The course is about 2 hours north of Green Bay or 4 hours from Milwaukee.
Sweetgrass opened in 2008. It was designed by a Michigan native, Paul Albanese. He has worked on a handful of courses, including French Lick Golf Resort in Indiana, which I hear great things about. Sweetgrass's design is a blend of traditional parkland style with an open links feel, if that makes sense.
The course does not offer much in the way of dramatic elevation changes but there is plenty of hazards to be found, along with some large, inviting fairways. The greens are particularly challenging, with many offering several tiers and even a biarritz on the par 3 12th. The 15th, also a par 3, is a true island green.
There is water in play on 6 holes and marshland on several more. Only a couple of holes are truly carved into trees, the majority of the holes are more wide open. Open doesn't mean trouble free though. Stray far from the fairway and you are likely to find very thick fescue.The pro shop is found at the back of the casino. Out by the course itself there is a combined starting house and snack bar located adjacent to the driving range and 10th tee.
Green fees include use of the range. The range features a large putting green, a practice bunker/green complex and a nice target area with several target greens and bunkers cut among a fairway. It is nice when a course offers visual targets like this rather than just a open field.
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In 2018 another new course will be opening at the casino called Sage Run. This course will be located just south of Sweetgrass. This course is also being designed and built by Paul Albanese, so I would expect more of the same feel as Sweetgrass, which is a good thing.
Here is a rendering of the new layout:
The reason for my visit up here was to be a part of my friend and fellow golf blogger, Paul Seifert's bachelor party. Here is Paul playing in on the 18th hole.
Sweetgrass is the annual host for the Island Resort Championship, which is part of the Symetra Tour. So you know that the course conditions here are top notch. It can also play with some real teeth with the ability to really stretch things out. Pin placements can make things even more dicey. Play the course on a day with an angry superintendent or a windy day and hold on!
The course plays as a par 72 and can top out at 7,275 yards. There are 5 sets of tees to choose from. Here are the specs on each of those:
| Tees | Yardage | Slope | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|
| Championship | 7,275 | 143 | 75.2 |
| Back | 6,829 | 137 | 73.3 |
| Middle | 6,439 | 134 | 71.3 |
| Forward | 5,740 | 120 | 67.5 |
| Front | 5,075 | 123 | 69 |
Lets get on with the course review!
Hole 1 - Cedar
Par 4
320 | 305 | 282 | 262 | 239 yards
The opening hole of the day is a nice easy warm-up into the round. Not the longest hole, it is possible to reach this green off the tee. A pair of large bunkers protect the green, which is tucked up behind these.
This fairway is extremely wide, 70 yards at its widest so getting your tee shot in play should not be a problem. For long hitters make note that a shot missed out to the left can fly the fairway and find the trees behind.
The fairway is interestingly raised about 5 feet above the level of the teeing grounds. This should be an issue as it is not far off the tee but it is a design that I have not seen before. This fairway is elevated up from the rest of the terrain though so if you do manage to miss it off the tee your ball can run off or be on a unfriendly slope.
I played a safe shot off the tee only to discover that the fairways were a little, um soft...
A shot played down the left half of the fairway exposes the green to an accessible approach. Played up the right side, you have to contend with the bunkers.
When the pin is located up front it is a delicate shot in- if you come up just a little short the slope in front will repel the ball away. If played too long it is a downhill putt to the pin.
Behind and to the left of the green, there is a large collection depression. A drive hit to here is much harder approach than one from the middle of the fairway. This green is turned so that its narrowest side faces your approach. It is wide- about 35 yards.
Hole 2 - God's Kettle
Par 4
400 | 372 | 361 | 334 | 273 yards
A climb up is required onto the second tee box. From here your ball must carry a patch of native grasses around 160 yards to the fairway. The long grasses you find here will be your constant companion throughout the round. While the course does not have a lot of tree lined holes, hitting into the long grasses could argue to be worse. In the summer these grasses can be extremely thick and nearly impossible to find balls in, much less hit out of.
Off the tee, the fairway slants diagonally across from you. A pair of bunkers flank either side of the fairway at around 200 yards out. In order to not have a 200 yard second shot you must take on these bunkers and land between them with your drive.
A shot played adjacent to the bunkers offers an open, but long approach to this T shaped green.
A trio of bunkers sit on the front left corner of the green, which offers a bit of a punch bowl design on the front half.
