 | Marvin Lao moved to Hutchinson, KS last September to assume the role of Public Relations and Sales Director for the 2006 U.S. Senior Open. Prior to moving to Kansas, Marvin spent the last two years at NCR Country Club in Dayton, OH.
While in Dayton, Marvin served as the Sales & Marketing Director for the 2005 U.S. Senior Open. Marvin also served on the Championship Staff for the 2004 U.S. Senior Open played at Bellerive Country Club in St. Louis.
He has an undergraduate degree in English from Hobart College in Geneva, NY, and earned his law degree from Suffolk University in Boston. |
U.S. Senior Open
1969-12-31 18:00:00
U.S. Senior Open - why Kansas?
How did the U.S. Senior Open end up in Kansas?
ANSWER: Kansas has a rich golf history. The state boasts two of the top golf courses in the country – Prairie Dunes Country Club in Hutchinson and Flint Hills National in Andover. Recently, Flint Hills was ranked No. 43 in Golf Digest’s listing of the Top 100 courses in America and GOLF Magazine ranked Prairie Dunes No. 15 in its annual listing of top courses in the United States. Additionally, Kansas is home to some of the most influential and colorful contributors to the game of golf: Tom Watson (hall of fame golfer), Jim Colbert (top 30 All-time Champions Tour Money Winner), Judy Bell (first woman president of the United States Golf Association), and Marilynn Smith (co-founder of the LPGA). Over the years, Kansas golf courses have hosted 16 National Championships conducted by the USGA, the most recent being the 2002 U.S. Women’s Open at Prairie Dunes won by Juli Inkster. QUESTION: What makes Prairie Dunes one of the top courses in the world?ANSWER: Prairie Dunes enjoys a colossal reputation in the world of golf. In addition to its consistent ranking as one of the top courses in the U.S., it is also lauded as one of the top 25 golf courses in the world. The wind, bumpy fairways, plum thicket, undulating greens and firm playing conditions make it play akin to the links courses in the United Kingdom.Prairie Dunes was created by the Carey family of Hutchinson, who still enjoy their membership at the club. The Careys were avid golfers and traveled around the country and around the world visiting and playing outstanding courses. In 1937, the Carey family commissioned Golf Course Architect Perry Maxwell to design a golf course that would compare favorably with the championship courses that the family had seen on their many golfing ventures. Maxwell designed a nine-hole course in the sand hills east of Hutchinson that would generally be regarded as the best nine-hole course in the country for twenty years. In the early ’50s, Maxwell's son Press Maxwell built the back nine at Prairie Dunes, giving the membership the 18-hole course as it stands today. On the course itself, there are some of the finest golf holes anywhere in the country. The 424-yard, Par-4 eighth is one of America’s classic golf holes. Regarded by Sports Illustrated as one of the greatest 18 in the world, it is a slowly rising; long rolling dogleg right with some obstacles. Four dunes rise in the fairway where the drives normally land causing some hesitation from the tee and composure on the approach. The oddly contoured green is protected on the right by four bunkers and on the left by one. Yucca plants dot the bunkers and there is a slow drop-off on the green. The Par-3 Tenth has also been ranked by Golf Digest among the 100 best holes in the world.QUESTION: What other nationally ranked courses have hosted the U.S. Senior Open?ANSWER: The U.S. Senior Open has been played 26 times, with the inaugural Championship hosted by Winged Foot Golf Club in Mamaroneck, NY. Other renown courses to have hosted the Senior Open include: Oakland Hills (MI), Hazeltine (MN), Medinah (IL), Cherry Hills (CO), Pinehurst (NC), Congressional (MD), Olympia Fields (IL), Inverness (OH) and Bellerive (MO). QUESTION: After Prairie Dunes, where will the U.S. Senior Open be contested?ANSWER: Serving as the National Championship for the best players in the world age 50 and older, the U.S. Senior Open is scheduled to be contested at the finest and most challenging golf courses in the United States. Next summer, the Senior Open will be contested at Whistling Straits (WI), which last hosted the 2004 PGA Championship. In 2008, The Broadmoor in Colorado Springs will serve as the host site for the Championship. QUESTION: How can I learn more about Prairie Dunes and the history of the course? ANSWER: Suggested Reading: Perry Maxwell’s Prairie Dunes, by Mal Elliott. This book offers its readers the remarkable story of how this renown golf course came to be. Vintage photos, historical text, and beautiful full-color photography by John Johnson take the reader through every stage of development of this historic course — site of the 2006 U.S. Senior Open.
