Golfers sometimes struggle to define what makes a hole great, but the easy answer is that it’s a hole you remember long after your round is over. Great holes are scenic, and demanding but fair. Some have made history, deciding major championships.
These four Wisconsin holes have that, and if one is a bit short on history – Sand Valley, after all, only opened in 2017 – they all dazzle the eye and challenge the shot-making skills of golfers. In short, they’re memorable.
Whistling Straits
The tee shot is downhill to a large green, but the penalty for a miss – Lake Michigan to the left, a sharp incline of sand dunes on the right – can be severe. Not for nothing is the hole named “Pinched Nerve.”
No. 17
Haven
Par 3, 249 yards
Whether or not nerves played a role, Darren Clarke – later a British Open champion – shanked a four-iron shot on this hole in the third round of the 2004 PGA Championship. His ball finished 70 yards to the right on a side-hill expanse of sand. The fun-loving Clarke, who had recently lost 40 pounds, later quipped, “My new fitness certainly made it easier getting up and down those hills at the 17th.”
Erin Hills
No. 18
Erin
Par 5, 663 yards
It was a thrilling moment in a championship – won by Brooks Koepka – that led Golfweek journalist Bradley Klein to write: “Erin Hills reaffirms the USGA’s idea that a new public course can be worthy of a U.S. Open.”
As for the 18th hole, amateurs may take heart – the hole typically plays downwind. The key is not getting distracted by the beauty and taking care to miss the numerous fairway bunkers that lie in wait for an errant first or second shot.
Sand Valley
Sand Valley, the first of three planned 18-hole regulation-length courses on the property (there’s also an 18-hole par 3 course), opened in 2017 to rave reviews, including Golf Digest’s best new course of the year award. Keiser hired famed architects Ben Crenshaw and Bill Coore, who did a Bandon course, to design Sand Valley.
No. 4
Nekoosa
Par 5, 593 yards
From the tee, the sprawling No. 4 looks daunting but doable. It’s long and uphill, but the wide fairway encourages the golfer to bang a driver.
It’s on the second shot, when the fairway pinches in and the golfer sees vast dunes and natural waste areas left and right, that things get interesting. Hit a good second, and you’re in birdie position with a good third shot. Miss and you could be looking at a big number. The green is open – without the forced carry over sand or water hated by average players – but a pitched false front requires finesse to hit and hold the green.
The Links at Lawsonia
Built in 1930, The Links – there’s also a Woodlands course at Lawsonia, of completely different character – has the features of a Scottish-style links, with few trees, cavernous bunkers, generous fairways, high grasses and undulating greens with steep drop-offs to claim mishit shots.
No. 1
Green Lake
Par 4, 418 yards
The first hole on The Links is just uphill enough to make it a blind tee shot, which tells you this course is going to be a bit different. While you can’t see the landing area, it’s substantial, with the golfer deciding how much of the gentle dogleg right to bite off. You won’t want to miss left with your second shot, as the large green features a dramatic drop-off – a 20-foot wall of grass.