The back half of the green falls off away from the fairway into a lower tier. Make sure you judge your distance on this approach as putting from the wrong half of the green can be a big challenge. The green is nearly 40 yards deep so take that into your account as well.
Hole 3 - Wolf
Par 3
200 | 173 | 158 | 143 | 127 yards
A tough par 3 that can be made harder with the winds or based on the location of the tees. The further right you go the more the hole is covered by the hill to the right. The kidney shaped green wraps around the base of this hill.
Off to the left, a large bunker hugs most of that side of the green.
Just hitting this green is no sure par. The green is very narrow side to side from the tee but is very deep. A depression running across the middle of the green increases the difficulty. Missing onto the fringes of the green will require a delicate downhill pitch into another mild punch bowl.
Of course missing the green altogether you can find yourself in even worse situations.
Hole 4 - Michigami
Par 4
469 | 448 | 425 | 371 | 328 yards
The 4th hole was a tough hole for me. A dogleg to the right around a hill that blocks your view to the green from the tee.
Your drive should favor the right side of the hole. You can line up right at the base of the hill but don't go too far right as the hillside continues for some distance down the hole. A carry of nearly 300 yards would be required to safely carry the hill and find the fairway.
Down the left side sits a giant bunker. It is almost 100 yards long and begins about 200 yards off the tee.
On your second shot, if you found the fairway, the fairway rises all the way to the green. There is no bunkering around the green, which is good as you'll most likely have a long iron in.
From the left side of the fairway it is hard to tell where the green actually begins on the right side. In the photo below the green actually starts to the right of that barn in the distance. The front of the green is protected by a severe slope and is canted diagonally to you from here. This is a tough second shot.
From the right side of the fairway, your view is a little more open into the green. Shots hit left will find that front slope but the right side of the green is accessible. From here you also have the length of the green exposed to you. This green is about 45 yards from front to back.
Hole 5 - The Serpent and the Flood
Par 4
440 | 417 | 395 | 355 | 312 yards
The hole offers a giant landing area for your drive before bending around the lake that frames the right edge of this hole. That water runs all the way up to the green on this hole so it is in play the entire way.
A large bunker sits right on the corner of the dogleg. It is 285 yards to carry that from the back tees.
The safer you play off the tee, away from the water and bunkers, the longer the hole plays. If you take on that bunker and can carry it then the hole plays very short, with only about 130 yards to the center of the green.
The green is a long kidney shape, wrapped around another big bunker sitting on the left side of the green.
This is an interesting design the rewards a risky tee shot. If you can pull it off the shot into the green should take the water and sand out of play. If you play it safer off the tee then you are more likely to have to avoid the sand and water on your approach.
Hole 6 - Sacred White Deer
Par 5
630 | 599 | 573 | 492 | 448
Thie first par 5 you face is a long one that seems to play into the prevailing wind off the tee, you must carry water on your drive to a fairway running perpendicular to the tee. To clear the water is only 190 yards from the tee and a drive played straight ahead off the tee will carry the fairway at 280 yards.
Beyond the water, sits a large bunker. Carrying this bunker is possible if you want to cut off a lot of distance on this hole. The bunker is about 260 yards to carry from the back tees. If you do cut that sand trap it is still 330 yards to the green. Obviously the safer you play off the tee the longer the hole becomes.
Played to the center of the fairway, your second shot looks to be a long ways away. On my second I thing I was about 360 yards out. You have a decision to make on your second. A huge bunker sits down the right side of the hole, and another sits a little further up on the left side, just passed the 150 stake in the picture below.
These 2 bunkers effectively cut the hole in half (there is 15 yard wide gap between them). You must decide to layup short of these around 150-160 yards by playing down the left or try to carry them. To carry these, you must be able to land the ball a minimum of 75 yards short of the green. If you cant get that close then you'll find yourself most likely in one of them.
From the 150 yard mark, the green is straight ahead. Their is not much of an elevation rise to the green so you can definitely run balls up onto it. A good thing with the length of this hole.
The green is protected by one small bunker to the right side but in general is very accessible.
Even behind the green their is a pretty generous collection area. I expect the architect expected a lot of long shots coming in here and they did a good job to make the green one of the more accessible ones on this nine.
On to Part 2: Holes 7-12
On to Part 3: Holes 13-18
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