Some Things Wisconsin Golf

[TitleistHOG]

WS was amazing! Perfect weather! The wind was a little brutal with 5-13 playing into the wind.

 

Switched from The Irish to Black Wolf Run - River Course for tomorrow

 

how long was the round?

 

Right at 5 hours.

[jerebear21]

WS was amazing! Perfect weather! The wind was a little brutal with 5-13 playing into the wind.

 

Switched from The Irish to Black Wolf Run - River Course for tomorrow

 

how long was the round?

 

Right at 5 hours.

 

Sweet. I might play the straits twice.

[jerebear21]

Just landed and the air is 100x nicer than Florida!

[ode1]

Just landed and the air is 100x nicer than Florida!

 

Been a great week so far and it looks good for the foreseeable future.

[ode1]

Played Lawsonia Links last night, twilight rate $35 after 3 p.m., went with two of my good buddies who loved it. My tee shot on the boxcar hole-

 

Less then a foot! Great time.

[zer0]

Great shot Ode! That would've been a helluva hole to get an ace on.

[ode1]

Great shot Ode! That would've been a helluva hole to get an ace on.

 

We thought it went in at first as it disappeared when it pitched and hopped. With the tees right and pin left, it tracked at pin and we lost it against the white part of the pin and then it reappeared, on the ground, thinking maybe it was resting against the pin.

[collje26]

Played Lawsonia Links last night, twilight rate $35 after 3 p.m., went with two of my good buddies who loved it. My tee shot on the boxcar hole-

 

Less then a foot! Great time.

 

Do you live locally to lawsonia?

[ode1]

Played Lawsonia Links last night, twilight rate $35 after 3 p.m., went with two of my good buddies who loved it. My tee shot on the boxcar hole-

 

Less then a foot! Great time.

 

Do you live locally to lawsonia?

 

I wish! About a 1h 40m drive for me.

[collje26]

Played Lawsonia Links last night, twilight rate $35 after 3 p.m., went with two of my good buddies who loved it. My tee shot on the boxcar hole-

 

Less then a foot! Great time.

 

Do you live locally to lawsonia?

 

I wish! About a 1h 40m drive for me.

 

Where at? I’m local to Appleton.

[games]

Going to be playing in the Langford Shield event at Lawsonia Links on September 24. Looking forward to a good time and seeing some guys with day jobs who can really swing a club.

[games]

Mods, please feel free to delete if this is not allowed.

 

Craigslist ad: Mequon / Thiensville (north Milwaukee suburb) area selling pro shop equipment and inventory. Includes loft-lie machine, club scale, and frequency analyzer.

 

Ad is here:

https://milwaukee.craigslist.org/spo/d/golf-shop/6699391211.html

[jerebear21]

my quick wisconsin trip was anything but boring! Coincidentally "played" a round at mammoth with the director of golf at sand valley. He is a fine person with an amazing demeanor. I invited him to my home club since he used to be at streamsong. (I will say though I think streamsong red and blue are "stronger" courses compared to sand valley and mammoth. They try to protect par a bit better and I appreciate that a touch more)

 

My toss up for best of the trip would be sand valley, erin hills and lawsonia. I will give the edge to lawsonia as my "every day" club. It's up there with yale and my home club where I can walk and play every day for the rest of my life. It's that good. Erin Hills was pristine and I had my best ball striking day playing there. I don't understand the dislike for the course. There were lots of different type of holes though the greens were subtle compared to lawsonia, sand and mammoth. I enjoyed erin hills very much from start to finish.

 

Lawsonia was just pured. From the first tee shot requiring a cut shot to get into a good angle of the greens. I over cut it into the rough so had to punch an 8 iron to the right front which rolled up towards the flag to about 15 feet. 2 putt for par. I only had 1 3 putt which was on 17. The back 9 at lawsonia was eerily similar to moraine country club which I recently had the pleasure of playing earlier in the summer. I think they can clear out more trees in the front 9 and lawsonia would be perfect!

 

Whistling straits was almost picture perfect. But that was about it. Ha! No I'm not being harsh. I almost holed in one on 17 and thought the best strategic hole was 18. On 18, I had to play 3w from green tees and left a long 2nd shot even though I was close to the edge on the fairway. Other than that I really didn't have to think much. It was point and shoot and ignore the "noise". The front 9 was forgettable due to mosquitos. The wind didn't pick up and we had 10-15 mosquitos hanging around us every time we stood still. Thank goodness the wind picked up on the back 9 and blew the mosquitos away.

 

I didn't have a chance to play the sandbox even though I arrived a couple hours early. It was packed and I heard a lot of yelling while I was on the practice area. Next time!

