Hello all. I've been reading this board for the better part of 5 years now. I tried to login a couple of years ago, couldn't get my password to work and gave up. However, I decided to make another go of it, and here I am.
I thought I'd start out by mentioning a course that I haven't seen any discussion on here. I've seen a lot of discussion of Lawsonia, which is a great Wisconsin golf course. I lived in the Milwaukee area from 1998 to 2000 and a course that really needs to be discussed is Nagawaukee Golf Course.
Nagawaukee was built in 1956 and designed by Lawrence Packard. The course and surrounding park are owned by Waukesha County, which is the county just west of Milwaukee. It is reportedly the busiest course in the state, according to Gary D'Amato. His review can be read here:
http://www2.jsonline.com/golfplus/jun99/course16061599.aspIt's a parkland course with HUGE greens. They aren't particularly undulating, but they've got a good bit of slope to them. The course plays across fairly steep terrain - especially for Wisconsin. The back nine features some incredible views of Pewaukee Lake.
Some of the strongest holes are the par 4 4th, a medium length par 4 of about 410 yards. It features a pond guarding the right side which you can challenge for a short iron to the green, or play safe leaving a mid-iron.
The par 4 5th is a great short par 4, tempting the big hitter to carry a small cluster of trees to go for the green. The green has some of the most severe undulations on the course, meaning the big hitter who doesn't make it will have a more difficult pitch than the weaker player with a full wedge into the green.
The par 4 10th (which D'Amato didn't like) is a great hole, IMO. It requires the player to make a decision on the tee. A shot of 230 yards is ideal, leaving only a about 170 into the green. It plays shorter than 170, though, since the green is probably 30-40 feet below you. You can challenge a bunker on the right side of the fairway to leave a shorter shot to the green. However, the penalty could be a ball in the woods or, at best, a downhill lie into a very steep sloped green with a defined ridge running through the middle.
The par 5 14th features an incredible view of Pewaukee Lake from high atop a ridge. The hole is fairly strong, but if there is one weakness of the course is three of the four par 5s are repetitive. They all require basically the same strategy of playing a lay up shot to the right to have an open shot to a pushup, kidney shaped green that slopes back to front with a sandtrap guarding front left.
I'd give the course a 7 on the Doak scale. I've played it probably 50 times during the years I lived in Wisconsin. That golf course and the fish fry are what I miss most. I had a ton of pictures of the course, but they were lost in a hard drive crash last year.
Sorry this is so wordy, I'm trying to make up for the lack of pictures. Unfortunately, there aren't any on the web either. Here is a link to the aerial:
http://tinyurl.com/j5fwa