sunlight needed to get all the rounds in that I was hoping for. That being said, I got 2 rounds in on the Pines and 1 in on the Dunes. The courses and golf experience was so unique, they got everything right, even down to the little details. I was really taken back with how much thought was put into the overall experience of the place. Even though I came the last week they were open and I was playing there visiting my friend who happened to be a caddie there for the summer I was treated like I was a member from the moment I stepped foot on property to the moment I left. Possibly one of my favorite experiences of the whole trip for me was the horse course, we just grabbed our putters, wedges, and a sixer o' beer and wandered around the short course for a few hours, spending time enjoying the whole scene and playing low score calls the next "hole". I would say a trip to this club is worth every penny you put towards it, I know I'm going to try to make it an annual trip, except a 4 day weekend and with more friends.