Baltusrol, Prairie Dunes wrap up irrigation work

Golf course developer and construction company Landscapes Unlimited completed major irrigation work at Baltusrol Golf Club in Springfield, New Jersey, and Prairie Dunes Country Club in Hutchinson, Kansas.

At Baltusrol, Landscapes Unlimited installed a Paul Roche of Golf Water-designed state-of-the-art irrigation system and power communication wiring for a new Precision Air system on the Upper Course. Gil Hanse is the project architect.

At Prairie Dunes, the company installed a Brian Keighin of Irrigation Technologies-designed modern irrigation system across all 18 holes and practice areas, including a new 1½-acre, three-green practice site. The process moved along quickly with minimal disturbance to play. Axland & Cutten is the consulting architect firm on the new short-game amenity.

Baltusrol has hosted seven U.S. Open Championships, two PGA Championships and two U.S. Women’s Opens, and will host the 2029 PGA Championship. Prairie Dunes has been the site of a U.S. Women’s Open, U.S. Senior Open and NCAA Division I Men’s Golf Championship, and will host the 2029 U.S. Senior Open.

“These storied courses require the best irrigation infrastructure to support world-class conditioning and maintenance of playing surfaces,” Landscapes Unlimited chief development officer Jake Riekstins said. “Our talented teams worked closely with irrigation designers, golf course architects and superintendents, boards of directors and others integral to modernizing Baltusrol and Prairie Dunes to even greater heights.”

Baltusrol’s par 72, 7,533-yard Upper Course boasts memorable character, variety and playability. Carved into a small mountain, the first six holes feature side slopes aplenty with three menacing ponds on the back nine. The par-4 finishing hole sits at the base of the historic clubhouse where onlookers are known to cheer golfers home.

In Scottish links style, Prairie Dunes is rife with sand dunes, prairie grasses, yucca plants, cottonwoods and constant wind. The course plays much longer than its par-70, 6,920 yards, augmented by false fronts on greens and tough par fours requiring go-for-it shots on par threes and fives for birdies.