Blackwolf Run -Original Championship Course (Photo Tour)

[PCCraig]

Blackwolf Run -Original Championship Course
Kohler, WI
Architect: Pete Dye, 1988

#39 on Golfweek’s Best List of Modern Golf Courses
#99 (previously #69) on Golf Digest’s 100 Greatest Golf Courses (USA)
#3 in the State of Wisconsin (Golf Digest)
1988 “Best New Public Course”
Host of 1995, 1996, 1997 Andersen Consulting Match Play
Host of 1998 US Women’s Open and Future Site of 2012 Women’s Open

The American Club hotel building was built in 1918 to house the Kohler Company's immigrant workers. However in the late 1970’s, Herb Kohler, President of the Kohler Company, decided to build a high end resort using a renovated American Club as its primary lodging. The focus of the resort was a country retreat theme with outdoor activities at its core. As the resort grew in popularity, more of the American Club guests began to request a local option for golf to which Kohler had none.

The original 18 holes at Blackwolf Run built by Pete Dye in 1988, was built in response. After Herb Kohler tried to purchase a nearby private country club and failed, he decided to develop a part of his family’s private land behind the Kohler Company factory. The land, with the Sheboygan River running through and its dramatic glacial slopes, was primarily used for hunting, fishing, and hiking prior to development.

The course proved to be so popular that after only one year Kohler and Dye made plans to build an additional 18 holes at Blackwolf Run. Yet, since the only available property was actually around the existing course, nine holes were built on either side and the original course was split up creating the “River” and “Meadows” courses.

Yet, due to the compact routing, the “Original Championship Course” was used as the host course for the 1998 US Women’s Open to which there were many complaints about the difficulty of the course with the winning score being +6 (290). Due the overwhelming success of the event the USGA awarded Blackwolf Run with a return visit in 2012.

In preparation for the 2012 event, the Kohler Company went ahead with a sweeping maintenance initiative at Blackwolf Run.  The Championship course went under the knife last year (2009), with the remaining two nines being working on this year (2010). The plan involved replacing the sand in all of the bunkers and re-seeding all tees, fairways, approaches, green surrounds and putting greens with new Bentgrass. The program came in addition to course work on the River course in 2008 that added nearly 400 yards of length to the black tees. Because of the construction initiative the Original Championship Course was put in play during the 2010 season.

This past Sunday, October 31st, myself and GCAers George Freeman, Andrew Calcutt, and Bill Seitz drove the two hours north to Kohler from Chicago to experience the course in its original form on a brisk Wisconsin fall day (50* High, 10mph winds from the North). After a very wet summer, Wisconsin has seen an extremely dry and warm fall which allowed for the course to play very firm and fast through the green. The greens themselves were also very firm considering the weather as well as each green being in their first season of play and fast with an estimated stimp of 10-11. Overall the conditioning was extremely good considering it was the last day of October!

The Course

Yardage
Black Tees: 7261
Blue Tees: 6782
Green Tees: 6409

Rating/Slope
Black Tees: 75.3 / 149
Blue Tees: 72.9 / 140
Green Tees: 71.3 / 136

Looking up at the front of the Clubhouse on the putting green before the round:


Hole 1 – “Quiver”
Par 4 392 / 378 Yards


The current 37th hole at Blackwolf Run is usually unplayable. However the resort has maintained it all these years primarily to keep the original routing together for major tournaments. This hole plays to the same green as the normal 10th hole on the Meadow Valley (“MV”) course, however from a right angle from the base of the clubhouse. A downhill tee shot leaves an steep, but short, uphill approach to the green. With the course in such firm shape, it was near impossible to get an approach shot close to the front pin.

The approach shot to the 1st green:


Hole 2 – “High Country”
Par 5 522 / 514 Yards


A fitting name for the hole as it plays on the highest ridge of the property. A huge bunker left is the biggest hazard off the tee. A good tee shot leaves the following 2nd shot look:



After a mid iron the player will see this for the 3rd shot:



Hole 3 – “Ledge Walk”
Par 4 461 / 438 Yards


A long par-4 with a bunker left, the player needs to hug the bunker on the left for the best approach:


A look at the greensite:


Hole 4 – “Chimney”
Par 4 341 / 335 Yards


A very fun hole. The tee shot on this dogleg left should either be played safe to the right with a long iron, or be a driver or 3 wood over the bunker on the left. The green is not seen from the tee:



