When I reviewed the Winter course(before they split the winter24/summer27 into separate entries) I gave it a 4.0, based on the novelty of two different courses, expecting to just keep it the same or drop the score based on how the summer course was. Naturally, I assumed it wouldn't be any better than a 3.5, maybe a 4. The winter course alone is only a 3.5
Add to this, when I drove through the park and scoped out the Summer course during my rounds on the Winter course, I have to admit I was not impressed. The summer holes I could see (tee signs covered in snow) looked flat, open and boring.
Wrong on all counts.
This is the best course I have played in SE Wisconsin to-date, and what I've heard about the remaining courses in the area leads me to believe that the title will rest with Dretzka, with Brown Deer a close second.
The winter course, though great given the limited options for snow golf, is not in the same league as this course.
All concrete pads, in great shape, dual tees on most of original 18. Original 18 has excellent signage, with hole maps detailling locations and distances to all the alt pins, from both long and short tees.
Oodles of alt pin positions, seemed like at least three for every hole, with some as many as five!! (in which case one was crazy hard, and only for tournaments, according to the guys running the weekly league & who switch the pins out regularly).
I'm gonna pause a moment here, because this course really impressed me on this point. The alt pin placements on this course are awesome. Each one significantly changes the hole, as much as the pin placements at Anna Page East, but with more options. The baskets here are well-placed and well-protected, from all of the pin placements, with a variety of awesome challenges on the putting game, like sticking the pin directly behind a tree with 3 trunks, thru a small opening onto a wooden hilltop blind from the tee, or behind a stand of white paper birch. Many holes have a circle of trees hollowed out for several different basket placements, each with its own narrow opening off one side of the fairway to enter like a (x) shape, with the x being basket and () being treeline.
This course looks fairly flat at first glance, and the total elevation change between the lowest and highest point on the course is not nearly as much as courses like Whistler and Justin Trails, but that's where the brilliance of the course's design comes into play. Elevation is in play on almost every hole. Some baskets are blind over a rolling hill, some are tucked into a hollow, some are up or down a hill. Many holes have both up and down elevation changes on them, for added fun. Its not drastic, but whats there does matter.
Also, this course varies from wooded to scattered trees. This course features some very hair-raising long tunnel shots through the woods (holes 2,3 & 17 in particular), but trees are a factor on every hole here. The baskets, in all pin locations, are very cleverly placed to maximize protection from the individual trees.
No hole on this course seems repetitive, even after repeated plays. They all have something different, and since there are so many pin locations, you can come here every week for 2 years and never play the exact same course twice, which is like playing a few completely different holes in most cases. It all comes back to the alt pins. It seems like they just keep adding more locations, which is awesome.
This course, at least from the short tees, is a great level of challenge: most holes seem quite attainable, but you will work for it. Deuces are very doable here, but don't expect them to just come, and with the changing baskets, scope out the hole before you park the wrong location. I get the feeling that if I played here enough, I would eventually birdie many of these, but it will take time and practice. Its far easier to bogey most of them.
Even if there is a hole you don't like, it has several different basket placements, so you wont have to suffer all year.
The holes force you to think, and play a variety of shots. Risk reward is in evidence, and this course WILL make you pay for getting greedy, as many holes force you to play under a tree canopy ceiling, at least of sorts.
This course throws many things at you: wind, tunnel shots with thick woods on either side, heavily wooded mazelike holes that force careful precision, and long drives. This course has some chances to air it out, but always with some control neccesary, and usually requiring curves around/through at least one tree gap.
It also has a nice variety of lengths and shapes. On one hole you might tee off with a careful midrange shot through trees, and the next hole will need the big driver. Curves left and right, so it helps to have more weapons in your arsenal, especially since what works one week wont neccesarily work the next, as they swap out a few pins each week.
The holes here are all good, forcing you to play a variety of lines. While by no means the most technical or wooded course out there, when playing this course, after every hole I just kept being more and more impressed. I kept trying to find reasons to downgrade this course, but its hard to find something to dislike about this place. Great maintenance on top of stellar course design, and great usage of available terrain and trees. Even after 27 holes, none of them feel redundant. Many tricky, interesting holes.
On the optional loop, there are some gorgeous cherry trees in bloom if you catch it in early spring. Stunning. Wood chips laid down for many putting circles, and areas that often turn to mud. Two consecutive super-tight wooded holes on the optional loop between 11&12 that will give you the willies. (Tighter than #13 and 17 at Elver Park)
This course reminds me of the best aspects of many other courses, combined into one.
-Hole-changing alt pins of Anna Page East
-More alt pin locations and rolling hills than Deming Park
-Dual concrete tees, like Madison courses
All around, a very nice, fun, challenging course with great flow, maintenance and variety. But it all comes back to variety. This course is a kaleidoscope chameleon, and every color it turns looks good.