 

Before the trip I thought I would like mammoth the most. Don't get me wrong, Mammoth was GREAT! But it's better suited if I'm playing a scramble best ball or drinking with the boys. The greens were great and I had tons of fun with the bowl like style on most of the greens. The speed slots when taking the correct line off the tee helped tremendously! I had a 330 yard drive on the par5 hole 7 when I took the very right side off the tee where as my two playing partners went left and it was a true 3 shot par5 for them.

 

The drivable par4 14 on mammoth was a true drivable par4 for most players though I like sand valley drivable par4 hole 8 better. If I had to do it again, I would have skipped whistling. Great picture perfect course with great customer service but I've been to similar corporate feeling golf courses before. I was expecting a little thinking but truthfully it was a course that didn't require much thinking. It was all about avoiding the "noises" and just commit to the shot.

 

Erin Hills, Sand Valley and Lawsonia would be my favorites and I could play them all at any moment's notice.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Phreddy]

Great report and I would generally concur with your conclusions.

 

Certainly you've hit the name courses Wisconsin has to offer. Now when can we expect you back for the hidden gems?

 

Phred

[jerebear21]

Great report and I would generally concur with your conclusions.

 

Certainly you've hit the name courses Wisconsin has to offer. Now when can we expect you back for the hidden gems?

 

Phred

 

My buddy is planning a chicago trip next year where we'll be playing chicago GC, shoreacres and milwaukee cc. If all things goes well I'll be back in the midwest next summer!

 

If that trip doesn't pan out then I'm hoping for a boys trip next september at sand valley. I think that resort is perfect for low and high handicapper which is the mix of my friends. We would most likely play erin hills after our flight then head up to lawsonia for 36 and stay at the sand valley resort for a couple days.

 

Wisconsin is just amazing and the people are amazing and the culvers up there had salisbury steak dinner for 8 bucks! The culvers in florida doesn't have that!

 

Honestly I can't say enough good things about the folks of wisconsin. Pure CLASS.

[zer0]

Glad you loved Lawsonia Jerebear, I'll add you to the cult!

[duffer987]

Thanks for the review Jere.

That is some high praise for Lawsonia and really makes me want to get up there, as I've got Yale in my Top 5 faves I've played in the US... of course that said I also have the Straits in there ;)

 

Having not played the full 18 at Mammoth, would you put it as the 'easiest' of the 5 tracks (SW and SS)?

[jerebear21]

Thanks for the review Jere.

That is some high praise for Lawsonia and really makes me want to get up there, as I've got Yale in my Top 5 faves I've played in the US... of course that said I also have the Straits in there ;)

 

Having not played the full 18 at Mammoth, would you put it as the 'easiest' of the 5 tracks (SW and SS)?

 

it's stupid easy but I played with 2 30 plus handicapper and felt so bad for the director because he saw the ENTIRE course. =P

 

the thing about mammoth is IMAGINATION and PLAYABILITY. It's best suited for a best ball type. You can do things with the putter and wedge around the green that makes it a fun treat to play. Woman, high handicapper and children would love mammoth. If you're in for a challenge, I would say Sand Valley is a tougher course but both are much weaker compared to streamsong red and blue as far as protecting par. The speed slots in mammoth helps everyone feels like dustin johnson or rory mcclroy off the tee. Sand valley had a couple holes like that but mammoth was set up like every hole had a bail out spot for high handicappers off the tee. I think that's where this course shines the most and I am not exagerrating. Everyone will enjoy it. But if you're looking for a challenge, Sand Valley would be tougher but not that much. I lost 1 ball the entire trip and it was the first hole on whistling. The caddie told me to aim to the right side bunker. Well I carried that right side bunker and hit the cart tracks behind it. We all saw where it landed but I couldn't find it and couldn't go back to re-tee so I had to take an "unplayable".

 

Mammoth is for everyone:

 

Example: Hole 16 par3, The two players I played with had to aim on the right side on a hill that would ride the ball down to the center of the green. They just had to hit a 120-130 yard carry and let the mound take the ball to the center of the green. I carried the full 170 and made a birdie putt instead.

 

Whistling is picture perfect but I didn't see much strategy outside of 18. I'll gladly play it again if any of my friends want to play there but I wouldn't plan a trip around it.

 

Lawsonia is perfect. The only thing it lacks is they don't serve alcohol. Ironic considering the course was built by chicago mobsters during the prohibition years! ha!

 

I think you would enjoy lawsonia more than kohler. I can see a weekend playing lawsonia and erin hills or lawsonia and sand valley. It's that good and a reason why I think mr. ZerO was so proud of wisconsin courses. Nothing but good things about the public play there. I haven't touched the private stuff yet but I dare say wisconsin has some of the best public plays I've been to in the United States.

