Let me share with you my recent tour of the best public courses of the Midwest.
Here is my background. I have been playing golf for 22 years. I love golf architecture. I am a 7 handicap. I normally play cheap to mid-priced courses (under $50 walking). I live in St. Paul, MN I have been saving $20/week for the last year so I could afford to play these courses. So here is my schedule.
June 15th - Gaints Ridge MN Quarry 18 & Legend 18
June 29th - Whistling Straits, WI Irish 18 & Straits 18
June 30th - Blackwolf Run, WI River 18 & Meadow/Valley 18
July 2nd - Arcadia Bluff, MI 18
August 21st - Erin Hills, WI 18
My personal Ranking:
1. Straits
2. Arcadia Bluffs
3. Quarry
4. Erin Hills
5. Irish
6. River
7. Legend
8. Meadow Valley
Now for the review and pics of each course
1. Whistling Striats-Straits Course
One word is WOW! This course is spectacular. Conditions are perfect. Every tee flat, every fairway smooth, every green fast and readable. I was a little hesitant about playing with a caddy, but that was one of the best parts. Nice younger guy who knew the course well. Always gave the right line from tee to stick. It was cool handing him your clubs and they were cleaned and ready to go each time. Tossing him your ball on the greens and get it back sparkling clean. We had the perfect day. 75 sunny and no wind (that is right, no wind). This was abnormal, but made me really appreciate the toughness of this course with wind since it was hard with out wind, but scorable. Everything you have ever read about this course about it being great is all true and then some. I know some don't like it here, but I loved it. Here are a few pics of my favorite holes.
2. Arcadia Bluffs.
One Word is Perfect! The conditions are even better than Whistling Straits. There is a reason for the GD 5 star rating, very much deserved. This course is so much fun. Going back and forth from Lake Michigan was awesome. I love the links golf. Two reasons this course isn't number one. The lake never was a hazard, just pretty and Arcadia, MI is in the middle of no where. They deserve all the praise they get, perfect golf experience and not as expensive as the Straits. Here are a few pic of my favorite holes.
3. Quarry
One word is Design! The design of this course is awesome. Risk/rewards everywhere, options, visual tricks, everything that make golf fun. The setting is great, rocks and quarry waste areas, up and down through the trees and around the lakes and ponds, make this a great time for any level of golfer. Only down side was conditioning. It was a little on the wet side and they were watering while we were playing, which made no sense. Green and tees were great, fairways were over watered and the recent mowing had been after too long of wait, lots of long grass clippings in the fairway. The praise is worth it, but if they don't do a better job on the grounds crew they will soon lose their awards. Here are pics of my favorite holes. (I have heard since then they have got things in better shape, just trying to fix some winter kill)
4. Erin Hills
One word is Pure! This course is laid out with the purist in mind. Very natural, very beautiful. It is both visually tough and visually pleasing. It plays long, it plays tough. For only being a month old it is way better than I expected. It will countinue to get better with time. Greens and tees were almost perfect, but fairways had some mud spots close to the greens. Only real complaint is the blue tees have 2 choices on the par 4s. long or short, no regular par 4s, the blacks looked a little better. I think I will have to play them next time. Sorry for no pics, I got to the course and didn't have a memory card in my camera.
5. Irish
One word is Tricky! This is one of those courses you really have to watch your game. Not as visually intimidating as its big brother, but just as tough. Great conditions as to be expected. Bunkers and fescue everywhere. It is a semi-links style course with many parkland style holes as well. Don't be fooled, this course is a great track and lots of fun. Even if everyone talks about the straits, the irish is not like many other courses in the country, or at least midwest. Here are pic of my favorite holes.
6. River
One word is Hard! This course plays really difficult. Especially if you play it with a bunch of jerks. (I play as a single most times, and have never been paired with anyone that I didn't like, but these guys were a-holes. They were mean to our forcaddie, they only used 4 letter words, and their crappy game was everyone elses fault, the caddy, the course, the clubs, the weather, you name it they had someone else to blame for their sucking.) This may have skewed my view of this course, since my game was a little rattled by these guys, but man, there are a lot of narrow landing zones and the greens were some of the slickest I have ever played. No fail zones and no time relax mentally. Tough test of golf. Here are pics of my favorite holes.
7. Legend
One word is Golf! To me this is a course that has everything the average golfer can enjoy, length, strategy, some easy holes, some tough holes, something for everyone. All the prettiness of Northern MN but yet the playability of any course. It will test your game, but low numbers can be had here. Not a walking course. Must play with carts, but that is OK sometimes. Here are pics of my favorite holes.
8. Meadow/Valley
One word is Enjoyable! This was one of my most enjoyable rounds. (after playing with the idiots at the river this may have skewed my opinion.) It was not so tough as the rest, it was not as visually intimitadating, but was pretty as a course gets. Valley 9 was better than Meadows 9 but still both 9s were great. At number 8 on my list, it still could make the best course on many other lists. Here are pics of my favorite holes.
Gentlemen, Enjoy the simple reviews and pics of some of the best public golf in the Midwest. All this golf for $1200.