The 2nd shot from the center of the fairway is daunting from 140 yards as the green is very small, elevated, and features a hazard long and right of the green:



Hole 5 – “Nature’s Course”
Par 4 423 / 409 Yards


A very good hole that is straightforward off the tee but reveals itself on the approach shot. Off the tee the player hits a tee shot of about 260 yards toward the right center of the hole:


The second shot plays down into a ravine to a green built up with railroad ties and surrounded by a stream:


Players walk over a bit of history coming off the green:


Hole 6 – “Mercy”
Par 3 227 / 196 Yards


#6 is a very hard par-3 that is made more difficult under firm conditions. Our group hit long irons to a back left pin. I wish I had a picture of the surprisingly huge green which featured a nice barritz-type swale running through the center that a player who bails out to the right is forced to play through.



Hole 7 – “Rolling Thunder”
Par 5 550 / 544 Yards


The blind tee shot on the par-5 7th (note the aiming rock):


The long 2nd shot which the green seems to invite the player to give it a go:


Until the player walks closer to the green does he notice just how long, large, and deep the greenside bunker on the right is, making for hard up and downs. The pin is on a tough and small shelf, note the fall off just behind it:


Hole 8 – “Maple Syrup”
Par 3 182 / 165 Yards


A tricky short par 3 where the player hits a mid iron over the tree in front of the green:


Hole 9 – “Salmon Trap”
Par 4 458 / 395 Yards


A long hard hole actually features two greens (one for the ladies and one for the men over the water).

A scenic shot from the back tee box:


The approach shot over the Sheboygan River with the clubhouse in the background:


Back nine to follow.

[PCCraig]

Hole 10 – “Snake”
Par 5 610 / 564 Yards


A long par 5 that plays along the river, which is featured prominently on the tee shot:


Hole 11 – “Burial Mounds”
Par 4 377 / 370 Yards


A short par 4 over the flattest ground on the property, Dye made good use of his bulldozer skills to build interest on this hole. A view of the tee shot:


The approach shot showing the large “burial mounds” on the right:


Hole 12 – “Gotcha”
Par 4 468 / 410 Yards


The tee shot on the very fun 12th. The player aims over the trees on the right for the shortest and best angle of approach:


From the 2nd shot to the 12th:


Hole 13 – “Swan Lake”
Par 3 219 / 195 Yards


A tough par-3 with water down the entire right side of the hole, a player can bail out left but is left with a very tough up and down. (I somehow forgot to take pictures of this hole and the 14th).

Hole 14 – “Blind Alley”
Par 4 346 / 310 Yards


As Tom Doak mentioned in another thread, this hole is similar to the 5th at Long Cove where the player can either drive straight at the green or to a narrow spot in the fairway, or out left and short leaving a blind but short approach shot to the green.

Hole 15 – “The Sand Pit”
Par 4 374 / 354 Yards


A very strong hole, the player needs to hug the left bunker to catch a “speed slot” to leave a short iron or wedge to a green that is sunken into the ground almost like a punchbowl. Off the tee:



Hole 16 – “Unter Der Linden”
Par 5 620 / 560 Yards


A very unique and fun par 5 despite its long length of 620 yards with a good drive the player can catch a severe down slope making the hole easily reachable. A view from the tee where the ideal line is center or just left of it:



A view of the 2nd shot from on top of the hill. Andrew Calcutt caught the hill and was 40 yards further than my tee ball. A player can decide to go for the green through or over the Linden tree short right of the green:


A view of the third shot landing area. Because the ground was so firm though balls were rolling down to the base of the tree leaving a short pitch:


Hole 17 – “Snapping Turtle”
Par 3 181 / 175 Yards


In my opinion this is probably the weakest hole on the original course, but it is very tough as there is water short and deep grass bunkers long making for a tough up and down:


Hole 18 – “Dyehard”
Par 4 510 / 470 Yards


I love the name of this hole…very 1980’s

From the tee, the player must hug the bunker on this long par 4 to leave the least amount of yardage into the green for his approach shot. This bunker was actually flooded over for the 1998 Women’s Open forming a lake:


The approach shot to a double green (shared with #9) that sits at the base of the massive clubhouse:


Overall the Original Course at Blackwolf Run is very challenging but it will also get your blood flowing with all the tough and risky shots you face throughout the round. I think the course also is a nice mix of the understated style of design that Dye displayed best at The Golf Club, the Ocean Course and Crooked Stick, but is also perhaps his best example of his “railroad” tie heyday.  