 

This is the par3 hole 8 playing about 155 that day. If you play a slight draw to that left side bunker and hit off that mound(130 yard), the ball will curl towards the pin location. That was pretty much the story of the day at mammoth. Almost every hole had a spot where you CAN hit it "shorter" and magical things will happen. A high handicap player can be right there with a lower handicap player and everyone will feel good. There's a time and place to challenge yourself against par. At mammoth it seems the story is to challenge your imagination and allow your higher handicap partners to have fun as well. I like the concept. I'll be bringing my wife back here and we will have a great great time double fisting. =P

 

 

[Phreddy]

The land around Lawsonia, and perhaps the land on which the course resides, belong to religiously affiliated group. It may be Baptist. I'm not sure, but I think that explains some of the beer rules.

[jerebear21]

^^^so much irony. ha!

[zer0]

Lawsonia DEFINITELY sells alcohol. Either from the beverage cart girl (there's usually 1 on each 9) or you can go to the bar in the clubhouse called Langfords.

 

Edit: and I should note there are no alcohol restrictions at Lawsonia. They'll sell you any liquor you want from dawn till closing time.

[jerebear21]

they told me they didn't serve alcohol when I was there. Of course my tee time was 7am. =/

[zer0]

they told me they didn't serve alcohol when I was there. Of course my tee time was 7am. =/

 

that's weird, must've been a misunderstanding. I've seen people out there drinking pretty early.

 

Years ago the course was dry because of the Baptists. But, in the late 80s ( I believe) they started selling alcohol and their revenue went up $300,000 the first year.

 

If I could figure out how to post photos I'd show one of my buddies doing shots with the cart girl around sunset back in early August.

[ode1]

Likely no cart girl until late a.m. I've played a handful of times and the cart girl has had alcohol everytime I've seen her. Maybe she's able to tell the sconnies from the fibs?

[games]

Played in the Langford Shield event at Lawsonia Links, yesterday. Course was in great shape!

 

As luck would have it, we started on #7 (the Boxcar par 3) where my tee shot plugged in the side of the steep downhill face. Practically impossible! Was eventually able to find my ball only to realize the pin was in the toughest position possible, highest point on back edge of the green. I ended up taking a five, second low for the group! Apparently, the tough pin placements are a tournament tradition. Somehow, the first hole would only be one of two three-putt greens I had yesterday.

 

Anyway, the course was great, and in prime condition for some fall golf.

[Phreddy]

Here is how you "play 36 holes" in 2 1/2 hours in Wisconsin.

 

Wait for a dreary fall Sunday that has a Packer game starting at noon. 90% of the state will be at Lambeau, on a bar stool or seated in their game day recliner. The other 10% are tending bar.

 

I walked 18, playing two balls from tee to the cup. The Callaway took an early lead but in the end was beaten by the TPX5. I was the only person to be seen on the course. It was damp and cool, but not raining. Actually pretty perfect. And I still made it to the club house for the 4th quarter.

 

Phred

[collje26]

Here is how you "play 36 holes" in 2 1/2 hours in Wisconsin.

 

Wait for a dreary fall Sunday that has a Packer game starting at noon. 90% of the state will be at Lambeau, on a bar stool or seated in their game day recliner. The other 10% are tending bar.

 

I walked 18, playing two balls from tee to the cup. The Callaway took an early lead but in the end was beaten by the TPX5. I was the only person to be seen on the course. It was damp and cool, but not raining. Actually pretty perfect. And I still made it to the club house for the 4th quarter.

 

Phred

 

Didn’t play 36 but was able to take my pup out on the course and play in less than 2 hours!

[Dr.Frankenputz]

I love playing on Packer Sundays. Just bring a radio & a few beers. Like Phreddy said usually not busy & hard to beat fall golf.

[rtraudt]

I love playing on Packer Sundays. Just bring a radio & a few beers. Like Phreddy said usually not busy & hard to beat fall golf.

 

My problem with this strategy would be that I would be constantly pausing to listen to Wayne and Larry...I would take significantly longer than four hours to play! Therefore I just try to get the first AM tee time and get off in time for the game...

[Phreddy]

Played 36 holes of Wet-tober golf this weekend. Standing water on a bunch of fairways, 6500 yards played like 7000 yards and mid 50's felt damp and chilly between showers. The ground every where in SE Wisconsin is super saturated. There is simply no place for new rain to go other than to pool up. It was fun shooting at pins on what are normally hard fast greens. This weekend the ball stuck within 3 feet of where it landed.

 

And, as is always my lament at this time, I played well. Better than the first half of the year, but there isn't much time left!

 

My wife and I are very fortunate. We can work from pretty much anywhere, so we will turn tail and run for the first time. We will be in Arizona January through March. I love this state, but every winter the cold is colder, the snow is snowier and the wind is windier. Anyone need a John Deere with a monster snowblower on the front? I am keeping the 4X4 pickup. My Wisconsin Man Card may be getting a little pink but its not totally canceled.

 

Phred