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

Blackwolf Run The River Course Holes 7-9

Hole 7
Glencary
Par 4
426 | 401 | 374 | 352 | 293 yards

The 7th hole is a dogleg left that doesn't reveal too much off the tee.  A domed landing zone lies straight ahead from the tees.  A short carry over a ravine is required to reach the fairway.  That shouldn't really pose a problem but the bunker that sits below the left side of the hole might.  This is a giant trap, stretching nearly 200 yards and guaranteeing anyone who tries to cut off the dogleg down the right- and misses will be punished with at least an extra stroke.

Trees wrap down the right perimeter of the hole but there is actually a little room to miss down the right.

Depending on how far you advance your tee ball your view into the green may be partially obstructed by how the fairway bulges.  This may not be a bad thing as an unobstructed view of the approach reveals how much peril there is up near the hole. Two bunkers flank the hole short of the green by 50 yards.  Closer up the fairway pinches down as it reaches the green.  A spine runs down the fairway as well with the right half sloping towards the single green side bunker on the right.  Missing left brings deep rough into play, and missing far right brings in the trees.  This is not an easy approach.

After the 7th hole you come upon "the turn" a concession stand that you come to before the 8th and 12th holes.

Hole 8
Hell's Gate
Par 5
532 | 524 | 492 | 470 | 401 yards

A very demanding tee shot on the second par 5 awaits you here.  You must navigate a very narrow chute of trees down the the fairway that sits a good ways below the elevated tees.  Not as dramatic a vista as the 5th hole, and certainly a much tougher driving hole.

Anything hit down the right will find the myriad of trees that line the bank of the river that flows along the length of the hole.  There is more room to miss left, however a pair of large trees  is likely to knock down balls hit over there.  Even a straight ball can find trouble, with a bunker sitting straight away that is reachable for long hitters off the tee.

I hit a great shot that was perfectly placed down the right half of the fairway and leaving me only 220 yards out.

As you play your second shot you have 2 options.  A lower fairway is the safer shot to the left.  This will require a third uphill shot to the green.  The angle into the green from this lower approach is OK but you do also then need to carry a large bunker that sits between the fairway and the green.

The other route plays to an elevated fairway on the right.  This is the smaller of the two fairways and can bring into play the trees and the river down the right. If you play successfully down this fairway the green is exposed for an easy unguarded pitch in.

Hole 9
Cathederal Spires
Par 4
361 | 337 | 316 | 302 | 238 yards

The final hole on the front is a short par 4.  This is an interesting hole that offers 2 different approaches to playing.  The first thing you take in here is the river that hugs the right side of the hole all the way up to the green.  Dividing the hole in half are a grove of tall pines (the spires in the holes name?).

Because of these trees you have 2 very different approaches to the hole.  Play to the right and take on the river and the narrow target.  This side rewards a good shot with a short pitch to the green.  If you are brave enough to try this shot and pull it off a bird is a real possibility.  if you mess up a big number is certain to be had.

The other route is to split the trees to the left.  This is the wider target but leaves a longer distance into the hole.  There is actually a little bit more room to the left than what the trees down that side would show.  Be warned though, behind those trees is a large pond that requires a 200 yard carry to avoid if you stray too far left.

From this left option the hole is much more guarded on your second shot.  Two large bunkers sit between the fairway and the green.  One thing you do have going for you is that the green exposes its widest portion from this angle, though the view in may be somewhat blocked by the mounding running up the center of this hole.

Perched on the hillside above this hole is the Kohler factory.

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 10-12
Blackwolf Run The River Course Holes 13-15
Blackwolf Run The River Course Holes 16-18