This week’s 2006 U.S. Senior Open at Prairie Dunes Country Club lost some of its star power when Arnold Palmer and Greg Norman sent their regrets last week. But the buzz this four-day event will generate for Hutchinson and the region deserves celebration. As the pros and their fans revel in the joys and challenges of this prized course, central Kansas gets another chance to show off its hospitality and see a nice economic boost. May a good time be had by all, area businesses as well as seasoned pros.
Posted by Rhonda Holman
Registered?
Commenting on WE Blog now requires you to be a Kansas.com member. Use the links above to register, if you haven't already, or to log in.Contact us
Follow us
Daily Archives
-
Recent Comments
- Regular on Open thread 11/23
- ANTI on Open thread 11/23
- Blaidd_Drwg69 on Too many exemptions
- JimJohnson on Open thread 11/23
- JimJohnson on Open thread 11/23
- ANTI on Open thread 11/23
- JimJohnson on Open thread 11/23
- BlueJay on Open thread 11/23
- JimJohnson on Open thread 11/23
- ANTI on Open thread 11/23
20 Comments
Those are the two golfers people wanted to see. Well!
I’ve heard Prairie Dunes was a great golf course, but (I hate to say this) Hutchinson is one of our ugliest towns in Kansas.
As a resident of the city of Hutchinson, I have to take umbrage with your assertion that Hutchinson is “one of our ugliest towns in Kansas.” Please define ugly. Have you ever driven Main Street from Carey Park to 30th Ave? You’ll find locally-owned businesses, restaurants, clubs, public buildings, professional offices, high-rise buildings downtown, turn-of-the-century bungalows, nice churches. It’s not ugly at all. It’s a unique commercial zone as opposed to the anonymous commerical strips you can find in any major city, even here in Hutchinson.
Have you been to the Cosmosphere? Would you call one of the world’s largest collections of space artifacts ugly? How about the State Fair? There probably should be some trees on the midway, I grant you. Have you seen a film or live show at the beautiful, 1,200-seat Fox Theatre? One of the art house films they show to like 25 people in the summer and winter, complete with a drawn curtain and everything? Have you ever even been inside the Fox or driven by it? No? Didn’t think so.
Have you seen the nice middle-class neighborhoods on the city’s north side like Hyde Park, Crescent Park, Kisiwa, Countryside, or Farmington? Have you seen ANY of the residential areas in the city north of 17th Ave? The city’s south side gets a bad rap because Hutchinson is a railroad hub and there are a lot of railroad miles within the city, plus there are a dozen grain elevators in the city, and they’re not off in some industrial park, they are right in the city next to neighborhoods. Grain elevators are dirty and dusty, so are railroads – you would know this if you had done any traveling throughout the state. Most Kansas towns are kind of dirty or dusty on the surface, like near the highway, the railroad, or the elevators, but once you get into the center of town where most people live, the town is a lot cleaner and neater. If I went to Wichita and just drove East 21st between Broadway and Hillside and then left, I would think Wichita was a complete dump of a town. The same could be said of other areas like West Street south of Kellogg or areas of South Broadway. I think a lot of people from out of town must come to Hutchinson and just stay on the south side or just skirt around town on the outskirts like Highway 61 or Yoder/Airport road and never see the northern or central/downtown part of the city. They then come away with a bad impression. It doesn’t help either when Wichita TV stations only feature your town when someone is killed, or a body is found in the river, or vandalism occurs, or a liquor store is robbed, etc.
It is going to be great event, televised world-wide, on one of America’s great golf courses. Great publicity for Hutch. I can’t wait to attend in person.
Yes! I’ve been everywhere in Hutchinson. I’ve also been to practially every town in Kansas. I rank them where I see them.
It may have some good parts. I’m not trying to bring it down, just the my impression. It’s a frustrating place to drive in, because it’s not very functional. 17th ave, along with Hwy 61, and 11th ave with Lorraine is just painful. Just poorly designed. Just trying to get to that Home Depot is a chore. Cosmosphere is on 7th ave, basically a residential street. Nothing near by but the community college. No restaurants or hotels.
It’s hard to find anything to eat besides going towards the mall, but in downtown, they are off the beaten pass in the downtown. So it’s difficult to know where they are, because you cannot see it from their main street. (talking about the few fast food joints on 4th.)
High rise buildings? There is like two and they aren’t even more than 6 stories, one is abandon and the other is half occupied by a bank.
Just not a place I could call home. Just not funtional and not too attractive. I’ll give you that Dodge City is a bit worse, so you’re not in the bottom of the list by far.
But as far as mid-size cities in Kansas, Salina it really a nice place, Garden City is nice, and I think that Winfield and Ark City have much more vibrant downtowns than Hutchinson.
Welcome to the forum Hutchres. I hope you post again.
Ahhh don’t mind too much the opinion of Joe Williams. Joe doesn’t like farmers. To him a grain elevator is likely an eyesore.
He decries that one of the finest space museums in the country is on a residential street. In his mention of the next door community college, he ignores that the museum grew from that college.
He decries that Hutch has no tall buildings! What you need to know about that is that he wants to build a 500 foot tower in Wichita…….just to do it. Hey I could join in that. I helped Joe get his case heard. But alas I am a liberal. Joe thinks his tower will be financed by private funds. I’m thinking Joe will never see his tower. His own conservatism will prevent it from ever happening. It is not economically justified and serves no useful purpose. A 500 foot tall grain elevator might.
