Wisconsin, home of badgers, cheese, frigid winters - and great golf

Don't discount Wisconsin golf just because it's not sunny year round. Play 18 at either the Straits or Irish Course at Whistling Straits in Sheboygan in the spring or summer and you'll swear you've just spent a few hours in Ireland.

The big city more your scene? Milwaukee is flush with top-notch golf courses, like Brown Deer Park Golf Club, home of the PGA Tour's U.S. Bank Championship, or head to Green Bay and check out the popular Brown Country Golf Course.

Looking for the college-town vibe? It doesn't get better than Madison, home of the University of Wisconsin. The University Ridge Golf Course is the school's prized golf course. Designed by Robert Trent Jones Jr., it was built on a 2 million-year-old glacier.

If small town is more your thing, Kohler is for you. It's home to the River and Meadow Valleys Courses at Blackwolf Run. Opened in 1988, Blackwolf Run was named "Best New Public Course" by Golf Digest. The River and Meadow Valleys were designed by Pete Dye.

Or find The Bull At Pinehurst Farms in Sheboygan Falls, a Jack Nicklaus design. Also, there's the Golf Courses of Lawsonia in Green Lake. Its Links Course features replica holes of Scottish and English golf courses.

Big and small, famous or not, Wisconsin is home to some great golf.

Wisconsin Golf Destinations

  • Green Bay

    It's pretty difficult to visit Green Bay and not notice that it's the home of the Packers. The "cheeseheads" are pretty rabid about the fan-owned team founded in 1919 that has more championships than any team in the NFL. Not bad for a city of just over 100,000 residents, the smallest to host an NFL team.

    Glen Cairn Golf Club
    Glen Cairn Golf Course in Ogdensburg is laid across a diverse terrain of woodlands, grassy meadows, and marshlands. The course was carefully carved from over 160 acres of lush, rolling countryside. As its name would indicate, the course draws inspiration from the traditions of British Isles golf.
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    Links at Lawsonia Golf Course
    Lawsonia Golf Course boasts two championship 18-hole courses, the Links and the Woodlands. The Links Course will make you feel as though you've been transported to the British Isles. Many of the holes replicate famous Scottish and English golf holes, giving it a character that is reminiscent of the golf courses played in the British Open.
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    Blue/White at Fox Hills Resort
    Fox Hills Resort & Conference Center is one of northeast Wisconsin's premier golf destinations with a total of 45 holes of championship golf that give four different 18-hole layouts to choose from. The parkland Fox Creek Course is broken down into three nines: Blue, White, and Red. The Blue/White course is made up of the two shortest nines. It presents the most player friendly of any of the golf courses at Fox Hills but there are still a few challenges in store.
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  • Milwaukee

    Don't think Milwaukee is just a beer-and-brats town surrounded by some impressive golf courses. Start with the $110 million Quadracci Pavilion at the Milwaukee Art Museum designed by Santiago Calatrava. Its wing-like structure earned it the designation as the Sexiest Building by virtualtourist.com.

    Deer Haven Golf Course
    Deer Haven Golf Club is an executive course that originally opened as a nine-hole course in 1996. The original design was intended for beginning to intermediate golfers, but a more challenging back nine was added to give the course more appeal to a wider range of skill levels. Trees frame most of the holes and there are a few strategically placed bunkers to watch out for.
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    Rolling Hills Country Club
    Rolling Hills Country Club, formerly Lac La Belle Golf Course, has a history that dates back to the late 19th century. Although the course changed ownership in 2007, not much else about it has changed. Over the years it has garnered a reputation amongst locals for being one of the best golf courses in southeastern Wisconsin.
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    Meadow/Sugar Creek at Alpine Valley Resort
    Alpine Valley Resort sprawls across the Kettle Moraine in southern Wisconsin, lending a unique landscape to each of its three nine-hole courses: Summit, Meadows, and Sugar Creek. The Meadows/Sugar Creek will start players off on a landscape of open, grassy meadows before the landscape becomes more wooded and hillier. The namesake creek of the second nine bisects two holes on the Meadows.
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  • Wisconsin Dells

    Wisconsin Dells calls itself the water park capital of the world and a great place for family vacations, but there is plenty of golf to lure foursomes, too.

