Firekeeper Golf Course

Firekeeper is the first signature design from Notah Begay III, the only full-blooded Native American to win on the PGA Tour, in collaboration with veteran architect Jeff Brauer ASGCA. The course opened in 2011 at Prairie Band Casino & Resort in Mayetta, Kansas, 15 miles north of Topeka on tribal land, and the brief was a championship-caliber layout that honored the prairie ecosystem rather than imported one from another region. Brauer and Begay routed through native tallgrass prairie and rolling woodlands, using natural swales and ridges as the strategic framework. At roughly 7,700 yards from the back tees, Firekeeper plays as long as any course in Kansas, but the forward tees drop to 4,700 yards, making it playable for every handicap. The course has hosted multiple professional tournaments plus a deep roster of elite amateur events, unusual for a casino-resort course in its first decade. Golfweek ranks Firekeeper the #1 golf course in Kansas and named it the Best Course You Can Play in the state, plus a Top 20 Casino Resort course nationally. Pair it with Shoal Creek (north-of-KC public) for a Kansas City metro trip that covers both sides of the state line.