| The award-winning Wild Rock clubhouse is slated to be moved to a location behind the present-day 16th green. (Kiel Christianson/WorldGolf.com) |
Wild Rock Golf Club in Wisconsin Dells has great debut, despite lousy weather
By WISCONSIN DELLS, Wis. - In May of last year, Wild Rock Golf Club opened to the public in the Wisconsin Dells, the Midwest's original country vacation destination. The 7,414-yard Michael Hurdzan and Dana Fry design was laid out to take advantage of the area's rolling hills, plentiful water and limestone bluffs and outcroppings.
About a month after the golf course opened, though, the Dells was hit with repeated rain storms. Multiple deluges of nearly biblical proportions were so severe that the dam holding back Lake Delton, just south of Wild Rock, gave way, and the entire lake drained away, washing away several vacation homes with it. Fortunately, Wild Rock - a part of the Wilderness Territory Resort - was left relatively unscathed by all the rain (and by the abnormally snowy winter preceding the rain). Nevertheless, certain conditioning issues remained during the first full summer of operation, many of which wouldn't have been an issue in a normal weather year. The areas of concern, though, are primarily relegated to the rough along the fairways and around the greens. The greens themselves, however, are remarkably true and fast.
Although Wild Rock remains a bit of a work in progress (the routing is going to be changed in the near future), visitors to the Dells shouldn't miss an opportunity to tee it up on a challenging and picturesque track, one which course architect Dr. Michael Hurdzan calls, "One of the top 10 we've ever done."
How Wild Rock plays
One hallmark of Hurdzan-Fry designs is ensuring a fair, enjoyable round for golfers of all skill levels. Wild Rock achieves this by offering five or more tee boxes on each hole. It is imperative that golfers check their egos at the club-drop, because if they choose the wrong set of tees, they will be faced with some long carries and very difficult shots.
A great example of this is on the current third hole. On this par 4, the tips measure 464 yards, and the back two tees ("Quartzite" and "Granite") present golfers with a completely blind tee shot over a rocky ravine. From the more forward three sets of tees (the most challenging of which is the 414-yard "Shale" tee), the ravine becomes progressively less of a hazard, and the sight lines to the fairway become progressively clearer.
The layout meanders from rolling farmland into memorable bluffs and valleys around the seventh hole. The starter, David L., turned speechless when he began describing this stretch of holes: "At seven, you can see seven, nine, 10 ... I mean, it's just beautiful."
And David wasn't just spouting the company line, either. The 493-yard, par-4 seventh is breathtaking. It's one of those holes where even if you're not playing the tips, you should take a moment and get out to gaze down at the fairway, some 100+ feet below the back-most tee boxes. The view is still excellent farther up, and from all the tee boxes golfers will be forced to deal with a crazy sand bunker right in the middle of the fairway. (If you hit it, you'll say it's unnecessary.)
The par-3 ninth is another example of how crucial it is to play from the proper tees. From the tips, you're looking at a 211-yard bomb to a green cut into the side of a hill, where short will be wet, and long will be pretty much dead. The 146-yard distance from the reasonable "mens'" tees is a far more appealing shot.
The back nine is, quite frankly, one gorgeous shot after another - so many wonderful holes, it may be hard to keep track of them all. The 567-yard 10th is a brutal test: an uphill drive to a fairway that snakes around a gaping swale carpeted in knee-deep grass. The tees at the 450-yard 12th are perched some 40 feet above the fairway. The 453-yard 13th hole is the first one that's not basically "out in front" of you, with a tee shot over fairway bunkers to a blind landing area in a sort of goose-necked fairway.
One of the real highlights of the course is the 179-yard 15th. This par three demands a carry over a deep gravel pit, and from the tips it looks a hell of a lot longer than 179 yards. The drop area near the most forward tee is a good idea, as otherwise players could lose a sleeve of balls here.
The final two holes of the present routing are a bit anticlimactic: a 356-yard par 4 and a 436-yard par 4, neither of which poses too much trouble. According to course General Manager Chris Goodwick, though, the plan is for the 17th to become the first hole, and the current 18th will be the second. The picturesque and devilish 453-yard 13th will then be the closer.
Interestingly, however, the plan includes that the clubhouse be moved from its present location to behind the barn sitting near the present-day 16th green. This move will be no mean feat, considering the expansive bare-timber clubhouse features huge picture windows. The structure is remarkable in itself, having placed second in Golf, Inc. magazine's 2007 rankings of best new clubhouses - so here's to hoping they don't break it when they move it.
Wild Rock Golf Club: The verdict
Wild Rock is a rousing, wonderful ride through the Wisconsin Dells. With green fees topping out at $95, including range balls and GPS-equipped cart, the course is a must-play for any golfer in the area on vacation.
The design is "resorty" up until the 13th hole (of the present routing; this will be the closer in the new routing, and a tough one it will be!). There are no big surprises off the tee until the 13th/18th, but because of the visually impressive surroundings and tee shots, you don't feel as if you're playing a course that is keeping the first-time visitor in mind. This balance of challenge and fairness is not nearly as easy to attain as Hurdzan-Fry make it look.
Wild Rock may still be a work in progress, but assuming that next year doesn't bring more vicious weather, growth in the rough and a few fairways should even out. And when the new re-routing is complete, the course will build to an appropriate and memorable crescendo.
When it does, Wild Rock will find itself on a lot of "Best in State" lists.
Wilderness Territory Resort lodging and dining
Wild Rock Golf Club is part of the Wilderness Territory Resort, which offers a total of 1,151 sleeping options (from hotel rooms to vacation villas) and almost 500,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor water parks. Wilderness Territory is in fact the largest water park resort in the world, and it is located in a place known for water parks. Other attractions in the Dells are fishing, casinos, and, if they re-fill Lake Delton, water sports and water skiing shows.
The Wisconsin Dells is replete with dining options, but visitors should just say to hell with cholesterol and sample as many of the famed local cheeses and beers as possible.
January 19, 2009
Kiel Christianson has lived, worked, traveled and golfed extensively on three continents. As senior writer and equipment editor for WorldGolf.com, he has reviewed courses, resorts, and golf academies from California to Ireland. Read his golf blog here.
Any opinions expressed above are those of the writer and do not necessarily represent the views of the management.
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