    Coldwater Canyon Golf Course
    Coldwater Canyon Golf Course in the Wisconsin Dells has a layout that dates back to the 1920s, making it one of the oldest golf courses in the state. Originally a nine-hole course, it was expanded to a full 18 holes but the original layout was carefully preserved as the front nine.
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    Oaks Golf Course at Christmas Mountain Village
    The Oaks Golf Course at Christmas Mountain Village was carefully carved from the rolling hills of Wisconsin Dells. The Oaks is the 18-hole course and it is joined by the nine-hole Pines Course. The names of both courses are indicative of the mature woodland landscape you will find on each.
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    Lake Wisconsin Country Club
    Lake Wisconsin Country Club is located on the outskirts of Prairie du Sac, just a 30-minute drive from both Madison and the Wisconsin Dells. The golf course is quite short at 5,881 yards, which makes it pleasantly walkable, but it is certainly not an easy course.
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  • Lake Geneva

    Lake Geneva is less than 90 minutes from Chicago and even closer to Milwaukee, but it's a world away. The 9-mile-long lake is surrounded by a historic town, some of the best golf courses in Wisconsin, a four-star resort that began as a Playboy Club resort, and a string of enormous summer mansions built ín the 1800s by Americas most famous industrialists.

    Abbey Springs Golf Course
    Abbey Springs Golf Course in Fontana is routed through mature woodlands that give it a peacefully secluded feel. Surrounded by countryside and enclosed within towering trees, the course is an ideal getaway. The challenging course has small, sloped greens and water hazards that come into play on half of the holes.
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    Lake Lawn Resort
    Lake Lawn Resort spans across two miles of shoreline along Delavan Lake. The resort was founded in 1878, making it one of Wisconsin's oldest leisure destinations. Its proximity to both Chicago and Milwaukee has made it very popular. The championship golf course was not added until 1921, but it is still one of the area's oldest.
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    Palmer at Geneva National Golf Club
    The Palmer Course is just one of three championship courses at Geneva National Golf Club. The other two boast well known designers as well: Gary Player and Lee Trevino. The Palmer Course is the most challenging of the three but the Player Course comes in at a close second. There is less water one this course but it still has a prominent presence throughout.
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  • Madison

    Considered one of the country's prettiest capital cities, Madison, Wisconsin weaves around five lakes circled by miles of bike paths, parks and waterfront restaurants. Providing plenty of reasons for a golf trip are the city's four municipal courses and the renown collegiate course, University Ridge, the Robert Trent Jones II design that is home of the University of Wisconsin Badgers.

    Koshkonong Mounds Country Club
    Tucked amongst the rolling hills along the eastern shores of its namesake lake, Koshkonong Mounds Country Club pays homage to the Winnebago tribes that are native to the area. Koshkonong is a word from their language that means "these waters we live on."
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    Red/White at Coachman's Golf Resort
    Located just southeast of Madison, Coachman's Golf Club boasts 27 holes of golf that were carefully sculpted from the wooded hills of southern Wisconsin. The golf courses are challenging but they will appeal to low and high handicappers alike. The Red/White combination was the first 18-hole course at Coachman's, with the Red nine built in 1968 and joined by the White two years later. Stately oaks and willow trees accent the course, demanding accuracy while also providing scenery.
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    Springs Course at The House on the Rock Resort
    The Springs Course is the original course at the House on the Rock Resort & Golf Club. There is also the North Nine Course, which was added more than 20 years after the first course. The Springs is a Robert Trent Jones design, although the lush terrain of the Wisconsin River Valley also deserves credit. The course sweeps along the valley floor and incorporates Jones signature elements, including narrow landing areas and plenty of bunkering.
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