Prairie Highlands - Kansas - USA

The face of golf in Kansas is Prairie Dunes, so no one could fault Prairie Highlands for similarly aspiring to Scottish inspirations for its private golf club.

Although the Kansas City private is the first to acknowledge that it had fallen on rough times, a new ownership group acquired the property and completed updates similar to those it had done at nearby Canyon Farms Golf Club, including adding fairway coverage and renovating all of the bunkers. The result is a course more in line with what was created by Craig Schreiner when he visited the area during 2000.

As with a significant number of Midwestern courses that claim the “links” tag, there’s much more water here than on the UK’s coast. This comes to a head during holes nos. 14 through 16. Two par threes sandwich the 540 yard par five at No. 15, but this trio all share significant water hazards along their left sides. Other holes are a tad more lifelike in their representation of Scottish golf, relying more on rolling hills than penal hazards.