Chicago and Wisconsin – A Summary

This trip was one of our shorter adventures, just 7 courses in 7 days, but we did cover a little over 1,600 miles.  Two courses were in the suburbs of Chicago and the other five were in central and western Wisconsin.  We had previously played six courses in Wisconsin that are currently ranked in the Top 100 Public courses, Whistling Straits (Straits), Whistling Straits (Irish), Blackwolf Run (River), Blackwolf Run (Meadow Valley), The Bull at Pinehurst Farms and Erin Hills.  The latest Golf Digest rankings for 2017/18 added three more from this state, Troy Burne, Sentry World and Lawsonia Links so it was a good time to also pick up the two near Chicago, Cog Hill #4 (Dubsdread) and Pine Meadow, and to also play two highly talked about new courses, Sand Valley and Mammoth Dunes.

They were all extremely nice courses and an unbelievable mix of design variety even though they are geographically close.  I would place them in my rating categories as follows:

Loved the Course – Would play it often if given the opportunity    Mammoth Dunes, Sentry World, Sand Valley

Like the Course – Would not hesitate to play it again    Cog Hill #4 (Dubsdread), Pine Meadow, Lawsonia Links

Liked the Course with Some Reservations – Would enjoy playing it once or twice a year    Troy Burne

Did Not Like the Course – None

Summary of Golf:

Mike’s Average Slope Rating  127            Highest Slope Rating 138 (Troy Burne)

Marilyn’s Average Slope Rating  121        Highest Slope Rating  135 (Cog Hill #4 Dubsdread)

Average Yardage Played     Mike 6,119     Marilyn  4,968

Mike’s Average Score  78.7  Highest Score 83 (Troy Burne)   Lowest Score 74  (Mammoth Dunes)

Marilyn’s Average Score 84.7   Highest Score 88 (Sand Valley)  Lowest Score 80  (Mammoth Dunes)

We played one course that previously was ranked, four that are currently ranked and two that surely will be ranked in 2019.

We spent 7 nights in 6 different hotels, five of which were Hampton Inn’s and two at Sand Valley Resort where the accommodations are outstanding.

Traffic was not bad until the last day coming home.  From north of Milwaukee thru Chicago until Gary, IN, the traffic was very bad.  I thought Sunday travel would be good around the cities but I forgot to factor in that is was the Sunday before the 4th of July holiday and I believe most of America was heading to their vacations spots.

Highest Green Fee – Cog Hill #4 (Dubsdread)  $155

Lowest Green Fee – Pine Meadow $80

Best Value for the Green Fee – Mammoth Dunes $150 (This was lower than usual since it has only been open for one month.)  Sand Valley $150 (This was lower than normal since they had three temporary greens.)

Our favorite place to return for the golf experience would be Sand Valley Golf Resort with a stop at Dubsdread on the way and Sentry World on the way home.   

One other factor that made this trip interesting and memorable was the fact that Marilyn was suffering from a torn meniscus and was scheduled for surgery the day after we returned.  She did very well especially considering the two courses at Sand Valley Golf Resort were walking only.  Not only did the knee hold up, she played very well and we had a great time.  Only 12 more courses to go in our quest to play all 194 courses ever to be ranked by Golf Digest in their Top 100 Public Rankings.