Paul's Painting

I had completely forgotten to post a picture of the finished painting that now is in the collection of Paul Seifert of wiscogolfaddict fame.



This was a fun painting to work on prior to the PGA Championship being held at Whistling Straits.  Hopefully next year I will make it out there to actually play the course.

Some Golf Sites I Like

This year my dedication to this site was woefully inadequate.  I found I had very little free time to devote and hope to do better next year!

I often go in search of great golf minded blogging sites.  Here are a few that I really like.


The Breakfastball by Andrew Ganey
No Laying Up
Breaking80 Sean Ogle, crazy lucky guy.
Golf Club Atlas
WiscSportsAddict By a great guy, Paul Seifert
The Golf Odyssey The site design is not the best but this is who I want to be when I grow up
Golf Tripper
Golf Course Gurus
Only Golf Matters
Len Ziehm

Got more great ones?  I'd love to hear.

A quick stop at Erin Hills

On my way back from dropping off my painting for Paul in the Milwaukee area, I took a slight detour to stop and check out Erin Hills.

Erin Hills is the sight of the 2017 U.S. Open.  It opened in 2006 after 2 years of construction.  It was funded and built by Robert Lang whose goal was to create a course to host the Open.

Opened to spectacular reviews it quickly catapulted into the list of top public courses in the country.

The course includes a "manor house" which serves as a hotel and pub.  The property has also bee upgraded to include cottages for guests with namesakes of great courses from around the world.  It is neat to see the sign posts for Ballybunion one way and Lahinch the other.

My stop was very quick- just long enough to see how great the amenities are and cause me to long to get back here.

A unobtrusive sign welcomes you to the course as you drive the rural Wisconsin highways leading to the course.  Incidentally, this is a marvelous area to drive through if you are here in the fall.

Once you turn into the course drive, you are not offered any view of the course.  You drive through a perfectly flat field before you glimpse the clubhouse in the distance.

The clubhouse sits atop a small rise and is very its grandiose appearance gives a hint of the terrific amenities you will find once you step inside.

To either side of the main clubhouse are the guest cottages you can rent for your stay.  Each of these cottages is unique.  The cottages all offer 4 bedrooms with king size beds.  Rates to stay in these aren't cheap, averaging around $1300-1400 a night.

To the left of the clubhouse and cottages is the main parking area.  Adjacent to the lot is the massive range.  Obviously with the design intent to host a major, the range was designed to accommodate enough players in the field.  It has two sets of tees set up in a L shaped configuration.

The second area for practicing at the range can be opened to accommodate a full field  

Stepping inside the clubhouse you find a very old-school English hunting lodge ambiance with plenty of dark wood, roaring fires and beamed ceilings.  The pro-shop is to the left and the pub is straight ahead.

Even the bathrooms are worth a glance.  They are probably the nicest I have ever seen in a clubhouse, with flat panel TVs, gleaming chrome and pristine white marble everywhere.

The pro shop has a lot of top of the line merchandise with a mix of premium brands and more affordable offerings.

Out back of the clubhouse is the deck that overlooks the opening hole of the course, along with the guest house and practice green situated down the hill.

The "manor house" lodge and the putting green adjacent.

Behind the manor house is the only real glimpse you have of the course, with the first hole stretching out to the left and the 10th hole playing off to the right.  Most of the course plays out away from the clubhouse.

Between the practice green and the first tee is the starters hut.  You can see the set up of the course offers plenty of distance with the tee box offerings.  From the tips this course plays at 7,812 yards.  Look at the distance advantage from the tips to where the people are teeing off on the "White" tees. That's a distance of 135 yards.  That is crazy!

If you look at the course on Google maps you can see how well spaced the holes are- perfect for accommodating all of the spectators that will be here for the Open.

While Erin Hills is not blessed with the terrain of something like Whistling Straits or other iconic seaside links, this is one special place.  Hopefully next year I will get a chance to play here.  Judging by the quick visit I payed it, it would be one heck of a great time!

Also, in the lot I happened to spy a first for me, a ~$900,000 Porsche 918 Spyder.  Yozas!

New life for the struggling Hastings Country Club

According to the Finance & Commerce website the Hastings Country Club has been sold to new investors who plan to make it a semi-private club.  The course has switched between fully and semi private in the past but continued financial difficulties forced the sale.

http://finance-commerce.com/2015/11/hastings-country-club-sold-for-3-8-million/

This club played host to the 2012 MGA state am championship so it is a quality course.  The club first opened in 1947 so it likely is a pretty cool old school design.  Located within the Hastings city limits, it is just southwest of the intersection of Highways 61 and 55.

