News:

Welcome to the Golf Club Atlas Discussion Group!

Each user is approved by the Golf Club Atlas editorial staff. For any new inquiries, please contact us.


Ran Morrissett

  • Karma: +0/-0
West Bend CC profile posted under Courses by Country New
« on: August 06, 2019, 09:39:24 AM »
 https://golfclubatlas.com/courses-by-country/usa/west-bend-country-club/

What a treat to finally visit West Bend CC a few weeks ago. Many of you know the story but Mike McGuire, GCA poster and member at West Bend, forged a friendship with architect Kye Goalby via GolfClubAtlas earlier this century. When it came time to do work on the Langford  & Moreau front nine at West Bend, Mike thought Kye would be well suited. Kye’s time on site combined with his having grown up a few blocks from Langford & Moreau’s own St. Clair design outside of St. Louis made him a logical choice.

Back in 2008, Langford & Moreau didn’t stir anywhere near the same sort of passion as they do today but Kye, Mike, Green Keeper Brian Bonlender and a few other well-informed members knew better: they had something special on their hands. Starting in 2009 on holes 8 and 9, Kye’s successful early bunker work ultimately has led to a long-term relationship with the club. Depending on your perspective of what constitutes a 'finished product', Kye and the club are somewhere between 60 – 80 % of the way done. My Brother John lives within an hour drive of there and had been feeding me updates over the past decade.

Better than anyone, Brother John knows the purpose of the course profile section on GCA and why it was created. It is NOT to talk about the same old, same old but rather to convey all the different shapes and sizes and ways that courses can be presented and how diverse golf architecture really is. A problem with course rankings is that they can lead to ‘group think’ if one isn’t careful. Gnarly bunkers are clearly a current rage, perhaps not with green keeping crews but at least on social media. That’s emphatically what West Bend is not about. Rather, John long contended that it was a must see based on the special nature of the Kettle Moraine property (he should know as Erin Hills where he works is in the same Moraine) and the Langford & Moreau architecture that was layered on top. Right he was! A bunker is a bunker is a bunker to me but unique features like crazy putting greens and one-of-a-kind landforms are far more rare, and therefore more prized.

Below is a typical view at West Bend: a neat depression followed by a wicked green.


What’s not to like?! The land is the story at West Bend.

The club is in good hands with Goalby and Bonlender to see this decade old restoration through to the end. Too often, disconnects exist between a consulting architect and the green keeper. Not here. The two have a shared vision of how to meld the superstar wattage of the front nine with a second nine whose land might be even more of a roller-coaster ride. As the delta shrinks between the two nines (i.e. holes 10-18 become more Langford-isque!), West Bend has carved out a fine spot in Wisconsin golf. Not many states have had better modern courses built in them over the past several decades than Wisconsin – the list is extensive. From the ones at Kohler to The Bull at Pinehurst Farms to the two (soon to be three) at Sand Valley, Erin Hills and the renovated Sentry World, Wisconsin has transformed itself into one of the country’s hot golf destinations. 

Here’s the thing: West Bend is better and more fun to play than a shockingly high percentage of those modern courses. Read the profile and see if you don’t agree!

Best,
« Last Edit: August 23, 2019, 06:23:16 PM by Ran Morrissett »

mark chalfant

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: West Bend CC profile posted under Courses by Country
« Reply #1 on: August 06, 2019, 03:10:36 PM »

Ran,
So happy to see this masterpiece profiled. The Langford vintage 1-9  may be the best Golden Age nine in the nation. The fairway width, undulation, and green complexes are unforgettable. 1,2,3,6, and 7 are some of my favorite holes in the Midwest 

I've sent a few golf buddies there over the past five years, and they shared my love of this splendid design. I have  enjoyed the lovely Ross at Whitinsville, Massachusetts, but for me both Culver and West Bend surpass it.  Im so glad that Kye Goalby and Brian Bonlender are artfully upgrading the back side. Bravo !
Many thanks for this great essay from Wisconsin.
Mark


p.s. For more on Langford and Moreau golfers may enjoy my 2004 opinion piece on golfclubatlas.com " The Architecture of William Langford: Making Waves in the Heartland"
« Last Edit: August 10, 2019, 11:01:44 AM by mark chalfant »

Lynn_Shackelford

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: West Bend CC profile posted under Courses by Country
« Reply #2 on: August 06, 2019, 04:02:41 PM »
l rate the front nine equal or better than any 9 holes Milwaukee CC, Blue Mound or Lawsonia can offer up.  On Mark's recommendation I did not play the back nine and don't regret it.  I might quibble a bit with some mowing patterns, but each hole offers something unique. I think the problem with the par 3 4th may be the back drop, a Wisconsin country farm look with a highway.  Otherwise it is a stout and "must be examined" one shotter.  The nine builds nicely so that the last 4 holes on the other side of the road are a great climax.  Growing grass on the 7th green must be a challenge.  I think it would take multiple plays to determine the best approach from the tee.  It was a great experience for me on an August Saturday afternoon, where in Wisconsin I think it must be a state law that everyone must mow their front lawn in August on Saturday.  Must be in their culture growing up there.
Seems like a middle class club so the decision to rebuild the second nine might be foolhardy financially.
It must be kept in mind that the elusive charm of the game suffers as soon as any successful method of standardization is allowed to creep in.  A golf course should never pretend to be, nor is intended to be, an infallible tribunal.
               Tom Simpson

Thomas Dai

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: West Bend CC profile posted under Courses by Country
« Reply #3 on: August 06, 2019, 04:06:25 PM »
Looks impressive. Always interesting and educational to hear about courses and architects that are perhaps not known or not particularly well known outside of their homelands. There’s a lot of good golf around so nice to be exposed to more of it.
Atb

Pete_Pittock

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: West Bend CC profile posted under Courses by Country
« Reply #4 on: August 06, 2019, 04:12:15 PM »
#148?

