Herb Kohler and Pete Dye demonstrated what millions of dollars and lots of bulldozers could do with a piece of land – a dump site for the military – that was seemingly devoid of any practical use. They built Whistling Straits near Sheboygan, WI, on the shores of Lake Michigan.
Not long after, a project with a lot less money and little earth-moving – on land similarly ill-suited for any practical use -- yielded a challenging yet playable course. Dubbed the Bridges Golf Course, it’s on the north side of Wisconsin’s capital city. The locally famous Oscar Mayer factory – makers of B-O-L-O-G-N-A – sits a few blocks away.
The land for the course, previously owned by the county, is a combination of wetlands and an old landfill just south of the Dane County Regional Airport. Little construction and earth-moving could be done on the land, owing to the marshlands and building height restrictions – the land sits directly south of one of the main approaches into the airport. Airplane takeoffs and landings, including those of the very loud Wisconsin Air National Guard F-16s, frequently go directly over the course. The course sits near two major road arteries, in an area that was ripe for some kind of development.
Working closely with state and county environmental officials, designer Dan Feick routed 18 holes through the property. Feick designed a course that took advantage of its major features – an array of wetlands, ponds, creeks and drainage ditches – to compensate for its flatness and lack of definition.
Course details: The course plays at 6,867 yards from the tips (rating 72.9/slope 129), with the white tees at 6,125 yards. Par is 72, with 10 par 4s and four par 3s and 5s. The course derives its name from the seven bridges built to cross the creeks and ditches that come into play.
Some holes of note (yardages from the tips):
No. 1 (354 yd par 4)
A nifty little opener that looks easy, and can be, but trouble lurks. The tee sits hard by a pond that runs along the left side of the fairway, and the hole gently doglegs right, with three large bunkers on the outside of the dogleg. Stay right? Well, yes, but not visible from the tee is another pond right of the fairway, fed by a creek that snakes around the right side and back of the green. The wise play is a utility wood to the wide fairway, between the 2nd and 3rd bunkers shown here, leaving a wedge or short iron to the green. The green can be driven, but it’s an exacting shot, especially right out of the box (the flag on the green can be seen toward the end of the cart path).
The unseen pond that lies to the right of the 1st green.
No. 2 (556 yd par 5)
The first of the course’s solid set of par 5s. The key here is the second shot – the hole doglegs to the right beyond a creek, but a stand of trees on the right of the fairway, past the creek, threatens a second shot that tries to bite off too much of the dogleg. Just underneath the trees hanging over the right rough is the control tower of the nearby airport.
No. 4 (357 yd par 4)
A hole that’s straight from tee to green as the crow flies, but a large stand of trees left of the tee steers the golfer right. Marshes and a small pond threaten anything hit too far right, while three fairway bunkers will catch the overly bold drive. Similar to the 1st hole, the smart play here is something less than driver for placement.
A series of bunkers leading up to the green dot the right side of the fairway.
No. 5 (363 yd par 4)
The tee shot from the tips on the short par 4 5th. One of the airport’s main runways lies just beyond the short trees in the middle of the picture.
No. 6 (419 yd par 4)
The toughest hole on the front nine, maybe the entire course. The tee shot must find a fairway bracketed by wetlands right and a small creek and wetlands left. Golfers who stay toward the left side of the fairway will have a better angle into the green.
The challenge here is the approach – a stern carry over a drainage ditch that’s quite wide. The view here is from about 180 yards, with the 150-yard marker pole ahead.
A closer look at the ditch that must be carried.
No. 8 (193 yd par 3)
A solid par 3 situated in a grove of trees. A nice change of pace, as most of the course sits out in the open wetlands area. Two bunkers pinch a deep but somewhat narrow green.
No. 10 (409 yd par 5)
An odd hole, and not one of my favorites. The carry over the creek from the back tees is 227 yards – for many players, it’s a carry too far. For me, the 10th plays as something of a 5-wood/5-wood hole.
The green is nestled into an area surrounded by tall reeds. (Notice to the left of the green the red lights of the runway approach.)
No. 11 (534 yd par 5)
A strong par 5 with a cape-like drive – bite off as much of the wetlands as you choose, as the fairway doglegs right. Two fairway bunkers on the outside corner of the dogleg will catch the drive that strays too far away from the wetlands.
The second shot needs to be threaded through trees that bracket the fairway near the 150-yard marker. Similar to the 10th, the green here is surrounded on three sides by tall reeds.
No. 12 (188 yd par 3)
A relatively straight-forward par 3 with one of the better greens on the course – the green is slanted from back to front much more than is apparent from the tee.
A closer look at the green.
No. 13 (419 yd par 4)
The course, after wandering around the wetlands for the first dozen holes, turns to the west and makes a broad loop around an old, capped landfill. The tee shot here represents one of only two elevation changes on the course. Similar to the 1st hole at Scotland’s Golf House Club (Elie), the player hits straight up a hill, with the outcome of the shot unseen. The fairway at the top of the hill is 35 yards wide – wide enough for a drive with a blind outcome.
No. 14 (428 yd par 4)
The longest par 4 on the course. The lack of trees lining the fairway makes the hole appear to be longer than it really is; the hole, vaguely linksy in feel, sits at the highest point of the course and is subject to winds. The large building in the distance off to the right is the Oscar Mayer factory.
No. 15 (564 yd par 5)
The only elevated tee shot on the course; a small pond and a grove of trees threaten the tee shot that tries to cut off too much of the dogleg. The fairway winds around the large stand of trees just beyond the pond.
The Bridges, although it tips out at more than 6,800 yards, in some ways plays shorter than that. It derives most of its length from its par 5s, all of which top 530 yards and three of which are 550+ yards. Only four of the 10 par 4s play longer than 400 yards, and most are in the 350-370-yard range. But the constant presence of trouble via creeks and wetlands – often lining both sides of the fairway – makes it a course in which accuracy off the tee, more so than length, is the key to a good round.