Golf at Sand Valley
Our first big stop on our journey out west was at the Sand Valley golf resort in central Wisconsin.
Early morning at Sand Valley
Sand Valley has become one of the top 5 destinations for public golf in the USA. I think it sits solidly with Bandon Dunes, Pebble Beach, Pinehurst, and Streamsong. Some would probably put Whistling Straits or Kiawah Island on that list, but neither of those has three or more courses on any top 100 public courses list.
The Keiser family and Dream Golf built Sand Valley, and it definitely has a Bandon Dunes vibe to it: not fancy, extremely friendly, walking only, and a golfer’s paradise.
We arrived on a Sunday late morning. After parking the van and changing into golf attire, I wandered up to the main lodge area to check in and inquire about the practice range. The resort is in a transition year: they converted the old practice range to their soon-to-open 12 hole The Commons, and a new practice area won’t open until next year. So I hopped on the shuttle to the Sand Valley starter house to hit some balls at their temporary range. This meant hitting off mats into what used to be an alternate hole routing for the flagship course.
My first round was on Mammoth Dunes, the course I was expecting to love. It suits my game: super-wide fairways and greens that gather balls towards them rather than rejecting them. I guess this suits everyone’s game? This is a par 73 course where folks often shoot their best ever rounds, and I tied mine with a five over 78. That was with a stupid double bogey followed by a bogey on 16 and 17! I did love the course but I can understand some of the criticisms about replayability. I could definitely feel the comparisons to Old MacDonald at Bandon Dunes.
I played with a father and his two adult sons from Austin TX. More on my overall thoughts about playing partners later
On Monday morning I teed off on the original Sand Valley course at 7:40am, giving me ample time for a second 18 holes in the afternoon. The course is amazing and much more difficult: some crowned greens that will reject poor approach shots and demand quality distance control, and fairways that require more precision.
Chris teeing off at Sedge Valley
After a shuttle back to our lodge room and a quick shower (and change of socks) I joined up with my morning playing partners (coincidence!) to play Sedge Valley. This is the newest and quirkiest course at the resort (for now), a Tom Doak designed par 68 with just a single par 5. Even though this course is just a quarter to half mile down the road from Mammoth and Sand, it felt very different from those two. The overall landscape is greener, with more tightly packed trees lining the (still expansive) fairways.
Julie walked all 18 at Sedge with me, and heard me mutter a few times “I think this is my favorite!” And it was, though I also said as we were leaving that I could happily go back and replay the three-course rotation indefinitely and not get tired of it.
For Sand Valley and Sedge Valley I played with two “local” (Milwaukee and Green Bay) brothers in their early 50s. Good golfers and great guys with lots of fun conversation. I really lucked out with playing partners: there’s a certain vibe with many of the guy buddies groups that go to golf resorts like this that doesn’t bring me joy: too much alcohol, too much bluetooth speaker music, too much bro culture. I had none of that with any of my playing partners and this underscores one of the reasons I love playing solo and joining up with randos while I play.
Our lodge room
We stayed at the lodge for convenience but also so that I would have a chance to get a tee time at The Lido, the private-but-resort-guests-might-get-to-play course that is also part of the Sand Valley property. I thought as a single my chances would be good but I never got the invite. With enough advanced planning a tee time at Lido can be guaranteed.
Shack food offerings
I had a mix of food from the restaurants (typical but not unreasonable resort pricing, but very tasty) and the houses on the courses (excellent and unbelievably cheap).
Pork tacos
At Craig’s Porch (Sand Valley) I had the breakfast sandwich on my 36 hole day and two pulled pork tacos before my Mammoth afternoon round. The tacos were amazing.
At Sedge I had an Italian beef sandwich and a meat pie at the 12th hole shack. Both were good but the sandwich with spicy pepper relish and mustard was the clear winner.
Yes I broke my no-commercial meat fast for these snacks.
Julie escapes from a bunker
On our departure day Julie and I played the Sandbox, a 17 hole par three experience designed by Coore and Crenshaw. We were paired with two east coast buddies that had just arrived in town for a weeklong golf adventure. This is a great par three course that doesn’t quite measure up to Bandon Preserve but does have a few template holes to enjoy and admire.