Mike McGuire

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: West Bend CC profile posted under Courses by Country
« Reply #5 on: August 08, 2019, 10:05:13 AM »
The front nine at WB is special and still has huge upside potential.

Tree removal, fairway and green expansion were a big improvement. Masterful bunker work on 2, 8 and 9 by Kye Goalby fantastic, but this nine could be so much better.

Hole six is a great example. It used to work its way further left, on a ridge, close to 9. Tree planting, and mowing, pushed the fairway to the right making the hole essentially straight.

Two big fairway bunkers were removed and the green was flattened. It used to be a reverse two tier like on number 3.

I can post an aerial showing this but can't figure out how to do that. Link below

https://drive.google.com/file/d/16TpixUkeypOGQhhPw6Hx3XUFQMze2iKW/view
« Last Edit: August 08, 2019, 10:23:50 AM by Mike McGuire »

mark chalfant

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: West Bend CC profile posted under Courses by Country
« Reply #6 on: August 08, 2019, 02:39:40 PM »

Mike,


Thanks for your dedicated stewardship of keeping alive Langford's great design at West Bend. The long sixth is already amazing, restoring the" lively" original terrace on the green would be a blast. 


 I remember you pointing out the glories of the massive and wide 6th fairway that was intended in the original design. I am thrilled that it may return!  Congrats to you, Kye and all involved for your vision to honor Langford in this manner !

Phil McDade

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: West Bend CC profile posted under Courses by Country
« Reply #7 on: August 08, 2019, 04:13:31 PM »
Good to see West Bend CC getting some well-deserved recognition; the Langford-Moreau front nine in particular long had something of a cult reputation in Wisconsin golf circles, the kind of place lots of people talked about but few had seemingly played. Mike has been a great advocate of fast & firm conditioning, and extensive tree clearance, to promote Langford's original vision there (as he has at other courses in the state). Good to see continued attention to the back nine as well, as the land there -- as Ran points out -- is similar to that found at not-far-away Erin Hills (one wonders what Langford could've done with the acres available at Erin Hills). There's a good debate to be had about the best nine in Wisconsin; West Bend's front nine makes my top five pretty easily, and there are arguments for it jostling among the top candidates for the top spot, as Lynn points out.

Rees Milikin

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: West Bend CC profile posted under Courses by Country
« Reply #8 on: August 08, 2019, 09:04:17 PM »
The front nine at WB is special and still has huge upside potential.

Tree removal, fairway and green expansion were a big improvement. Masterful bunker work on 2, 8 and 9 by Kye Goalby fantastic, but this nine could be so much better.

Hole six is a great example. It used to work its way further left, on a ridge, close to 9. Tree planting, and mowing, pushed the fairway to the right making the hole essentially straight.

Two big fairway bunkers were removed and the green was flattened. It used to be a reverse two tier like on number 3.

I can post an aerial showing this but can't figure out how to do that. Link below

https://drive.google.com/file/d/16TpixUkeypOGQhhPw6Hx3XUFQMze2iKW/view


Mike, are you able to share any of the future plans for the front 9?  Also, does the club have any photos of the 6th green and fairway prior to the changes?  If it is anything like #3, then I would love to see a picture.  I have looked at this 1937 aerial, but hard to decipher what the 6th green looked like.  https://search.library.wisc.edu/digital/AM2ZJPKSLF2OPZ8I/full

Tommy Williamsen

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: West Bend CC profile posted under Courses by Country
« Reply #9 on: August 08, 2019, 09:35:09 PM »
Some of the best use of interesting landforms I've seen. I need to get back to Wisconsin, I guess.
Where there is no love, put love; there you will find love.
St. John of the Cross

"Deep within your soul-space is a magnificent cathedral where you are sweet beyond telling." Rumi

John Mayhugh

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: West Bend CC profile posted under Courses by Country
« Reply #10 on: August 21, 2019, 07:45:18 AM »
I had a chance to visit West Bend recently. It had been on my "want to" list for a long time, and this profile gave me the push I needed. Really enjoyed this line of Ran's:  This lack of fussiness helps explain why their work looks peaceful upon the land, despite the massive earthworks associated with their green pads.

The front nine is quite good, as others have already noted. The club is taking very positive steps towards visually integrating the back nine. Even though they aren't Langford holes, the hole corridors & land are good, and changes to bunkering and presentation help make the transition smoother. As Ran notes, adding some more interest in the greens on the second nine would be welcomed. After the ones on the front, putting seems so easy.

Reversing the 9s might also be an option - no comparative letdown from one side to another. I would guess that the superior 9 is first to accommodate people playing just 9. But why not end on higher note?

I wish I could return and try the 3rd and 7th holes over and over, but plenty more stand out as well. West Bend is a fine place to call home.


Tags:
Tags:

An Error Has Occurred!

Call to undefined function theme_linktree()
Back