Golf Courses Near Hutchinson, KS

Hutchinson, Kansas, known as “The Salt City” because of its salt mines, sits on the Arkansas River in the south-central portion of the state. The undisputed star of Hutchinson’s golf scene is Prairie Dunes, a private Scottish links-style layout that has hosted multiple USGA Championships and is a fixture on lists of America’s top courses. While Prairie Dunes may be off limits, you’ll find a number of appealing public courses where you can make tee times. Carey Park Golf Course, Hutchinson’s player-friendly muni with wide fairways and small greens, is one of the best courses in Kansas and it offers Hot Deals. At Crazy Horse Sports Club and Golf Course, several water hazards will inhibit your swing on a playing field that rambles on sand hills terrain. Wedgewood Golf Course in Halstead is a well-conceived, player-friendly 9-hole layout that is surrounded by wheat fields. Turkey Creek Golf Course, located a half hour away in McPherson, is another one of Kansas’s very best courses. Several ponds on the front nine and a large pond on the back nine create a number of do-or-die shots. Keep an eye out for Hot Deals.

Hutchinson, or “Hutch,” as the locals call it, was a railroad crossing over the Arkansas River before it grew into an important salt producing city when salt deposits were discovered in 1887. For an immersive history lesson in an actual old salt mine, visit Strataca, formerly the Kansas Underground Salt Museum. A double decker hoist takes you 650 feet down into the mine in 90 seconds. Then the Salt Mine Express train embarks on 15- or 30-minute tours of the mine. One of the train’s stops is in a portion of the mine that is used for storing the original masters of classic movies like The Wizard of Oz, Gone with the Wind, and Star Wars. Another must-see attraction when you are in Hutchinson is the Cosmosphere, a hands-on space-oriented science center that includes the world’s largest collection of U.S and Russian spaceflight artifacts. Hutchinson’s biggest attraction every year though, at least for Kansas residents, is the Kansas State Fair, a 10-day celebration in early September.