[Phil McDade]

Pat:

Well done; good to see this Brigadoon-like course featured here. #6 is my favorite hole on the property; a terrific par 3 with a great grean. It's bigger in person than depicted here.

I'm still not the biggest fan of the water holes on the back nine -- too artificial, in my book, compared to Dye's use of the river on the front.

[PCCraig]

Pat:

Well done; good to see this Brigadoon-like course featured here. #6 is my favorite hole on the property; a terrific par 3 with a great grean. It's bigger in person than depicted here.

I'm still not the biggest fan of the water holes on the back nine -- too artificial, in my book, compared to Dye's use of the river on the front.

Thanks Phil.

I would agree that the water holes (#13 and #14) don't quite fit with the feel of the property as a whole. That being said, I don't think either is a bad hole considering how quickly that type of hole can either be over the top or boring. The water hole that I was not a fan of at all was the 17th, which to me does not fit in with the rest of the course and looks like it would belong on a FL swamp course.

While this routing is the most compact and is the best option for hosting a major championship, I believe Kohler gave Dye a very specific part of the property to work with. From the stories I've heard Dye wanted to use the dramatic land that holes 5-13 on the River Course are located but at the time Kohler wouldn't let him.

Obviously now it would be nearly impossible to pull off properly, but if you combined holes 5-13 of the River and 10-18 of the Meadows (the first nine holes profiled above) you would have one impressive and dramatic golf course with many world class holes. Maybe if Kohler and Dye had a "Back to the Future" moment they could go back and convince themselves to route a course there first which would allow for the infrastructure to be built differently.

[Phil McDade]

Pat:

I think -- I may be speaking out of turn here -- Adam Clayman has similar thoughts on re-doing the routing.

[Rob Bice]

Pat-
Great post.  I played the course in Mid-October on a fantast 70 degree early fall day.  We played the nines in reverse because they were aerating the front nine fairways in the morning so I was really turned around.  I had never played the championship course - it was fun to see the course as originally designed.

A few questions:

1.  Is there a way back tee on number 1?  It appeared as though there was a lot of fairway not being used given the angle off the tee.  However I couldn't see where you could put a tee essentially back and left of the first tee box.

2.  What is the 10th hole on Meadow Valley?  I couldn't remember because I hadn't played Meadow Valley in probably 10 years but noticed the alternate fairway approach when standing on the 1st green.

I did miss playing 5-13 on the River Course.  Those are some great holes and, to me, fit much better with the feel of the front nine.  I agree that 17 seems a bit out of place but I also felt the same way about 16.  Obviously easy to cherry pick without knowing all of the constraints and the landscape prior to construction.  All in all a great experience.

[Bill Seitz]

Pat:

Well done; good to see this Brigadoon-like course featured here. #6 is my favorite hole on the property; a terrific par 3 with a great grean. It's bigger in person than depicted here.

I liked that hole as well.  Compared to the view from the tee, the green was quite large.  It really looks shallow from the tee box.  We all basically went long and right with a back left pin.  From roughly pin high and a few yards off the green (about where the bag is in the picture), I played an 8-iron chip short of the swale in the middle, down the near slope and back up the other side.  One of the more fun chip shots I've played.

I'm still not the biggest fan of the water holes on the back nine -- too artificial, in my book, compared to Dye's use of the river on the front.

It does seem strange to have such an artificial water feature on a course where a dramatic natural feature comes into play so often (as an aside, the Sheboygan River was teeming with salmon).  And as I mentioned during our round, I think I've seen the 4th hole River on about every Pete Dye course I've ever played.  And while it would have been nice to play 5-13 River, this routing was very walkable.

Pat, if the pics from my account didn't show up, I can send you copies to add in.

[Phil McDade]

By the by, if there is a better poster child for the need for a scroll bar at the bottom of EVERY picture, as opposed to every entry on a thread, I haven't seen it. People who worry about the tenor of the Discussion Board ought to deflect their energies on to more urgent matters, like this one.

I await changes to maybe the single worst feature on GCA in 2011. I'm not terribly optimistic...

