... under Architecture Timeline & Courses by Country.
What are the top golf states in the United States?
New York, California, Massachusetts, Ohio, and Pennsylvania are givens. Oregon is almost by itself with its famous cluster of four plus the revamped Waverley. Next, most people would lobby loudly for New Jersey and then Michigan, Illinois, the Carolinas, and Florida. Texas has come a long way too in recent times.
But what about Wisconsin?
Milwaukee CC, Blue Mound, Lawsonia, the courses at Kohler, Erin Hills, and North Shore are a formidably diverse group (and diversity keeps me from mentioning Arizona above). The top 7 or 8 in Wisconsin (I hear the Bull at Pinehurst Farms is strong too) is quite a set and surely deserves to be somewhere in that second set of states. Though few think of it in those terms, that would mean Wisconsin ranks in the top 10 states in the country for golf.
Such an argument couldn’t have been made just twenty years ago as Milwaukee CC, Blue Mound, and North Shore (the latter of which I haven’t seen but Bruce Hepner raves about) were materially worse and Erin Hills and Whistling Straits didn’t even exist. A lot has changed in Packer Land in a short time and all for the best.
Seeing Blue Mound now for the first time makes me appreciate the accuracy of the prior posts in this Discussion Group that chronicled its renaissance. For sure, it joins the list of must-see Raynor courses. Of course, given Bruce Hepner’s involvement, no one should be surprised. For my taste, no single architect has performed restoration work at more neat places in the past decade than Bruce – places like CC of Fairfield, Cape Arundel, Oyster Harbors, Rhode Island CC, Canterbury, Essex County (MA), Holston Hills, Ekwanok, Shoreacres, the list goes on and on.
At Blue Mound, his efforts have been combined with impressive green keeping. This is especially important as few, if any, architects, built/created more ground game options than Seth Raynor. Here, all his open greens and high slopes can be used to great effect. Since Tim Venes's appointment in 2003 as Green Keeper, ~1 acre of short grass has been reclaimed around the greens. In addition, the putting surfaces were blown back out to the edges of Raynor’s famous fill pads, increasing the putting surfaces by ~1 acre as well. That’s A LOT of short grass and it all plays firm. (Compare this to the abysmal use of rough at Bethpage Black with its artificially narrow fairways and bunkers well removed from play and you tell me which design sparkles.) Fast running short grass layered on top of Raynor’s kick banks and punchbowl features produces a big time winner of a golf course at Blue Mound where members are always guaranteed to have fun.
I am not sure what architect has/had the highest batting average (i.e. what architect unfailingly produced a course that is a joy to play)? The usual cast of suspects would apply but right in that mix – and near the top, if not the top – would be Seth Raynor.
The very fortunate members of Blue Mound and their lucky guests are once again freshly reminded of that fact.
Cheers,