About Us
A Unique Golf Experience
Located on 206 acres in Hamilton County, Prairie View Golf Club is the only Robert Trent Jones, Jr. golf course in Indiana.
Robert Trent Jones, Jr. blended 18 holes of traditional golf design into the natural beauty created by the rolling prairie, towering oaks and sycamores that characterize our site on the banks of the White River. A clear running stream that meanders through four holes, natural wetlands, and five serene lakes placed strategically throughout the course serve to complete a truly unique playing experience.
From the moment you pull onto Longest Drive, the winding road which leads to Prairie View Golf Club, it is obvious you are not in store for an everyday golf experience. You’ve arrived at Indiana’s best golf course. You’ll travel by one of the five lakes featured on the course; and then towards the clubhouse, with our 1830’s era architecture complemented with a white picket fence, prairie grass, wildflowers outside and plush amenities inside.
Dedicated employees of Prairie View are in abundance. Whether it’s our Outside Service Staff, Course Ambassadors, PGA Professionals in the Golf Shop and The Golf School of Indiana, Big Lug on the Prairie employees, or our grounds crew, we have one goal – to make your day at Prairie View Golf Club one to remember. You’ll soon find out why Golf Digest consistently regards Prairie View as one of the best golf courses in Indiana.
Elevation Golf at The Prairie View Academy is now offering the best indoor golf experience in the Indianapolis area.
Prairie View Golf Club – “Experience the difference!“
Founding History
Prairie View is Robert Trent Jones, Jr.’s first Indiana designed golf course and its opening in 1997 raised the bar for all that would follow. A magnet for golfers from the major metropolitan areas of Chicago, St. Louis, Cincinnati, Columbus, Louisville and Ft. Wayne and other cities, Prairie View Golf Club is recognized as one of the finest!
Laid out in the bed of the White River, Prairie View faithfully represents central Indiana’s topography. The prairie-like front nine is open to the best of Mother Nature, while the back nine works its way through stately oaks, tall sycamores, as well as beech and cottonwood trees. Long fescue and other native grasses frame the layout. The rough is Kentucky blue, while fairways, greens, and tees are surfaced in bent grass.
Prairie View is the dream of developer Jim Ackerman and son-in-law Brian Nicholoff. Its dream is in its’ perpetuity. The land is long-term leased from Conner Prairie, a historic re-enactment village directly across the river from the course. Housing will never intrude on the environmentally-protected land or obstruct the view. There was a great deal of engineering (and permitting) necessary to bring Prairie View, laid out over former soybean and corn fields, to fruition. The White River is prone to floods, so 50 and 100 year old water levels had to be taken into account. A major levee holds back the water, but players never know unless they’re told. Jones used the wide levee as the foundation for all or part of six holes.
More than any other quality, it is Jones’s genius that he can move a substantial amount of dirt (over 500,000 cubic yards at Prairie View’s) and leave the impression that the contours have been there for hundreds of years. Dirt artists can occasionally go overboard on the sizzle and wind up with something you can’t wait to put in your rear view mirror. Not so at Prairie View. The facility’s strong suit is its’ variety: Give anybody two a side if they can find a single clone hole on the course.
Generous landing areas welcome tee shots, but a fairway wood is often a good choice because the layout encourages location over length. Prairie View is an approach shot golf course with a number of ingenious pin positions on every green dictating the route of play. Some 90 sand bunkers dot the course, defining landing areas and hiding pins. And while the site is bounded on three sides by the river, water comes into play only on four holes. At a bit over seven thousand yards from the back tees (par 72) the course and slope ratings play at 74.5 and 138, respectively. Four tees strategically located on each hole allow the golfer a variety of options and playability.
We know full well the golf course is a gem, but also realize how important it is to provide the customer with a tremendous experience. Our slogan…”Your Country Club for the day” means your experience begins from the moment you drop your bag off, right through the 19th hole. Our staff will ensure you receive world class service and an experience you will never forget.
Every feature of the elegant 15,000-square foot clubhouse, designed to reflect the 1830’s style of Conner Prairie, whispers “class,” from the sturdy oak lockers to the high ceilings of Big Lug on The Prairie.
Under the guidance of our Director of Grounds, Randy Adcock, course conditioning at Prairie View is always immaculate. Even when the course had been open less than six months, it was deemed suitable as a U.S. Open qualifying site. Prairie View has hosted the 2001 Indiana State Amateur, the 2008 & 2018 Indiana State Open, Indiana State Amateur in 2012, the MAC Conference Championship in 2014 and Indiana PGA Professionals Championship in 2014 & 2019. Giving back to the game of golf is extremely important to us, made evident when the IHSAA agreed to make Prairie View the host site for the IHSAA Boys and Girls State Championship starting in the fall of 2014, and our partnership with the IHSAA will continue through 2030.
Prairie View Golf Club Founder: Jim Ackerman, Brian Nicholoff and family. We thank them for their passion and love of the game!