This course is the latest in a string of course closures/ownership changes, including Majestic Oaks and Minnetonka Country Club.  15 courses have closed since 2005 in Minnesota.  The new owners have said that if the new business model doesn't work, converting the land to a housing development is likely.

I will have to get down there to check it out next spring!

Blackwolf Run The River Course Holes 16-18

Hole 16
Unter Der Linden
Par 5
620 | 560 | 540 | 511 | 483 yards

In what might be the coolest name for a golf hole (and also a 13th century poem by Walther von der Vogelweide),  the par 5 16th hole is the final three shotter of the round.  A double dogleg, this hole will test you again from tee to green, just like the last par 5 11th hole.

From the tees you must find the fairway.  If you thought the bunker on 15 was big, behold the chasm that is the landing bunker down the left side of this hole.  I think that this bunker may be over 150 yards long and contains more sand than may entire courses I have played.  A drive hit down there requires a extra shot to recover and get back on track.

The best play off the tee is a tee shot down the left side, but of course this brings into play the giant beach.  A shot played up the right is fine but brings the trees into play on your next shot.  These trees jut into play about 250 yards out and can require you to play your second shot too far left, which means your third shot is then in peril.  Brilliant design work here.

Your third shot into the green is dictated by two things, The now too familiar Sheboygan River, plodding down the left side of the hole and cozying right up against the green, and the Linden tree which acts to essentially block easy access to the green for anything but shots on the far right edge of the hole.

The green itself is sandwiched between the river and a deep bunker that hugs the right edge of most of the green.  Once again a true 3 shot tester for all but the most adept golfers.  A par here would be a wonderful thing.

Paul playing the part of bird dog- trying to scare out a pheasant from the fescue behind 16. 

Hole 17
Snapping Turtle
Par 3
181 | 175 | 168 | 153 | 131 yards

Finishing up the par 3s is this maniacal little hole.  For the record I never even sniffed a par on the par 3s all day.  I ended with 2 doubles and 2 bogeys.

On this hole a force carry over the water is required the entire length to the green.  There is room to miss right, but no room to miss left.  A very deep green makes club selection even more important.  Around the green there is only a single bunker situated behind the green.  To the right is a grassy hollow but most of the trouble here is offered up by the water that must be negotiated.

Hole 18
Dyehard
Par 4
510 | 47 | 440 | 415 | 351 yards

A fabulously difficult long par 4 finishes up a very memorable round on The River.  Off the tee the hole is dominated by the largest bunker in the world (well maybe not, but it has to be close)!  This bunker literally runs 460 yards, from nearly tee to green.  I was told that the course can flood this bunker if the groundskeeper is having a really bad day to add just one more place you can donate a couple of shiny new Pro Vs.

If you can avoid the rip in the earth down the left, there is one more bunker to worry about down the right side that is in play off the tee.  Further right offers up long grass to steal your ball.

Me hitting a shot out of the sand on the 18th. I advanced it onto the green from here so I was very happy about that.  

Should you find the short grass and avoid the acres of sand here, you must negotiate the hole as it doglegs left, mimicking the curve of the Sheboygan as it makes one last pass in your round.  The second shot will require a long iron to reach the green, which luckily is unguarded other than that sand monstrosity that follows you the entirety of this hole.

Take a moment to admire the clubhouse perched above the 18th green.  The clubhouse, which houses a golf shop, locker rooms and lounges, underground cart storage, a bar, restaurant, screened porch, and multiple meeting rooms is over 39,000 square feet!

The green itself is no slouch either.  It is a combination green for The River and The Meadow Valleys #18 holes and totals 23,000 square feet.

Final Thoughts

First of all a big thanks to Paul Seifert.  Being able to finally play a round together after several years communicating online was great.  While neither of us could say we played anywhere near our best, the memories of the round will certainly not be hampered by my poor play.

I could not have imagined a more perfect time to be golfing in Wisconsin.  I can not stress enough how absolutely beautiful the course was.  With the Fall foliage, the impeccable conditioning of the course, and the gobsmackingly great weather it was about as perfect a day for golf as you could ever hope to have.  I always tell people that Fall golf is my favorite time to golf, and this round may be the ultimate representation of why that is the case.

The River Course at Blackwolf Run is not an easy round of golf.  You will be tested from the first hole to the last.  But the tests are largely fair.  The opportunities abound to take on the course.  Successful risk taking is rewarded, but failure is also heavily penalized.  Only one hole (the 13th, grrrrrr) is one that I would be happy to never to play again.  With 17 other gems, and a couple of true masterpieces it is easy to see why The River Course has such a storied tradition of accolades heaped upon it annually.

The fees to play here are not cheap by any means ($275 + cart or caddie), but if you are in the Milwaukee area and want to test yourself on a truly WORLD CLASS golf course, The River is not a bad choice.  I will highly recommend this track to anyone who asks!