(And like the perennial man-to-the-moon dilemma, how can a company like Google make a gazillion dollars on algorithmic solutions to web searches, and this site can't figure something out like scrollbars?)

[Jeff Tang]

Hilarious about the scroll bar.  At first I couldn't figure out why all the shots looked to be taken from the left hand side but then I saw the scroll bar at the bottom of the first set.

Pat, thanks for posting the pictures.  Kohler is one of my favorite golfing places.  I haven't played the routing that you did but I have played both River and MV.  I really like that 5-13 stretch on River and I think I'd miss those holes just playing the original routing.  However, I've never played that cool first hole before and I have always wanted to.

Does anyone know what the original sequence of holes was when the course first opened?  There's a map of the course in the clubhouse of the original routing (I think in the stairwell going down to the locker room) with the holes numbered that I could have sworn shows the nines flipped from the way that is portrayed in this photo tour with the finishing hole being the par 4 over the river.  I don't know if they ever played that way or if it's just shown that way on the map for some reason or if I'm just completely mistaken about the map.

[Mike McGuire]

Good timing on the thread - playing there tomorrow. Thanks

Phil -

You need one of those 30" monitors from Apple! No scrolling!

[Matt Kardash]

Seeing these pics just re-inforced to me how Pete Dye's style really was/is a modern take on the CBM/Raynor style. Really cool stuff.

[Adam Clayman]

Unless the routing was changed early in 1989, this is NOT the original routing.

Phil, you've only spoken slightly out of turn. My objection to the re-routing, acknowledges the quality of 5-13, but, in comparison to the original routing, the current river course does not have the special ebb and and flow, that the River-Valley course, did.

See, it was called the River-Valley course back in '89, confirming to me, how this revised Valley-River course, was not the original.

Everything in my bones tells me the Valley nine is the quintessential back nine.  One  huge clue is to compare the closers. The Valley nine closer is a majestic finish, while the current River courses closer (the original 9th hole) is but a pimple on it's ass.

One last note;
 The mounds on tje hole "Burial Mounds" are actual Indian burial mounds. Not Pete's dozers.

[Greg Ohlendorf]

Pat,

Great to see the original routing in pics again. I played it right after it opened many years ago and thought the opening hole was really cool. The second shot straight up hill to that green was a real treat and a tough opening.

Greg

[PCCraig]

I'm glad everyone got a good kick over my terrible photo posting skills. Hopefully I didn't hurt everyone's eyes too bad with the extra large pictures. At least they were HD!

Thanks to a tip from Ed Oden I've fixed the pictures so that they are now the correct size.

[PCCraig]

Pat-
Great post.  I played the course in Mid-October on a fantast 70 degree early fall day.  We played the nines in reverse because they were aerating the front nine fairways in the morning so I was really turned around.  I had never played the championship course - it was fun to see the course as originally designed.

A few questions:

1.  Is there a way back tee on number 1?  It appeared as though there was a lot of fairway not being used given the angle off the tee.  However I couldn't see where you could put a tee essentially back and left of the first tee box.

2.  What is the 10th hole on Meadow Valley?  I couldn't remember because I hadn't played Meadow Valley in probably 10 years but noticed the alternate fairway approach when standing on the 1st green.

I did miss playing 5-13 on the River Course.  Those are some great holes and, to me, fit much better with the feel of the front nine.  I agree that 17 seems a bit out of place but I also felt the same way about 16.  Obviously easy to cherry pick without knowing all of the constraints and the landscape prior to construction.  All in all a great experience.

Rob:

As far as I could tell the only tees on the first hole I could see was the low tee by the starter's table, and the high tee that sits above it. I don't think there is much room back left as that's where the 12th green (#3 River) sits. When we teed off it was about 45* with a 10mph wind at our back and I don't think any of us knew what to hit. On a normal day I would say the ideal play is a 3-wood at the left bunker.

The 10th hole on the Meadow Valley course shares a green with the Original Course's 1st hole. When you're standing on the green the 10th on MV attacks the green from a right angle through a narrow passageway of trees. The reason different fairways, and holes, are used is that the 9th hole on the MV course finishes far away from the clubhouse. The newer fairway makes for an easier transition however I find it to be a far less interesting hole.

[PCCraig]

Hilarious about the scroll bar.  At first I couldn't figure out why all the shots looked to be taken from the left hand side but then I saw the scroll bar at the bottom of the first set.

