golf guide
“PARTING IS SUCH SWEET SORROW” Eighteen memorable and fun finishing holes By JERRY SLASKE WHETHER YOU’RE playing well or poorly on any given day, there are finishing holes you should forward to, no matter what. They seem to lift the spirit. If you play them well on a day that otherwise could only be described as a “death march,” they reassure you that your game is intact and that golf is still the best and most challenging game around. Here are my favorite (not necessarily the toughest) 18th holes in the region (in order of preference). As you’ll see, I’m partial to par 5 finishing holes, perhaps because they make the game last a bit longer. 1. Brown Deer, 557 yards (414-352-8080) A solid tee shot is imperative on this uphill, relatively narrow par 5. A creek bisects the fairway about 220 yards from the tee so a weak drive probably will cost you a stroke. Avoid the traps on the fairway’s right side with your second shot. Hang back to give yourself a full swing with a wedge (or nine or whatever) on your third shot, especially challenging when the pin is on the right side just over a deep bunker. 2. Morningstar, 525 yards (262-662-1600) The view from this tee (and several others on this course carved out of an old quarry) is worth the price of admission. The tee shot seems to stay in the air forever. Favor the left side of the fairway all the way to the elevated green on this par 5 which doglegs slightly right about 140 yards from the green. 3. Whispering Springs, 529 yards (920-921-8053) Keep your drive in the fairway off the tee of this beautiful tree-lined hole that doglegs to the left about 120 yards from the green. Your second shot needs to be center or right to be in position for a wedge shot over water and a deep trap guarding the front of a shallow green that slopes from back to front. 4. Washington County, 405 yards (262-670-6616) An uphill dogleg left hole that always seems to be into the wind. This hole has been my nemesis on many occasions. Two large, deep traps are located on the fairway’s left side just where it doglegs. Get in those traps and you have little or no chance of reaching a long narrow green guarded by traps on the right front and along the entire left side. 5. The Oaks, 547 yards (608-837-4774) A double dogleg par 5 requiring a good drive and an even better second shot to position yourself to go at the elevated green with a short or medium iron. The second shot needs to be in the middle or on the left side of the fairway, but don’t go too far left because there’s water and marsh. 6. Hartford, 416 yards (262-673-2710) After the first five heart stoppers above, this is a relatively straight and flat hole, but it always seems to play into the wind during the summer. You have to be long and straight off the tee. Stray slightly to the left and your second shot could be influenced by a stand of huge trees lining the fairway leading up to the green. Go right and you also face tree problems. 7. Rock River Hills, 543 yards (920-485-4990) Go left off the tee on this double dogleg and you could be stymied by large willow trees along a pond. Go right and there are more trees. Your second shot can’t go too far left because there is another pond that can’t be seen. Your third shot is uphill to a severely undulating green protected on the right front by a large, deep bunker. You can’t see the green’s surface on your third so make sure of club selection. 8. Nagawaukee, 358 yards (262-367-2153) A relatively tame hole, but it’s one of my favorites nonetheless. It’s a fun and fitting end to a nice test of golf. The only trouble on this dogleg right is on the right in the form of a large trap and several large trees that could prevent a second shot to the green. Your second short iron shot is uphill and usually into the wind. You’re not home free on the green because it slopes severely from left to right. 9. Ironwood (#9 Meath), 411 yards (262-538-9900) Nothing fancy about this par 4, but it’s still a solid golf hole. Avoid the traps on both sides of the fairway with your drive, which needs to be long to have a medium iron (or long iron if the wind is against you) to a large green that slopes from back to front and is guarded on the right by traps. 10. Blackwolf Run (Meadow Valleys), 458 yards (800-344-2838) There’s no forgiveness on this slight dogleg right. Your tee shot must be long and as far right as possible without going in the rough, trees, or the Sheboygan River. If your drive is positioned correctly, you still have a long shot over the wide river to a large green up against the river’s bank. 11. The Bull, 485 yards, par 4 (920-467-1500) A double dogleg par 4 requiring a long drive that must be in the fairway and slice off as much of a pond as possible for even an outside chance of hitting this wide and shallow green in two. Reasonable golfers play their second shot to the left of the water and marsh in front of the green, leaving a chip. Going at this green in two demands a perfect second shot, assuming a perfect drive. And who among us hits two perfect shots in a row after 17 difficult holes? 13. Grand Geneva (The Brute), 464 yards (800-558-3417) A lake guards the entire right side of the hole and three huge bunkers loom near the tee shot’s landing area. Go right with your drive and it most likely will be in the water or one of these bunkers. On your second shot, while thinking of two bunkers on the right near the green, don’t forget the lake on the right. 14. Brighton Dale (Blue Spruce), 355 yards (262-878-1440) A sharp dogleg (actually 90 degrees) left about 240 yards out and water all along the left side prevents most golfers from going for the green from the tee. Go right off the tee and you could have tree problems; go through the fairway and you might have no shot at all. Bunkers on the front, right and left protect a large undulating green. 15. Kettle Hills (#9 Woods), 551 yards (262-628-0200) Many golfers dislike this hole because they think it’s gimmicky. It’s another double dogleg, demanding a long straight drive uphill to position yourself for a very accurate second shot to the top of a ridge. Make sure you have the right club for that second shot and stay right. Your third is severely downhill to a green that slopes from right to left and is situated alongside a hill on the right and a drop off to prehistoric marsh on the left. 16. Dretzka, 490 yards, par 5 (414-354-7300) Correct club selection off the tee is critical on this slight dogleg left. A creek angles across the fairway about 185 yards out on the left and 220 yards on the right. Forget about trying to clear the creek with your drive. Your second shot is across the creek and then severely uphill. A huge tree stands guard along the fairway’s right side and trees line the left side. 17. Muskego Lakes, 385 yards (414-425-6500) Like #18 at Ironwood, this is a fairly straightforward, but solid hole. It’s not long ,but it requires an accurate drive that avoids trees on the left and a pond on the right. The elevated, relatively flat green has a bunker on the front left and the right side. 18. Scenic View, 477 yards, par 5 (262-644-5661) All distances are from back tees. Golf Article Archives: |
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