b'AficionadosW e would expect themour national membersto revere the genius of the Dunes: the shock value of its linkside, oceanside (when a parlor trick of the mind says the winds are waves) sand dunes that are out of context with the larger landscape of Kansas prairie; or the diabolical and insanely mounded and undulating Perry Maxwell rolls. Do we pause respectfully, as they reminisce, to see the pitch and roll of the course and hear the severe notes of the westerlies? Yes, and we believe and clap with anyone who still, for all her punishing ways, calls her a lady.What we do not expect is an enthusiasm so native, so, well, humble. National membersthere are 290 todaycome from points afar with their friends, colleagues and loved ones to honor her. To pay their respects to the lore that built her, the hospitality that surrounds her, and the people who preserve her.Marrying my wife was the best decision I ever made, national member Jim Vigliaturo, vice president and consultant for nationwide professional services advisor CBIZ, tells us. Becoming a member of Prairie Dunes Country Club was the second best. He joined Prairie Dunes, where he is known widely as Jimmy V. or V., in 1999, when there were only 50 non-resident members. To his recollection, he has played the course somewhere around 600 times since. He travels southwesterly two or three times each month, listening for the whistle that will come if the one or more accompanying him have never wound up the long drive from 30 thAvenue past #7. Prairie Dunes romances her enthusiasts. Almost eagled #8 . north wind . 5-wood . blue tees, Jim tells us. Hit the pin and dropped three inches from the hole.Stephen Barlow, who somehow got the moniker Grandma traveling the world and playing in 21-time Los Angeles Country Club champion Lee Daviss Good Old Boys group, met his Kansas golf home in 1988. I qualified for the U.S. Mid-Amateur at Prairie Dunes. Kansas?! It was not a pretty drive from Denver. I pulled in the gate and drove down the lane, filming the whole thing with my Sony Betacam. He remembers drawing Walker Cupper Danny Yates, whose father belonged to Augusta National, as a playing partner. A lot of people followed us. I missed the cut.National Prairie Dunes member since 1999:The guy who retires at the end of this year from Lockton Jim Vigliaturo (Jimmy V.). Companies, where he is a partner, didnt need the Sony recap to know he wanted to join. Only 25 national members were allowed at the time and there was a waitlist. I put my name in the hat; it came up, and the membership didnt know me. Dr. David Lukens, who had Lockton ties, stepped up and approved me in 1990.20'