I like Hutch. That said. Who in their right mind goes out of their way to watch golf? Prairie Dunes is valuable as a green space for wildlife as the Eagle has reported. But golf? Well if it brings attention and visitors and money to the Cosmosphere I guess that is good.
I respect your opinion and I don’t want to argue with you Joe, but I can address some of your points just for the heck of it. I take one’s assertion that a place is a frustrating place in which to drive with a huge grain of salt. Some people cannot be satisfied. They will always complain about how bad it is to drive in this or that place. Maybe it’s just you. You mean you had to make two whole turns to get into that Home Depot? And that road kind of had a curve to it, rather than being arrow straight? You poor thing.
There are only two or three intersections in Hutchinson that are kind of screwy, like 11th and Lorriane, 4th and Plum, and 17th and Waldron. Every city has those weird roads. Maybe they add character. I don’t see how driving in Hutchinson is a problem. Maybe you have a road rage issue.
The best places to eat in Hutchinson are not fast food joints. Try Neufeld’s Deli, the Anchor Inn, Ken’s Pizza, Allie’s Deli, Skaets Steak Shop, Hog Wild and Roy’s BBQ, Bogey’s, the Blue Duck, and the Airport Steak House. The best fast food joints are on 30th and 17th anyway and not on 4th.
On high-rise buildings, how much have you actually travelled in Kansas? Did you pay attention at all? Hutchinson has one of the most impressive downtown skylines of any city in the state. The Plaza Towers (Second and Walnut) and Wiley Building (First and Main) are both over 120 feet and about 10 stories each. For comparison, the tallest building in Wichita, Epic Center, is about 320 feet. Hutchinson also has the First National Building (Sherman and Main), the Reno County Courthouse (First and Adams), the Landmark Hotel Building (Fifth and Main), and Leon Place (Second and Walnut), all of which are at least 5 stories tall. Most of those buildings are apartments or offices. They are definitely not “abandoned.”
How pervasive is the idea that, as Joe states, Hutchinson is “not functional”? Is this more perception than reality? Anyone care to partake of the discussion?
The Anchor Inn has some of the best Mexican food in Kansas . . . well, it did in the 1980s. Hopefully it has not changed.
I lived in Hutch from ‘82 to ‘84. I never felt like I belonged there, which could have been my problem. A lot of nice people there, but somehow Joe’s perception seems right [there is a first time for everything :)].
I not trying to degrade Hutch. Its a very important town in Kansas and has a good solid economy. Yes! It is perceptions, but that what really counts.
You have your Hutch and I have my Wichita. I’ll leave it at that.
Joe,
Have you driven in DC? How about Boston? I won’t even mention NYC.
Oh, and I love driving in Memphis. You have to go north to go south, east to go west…
Hutch is a nice city, and I think it’s great that they have a golf course where pros are happy to play. It brings attention to both the city and the state. Positive attention, not the BOE or Phelpps.
Not every city can please every person. We pick and choose because of our own tastes and biases…what we consider is right, personally.
BTW, I hate golf, think it’s one of the dumber “sports” and wouldn’t try it myself, but variety is what makes life interesting. If you love it, play it! If you don’t, don’t keep others from enjoying it. Same goes for cities.
I agree RD.
RD – driving in Boston is FUN! The key is preparation – remove excess weight from the car (unneccassary things like brakes), install a good horn, develop the ‘look’ (a bit crazed). And it takes two hands – one on the horn and one out the window!
RD – driving in Boston is FUN! The key is preparation – remove excess weight from the car (unneccassary things like brakes), install a good horn, develop the ‘look’ (a bit crazed). And it takes two hands – one on the horn and one out the window with one finger held high!
Danm Ben, do I have to corect all your work.
Well, I had to leave SOMETHING to the imagination!
This does remind me of a traffic safety class I once attended in CA taught by a highway patrolman. He showed a picture of one-half of a divided highway in the countryside with the question: “It is late at night. Which lane of the one-way do you drive in and why?” His answer – your RIGHT lane. The reason: The drunk driver going the wrong way will instinctively drive in HIS right-hand lane. “That way you can wave at him – with one finger!”
Ben is right on Boston traffic, I have driven in all the large cities in the US and Canada. Boston is the worse. The only city that I have been to that I will not drive is London. I would drive in Mexico City a year rather than one day in London.
Not worse RA, BETTER! At least, if you are in (or out of) the correct frame of mind!
Boston sucks, but DC isn’t that bad, imo.
Never driven in London, but I can confirm that crosstown Bangkok yields a nice headache. ;>)
Right angle. Try Hong Kong.
Oh goody! Another golf tournament that will bring a little media time and some more lining of the pockets of the already wealthy. Talk to some of the eatery owners downtown and see if they are enjoying any economy boosting from this.
You know! Honestly? I don’t golf and don’t know much about the golfing world, but what makes a golf course a good golf course that warrents tournaments?
I always thought it was old traditional golf courses with legacy country clubs. Is it all marketing hype? Being connected to the right people? What makes Prairie Dunes stand out in Kansas?
I asked one golfer this, because he’s golf there and others. He said it’s just like any other golf course in Kansas. Nothing special and nothing different. I know that is one opinion, just wanted your guys take.