Pat, thanks for posting the pictures.  Kohler is one of my favorite golfing places.  I haven't played the routing that you did but I have played both River and MV.  I really like that 5-13 stretch on River and I think I'd miss those holes just playing the original routing.  However, I've never played that cool first hole before and I have always wanted to.

Does anyone know what the original sequence of holes was when the course first opened?  There's a map of the course in the clubhouse of the original routing (I think in the stairwell going down to the locker room) with the holes numbered that I could have sworn shows the nines flipped from the way that is portrayed in this photo tour with the finishing hole being the par 4 over the river.  I don't know if they ever played that way or if it's just shown that way on the map for some reason or if I'm just completely mistaken about the map.

Jeff:

Thanks for your comments.

When the course first opened the nines were flipped. So you played #1-4, #14-18 on the River Course, then the 1st hole profiled above, and #11-18 on the Meadow Valley course. I believe that the nines were played in the present form for the 1998 Women's Open, I'm assuming for spectator traffic?

[PCCraig]

Good timing on the thread - playing there tomorrow. Thanks

Phil -

You need one of those 30" monitors from Apple! No scrolling!

Mike:

Please report back with your thoughts. The course is in great shape!

[Andy Troeger]

I can see merit to an argument either way when comparing this layout to the current River Course. I have to admit that I think the stretch from 5-13 is the best on the property, but at the same time it does make the routing a bit disjointed. For me its worth it--holes #5, 8, 9, and 11 would all easily be in my top ten holes on the property and the rest aren't bad either.

Looking at this tour makes me think that I need to get back up there one of these summers when I'm back in the midwest!

[Carl Nichols]

Pat:
Thanks for the photo tour.  I generally agree with your assessments of the holes, except 5, which I thought was too contrived. 

[Adam Clayman]

The original tee for the severely uphill 10th hole, was on a small hillock below the clubhouse not far from the bridge. The green on that hole use to be 34' higher and was flat as a pancake.

[Phil McDade]

Adam:

When I first played the course in 1990, I remember that being a real "hit-and-hope" shot -- totally blind. Of course, it worked better (I thought) as the 10th hole, because you were well into the round by then, as opposed to hitting your first iron of the day.

[Adam Clayman]

Phil, I remember walking the hole and hitting 5 wood from 140 yards. (my 185 yd. club). There was a sense of accomplishment when you reached the top. Especially since that last 10 yards was virtually vertical. When my eyes peaked over that front crest, and saw the flat green, I had to laugh as it was one of Pete's funnier jokes.

I still find it interesting that some people think it was the first hole.

[Phil McDade]

I also really liked the current 9th as the old 18th, with that heroic carry over the water to an enormous green. I'm not the world's biggest fan of water carries to greens, but I thought that was a very good piece of routing, using the slight curve of the river to accentuate the drawing nature of the shot required. I still recall, 20 years later, my joy at carrying that with a 5-wood when I first played it (of course, I think I four-putted the dang green, but cest'la vie).

[PCCraig]

Phil / Adam:

Please explain to me why you both feel the 9th is a better hole than the 18th?

The 18th is really only one of two long par-4's on the course and in my opionion is a great "half par" hole. There is a ton of room off the tee and the large demanding bunker on the left needs to hugged in order to have the best and shortest angle into the green. For those players that find trouble or play safe, the entire right side of the hole is open and it can be played with three shots. Not very dramatic (unless you ask Se Ri Pak who rolled up her pant legs and played her second from the hazard in 1998), but not a terrible hole in my opinion.

While I think the 9th is a fun hole and it can be very dramatic with the river running the entire length of the hole, I think it's also a little awkward. Many players who play the hole have to play to a front "red" green which does not call for a forced carry over water. The building of that complex has made the drive far tighter than it was first designed to be, so the only option the player has is to hit a 3 wood short left of the complex and away from the water, or a risky driver shot in between the complex and the river. In other words, the newer complex takes away the safe driver play out of the hands of a better player.

That's what I would call a pimple.

[Phil McDade]

Pat:

I haven't played the old 18th/new 9th under the renovations/alterations you decribe. They do sound like they make the hole less strategic. I just liked ending the round, on the old 18th hole (now the 9th), with a (for me) gut-buster, ba..-squeezer of shot over water. I don't have quibbles with the new 18th per se; I just really liked the old one.