Next summer a bunch of my friends are planning a trip back out here to play The Straits, Erin Hills, and Blackwolf.  After this experience I will definitely be making that trip with them.  I cannot wait for another chance to get back here.

Blackwolf Run
855 444 2838
1111 W. Riverside Dr.
Kohler, WI 53044



Blackwolf Run The River Course Introduction
Blackwolf Run The River Course Holes 1-3
Blackwolf Run The River Course Holes 4-6
Blackwolf Run The River Course Holes 7-9
Blackwolf Run The River Course Holes 10-12
Blackwolf Run The River Course Holes 13-15

Blackwolf Run The River Course Holes 10-12

Hole 10
River and Marsh
Par 3
227 | 204 | 194 | 175 | 147 yards

Another long par 3 waits on the first hole of the back 9.  Water protects front right.  The river also comes perilously close to the right and just behind the green.  If you avoid the water you must also traverse a gauntlet of bunkering that nearly encircles this green.  There is a small bail out area short and left of the green.  This green is made all the harder by the fact it slopes front to back.

Hole 11
Rise and Fall
Par 5
621 | 560 | 536 | 522 | 446 yards

Rumor is that this is Herb Kohler's favorite hole on the Kohler properties.  A really tough par 5 that almost anyone would consider a true 3 shot hole.

The river which runs again up the right side of this hole essentially dictates the shape of this hole which is a neck and neck with hole 1 for the longest hole on The River.  Off the tee you are faced with negotiating 5 bunkers that sit on either side of the fairway.  Two bunkers sit on the right but are a little too shallow to save a poorly hit ball that finds them from staying in them.  Instead you are far more likely to continue on and reach the river bank which slopes severely down to the water.  Needless to say, right is very bad.

A shot to the left will likely find one of the more severe three bunkers that frame the start of the fairway landing zone.

Is someone brave enough to take this green on in two?

If you are lucky enough to have found the fairway, your adventure truly begins on the next shot.  Only the very bravest souls will try to take on the green on the second shot.  Not only is it a carry the entire length over the curving river, a pair of trees strategically left at the crook of the river bend block any low shots hit slightly off line.  The safest play on your second shot is to lay up just short of the this cluster of trees in the middle of the fairway.  With a good 300 yard drive, this requires only around 100 yards to set up a 3rd shot into the green from around 150 yards.

For your third shot, you must negotiate the green which is turned nearly 90 degrees relative to the path of the fairway.  Anything right will find the river which squeezes in very close to the green's edge. A small sunken grass bunker also waits short right of the green.  TO the left you will not fare much better with a deep bunker.  From here it is a nervous shot to the green with the river as your backdrop.

If you do find the green, good luck.  With some pretty sever undulations a regulation par here would be a great score.  This is a really fun hole and totally exemplifies the key strategy while playing The River.  Hit a good golf shot, and think about where you need to hit that shot.  You'll need a solid string of shots here to avoid a big number.

Hole 12
Long Lagoon
Par 4
486 | 465 | 423 | 372 | 333 yards

After the tough 11th hole, the pressure doesn't let up on the 12th, which is a long par 4.  Ahead of the tee your dominant consideration has to be the water that occupies nearly the entire width of the hole.

We played it dead into the wind at it was a heck of a carry to clear the water off the tee.  To hit to the left portion of the fairway you have to carry 270 off the tee.  To the right is more manageable but will leave a long shot into the green.  To add insult to injury a ribbon of sand stretches across the far side of the water.  Should you avoid the water you may well find  this narrow little toy chest.  Dividing these two landing areas are a pair of yet more bunkers.  Woe is the golfer who hits a good drive into one of these traps!

Should you survive the tee shot unscathed, your second shot will prove to be nearly as challenging.  Once more, the Sheboygan River makes an introduction, snaking its way down the right edge of the green.  If you played safe on the tee shot to the right, your second shot may also involve carrying a stand of trees that occupies the right edge of the fairway between the golf course and the water.

Luckily Pete Dye offered a small concession on this brute, leaving the front of the green open for a run up shot.  Be wary of going long here though as a deep bunker awaits along with mounding thickly covered with some very nasty rough.

A view back up the 12th seen from the 8th tee.

If you've made it through both 11 and 12 at even par I'd like to congratulate you on something I am sure not a lot of golfers can boast about!

Blackwolf Run The River Course Introduction
Blackwolf Run The River Course Holes 1-3
Blackwolf Run The River Course Holes 4-6
Blackwolf Run The River Course Holes 7-9
Blackwolf Run The River Course Holes 13-15
Blackwolf Run The River Course Holes 16-18