A few more thoughts:
-- I didn't mention University Ridge, because I'm not real fond of it, and it's also more of a detour than one thinks. I-94 skirts the far east side of Madison, and URidge is on the far southwest side of town; it's a minimum 30-minute one-way detour off the interstate to get there, and not real easy to find if you're not familiar with the area from the interstate.
-- The Norske Nook is well worth a visit for the pies alone, and it's about a two-minute detour off I-94, right in the heart of Osseo, about 30 minutes south of Eau Claire. The food is standard diner fare; the pies are first-rate. And the Harborside in Pepin is equally wonderful -- a real out-of-the-way place with wonderful views of the Big River and terrific food.
-- I'd second Dan Moore's recommendations for both Spring Green sites -- Taliesin is a must for any architectural buff, and the original 18 holes of the RTJ Sr. course there is quite good, and winds around the natural valleys near Spring Green.
A thought on how to get to Minneapolis from Chicago. Certainly the most direct and quick route is via the interstate system -- essentially I-90 out of Chicago toward Rockford, then hooking up with I-94 to the Twin Cities area. But as others have pointed out, it's not terribly scenic, and you'll be dodging semi-trucks the entire way (it's the most heavily trafficked route for commercial trucking in the Upper Midwest.)
On the other hand, there is an area of the Upper Midwest known as the Driftless Region, formed centuries ago when the glaciers drifted apart and didn't flatten all the land in their path. It's an area found roughly in a circle from Madison northwest to Eau Claire, then west over to Red Wing, MN, south toward Rochester, further south through the far northeast corner of Iowa, including Decorah and Dubuque, south and east to include the extreme northwest corner of Illinois, including Galena, and back north and east toward Madison. It's an incredibly scenic part of the Midwest, bisected by the Mississippi River, full of quaint little towns, rolling hills and hidden valleys. But travel is slow -- it's two-lane highways throughout. The interstates (90 and 94) skirt the very far eastern edge of this area -- you can drive 10 miles west of the interstate in Wisconsin, and find yourself lost in wonderful scenery and solitude.
There is certainly quality golf that doesn't involve major detours off the interstate if that's the chosen route. But for pure scenery, a drive through the Driftless Region in late spring/early summer can be a treat. But it's not quick.