@CentralWIWarrior’s profile photo reminded me that SentryWorld will have gone an entire season of being shutdown due to COVID. Does anyone else find it a bit odd that they just threw the whole season away? It has to have something to do with them being an insurance company, right?
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Nice flex
Also, my quick review of Club at Lac La Belle
- V good opener
- Tight tee shot, deceivingly short
- My dad and I both thought 4 green was 3 green from the tee. Thought it was a cool reveal when we saw the actual green below the fairway (and maybe we are dumb, who can say)
- Awesome, wild-ass green
- Honestly pretty meh for me, short & straight par 5
- Stout par 4, really tough drive
- I actually liked it, fairway narrows as it gets closer to the green & right is dead. Pick a comfy club off the tee
- Aced it. NBD.
- Don’t really remember it, because of said ace.
- Good hole, was in bunker down the right, do not recommend.
- Cool par 3, mega ridge
- Agreed doesn’t fit with the rest of the course, but only par 5 that has length.
- Really liked it. Creek angled nicely & cool green
- Fine
- Wild-ass green pitched hard back to front
- Easily my favorite on the course. The drive and the green are both soo good
- Fine
- Wildest of wild greens. Great finisher.
Overall it is an incredible value at $75 to walk. Should be even better next year when it gets a bit firmer.
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Nice flex
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I give it a bit of a pass too given the cost. Could they charge more and I would still drive there to play? Yep, without question. But, they keep the price low and let me play all day for less than it costs me to play a single round at some other courses in the state that are highly ranked.
You get a pass when you don’t charge me a ton of money for the experience that comes with the actual golf course that is the Links. Woodlands is so meh it’s not even funny, but it’s nice to have there to have a loop on all you can play days.
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I do still maintain that for ~$90, LL is still a pretty good deal. But I agree with most of this.
Range is borderline embarrassing, especially next to other properties at this price point.
I get the har-har-har don’t hit it in the bunkers, but the bunkers flat out stink.
Woodlands is fine - slightly reminiscent of tracks you would find up north. Last time I played there some of the tee boxes were completely destroyed and there were large stones in bunkers, which also stink.
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SW got low-key roasted on social media for being closed all year while others were open, but SW is also extremely rare in that the entire course and SW property is merely an expense for Sentry Insurance - there is little profit made on the course compared to their insurance activities. They closed the course a few years ago for the updates and didn’t suffer at all, same thing happened this year. A lot of employees were furloughed which is the worst part of the situation but they were able to work on bunker irrigation & installing subair in their greens. Also, if there were happen to be a COVID situation at the course, Sentry is in national news as an insurance company that doesn’t know how to manage/avoid risk. Just didn’t make sense from all angles. I can’t wait to get back on it next year though, such a pristine place.
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I played Links last year for the first time, thought it was great. This year I did the all day pass and played both the Links then the Woodlands, and to be honest, I actually had a better time (and better round) on the Woodlands course. The bunkers are COMPLETE Trash and it it is a little rough around edges; however, for what it is, the Woodlands was a complete delight. The Links gets the spotlight, but the Woodlands could be just as good, if not better, if they sunk a little time and money into it. It just gets crapped on due to the spotlight next door.
Maybe it’s just been the times that I have played it, but it’s always been soggy with almost zero roll, the greens aren’t nearly as smooth as I would think they could be, the sad (as you said) is awful, and some holes are almost too penal if you’re not in the correct spot. I like the course as an add on, but not something that I would ever make the drive to play alone. For me, it serves the perfect purpose which is to play second fiddle to Links.
With a little clearing out of trees, some work on the greens, and maybe adding a little drainage, I think you would get 2 distinctly different, but similarly great golf courses on that property.
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My main gripe about the Woodlands was how many bunkers were removed (great), but never fully dressed back into fairway or rough conditions. I can think of at least 5 of these locations, including the par 3 16th.
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What is the beef with Lawsonia links bunkers? Not enough sand?
Sand is really bad, sparse minimally draining, in most of the LL bunkers. With so many of the traps surrounding the elevated greens it makes it really tough to play a good shot out of them. Specifically noticed this on 12 and 14 this year. Is the bunker work something that could be done in the winter, or would it require closing the course for several months during the already short season in mid-Wisconsin?
But other than the condition of the traps, the Links course is fantastic.
5-9 and 11-13 are very good stretches. Almost parred 13 for the first time this year.
The range isn’t stellar but is serviceable. Langford’s pub is fine, the chicken sandwiches and the brat are good. Merch is improving, nice new hats this year.
Agree that Woodlands is fun and like a lot of other northern WI courses, but on a 36 hole day up there there is no good reason to not play the Links course twice.
Hope to play it annually for the rest of my life (this was my fourth straight year playing it).
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Hooray - I get to take part in the Lawsonia talks now after playing for the first time today. Thought there were a lot of fun shots, I like the crazy hill/bunker combos, greens were tough but fair IMO. It was 42 degrees & 15 MPH winds when we teed off and it only got colder as we got to the back 9 but it was still a good time. Fun course, would like to play again in warmer weather, but still not in my top 5. My opinion matters so little that it’s hardly worth noting, but just following up because I had mentioned it earlier. (Mammoth, SV, SentryWorld, The Bull, Straits-Irish FYI and in no particular order).
Hey Crew. New to the Refuge, but have followed NLU for quite a while. Checking in from Janesville and looking forward to connecting!
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Had the opportunity to play the straits yesterday with a member. we only got to play 14 holes but it is easily my favorite course (with Erin being a close second). Being someone who is not used to playing big championship courses, I don’t really have a good comparison of other expensive courses and therefore cannot justify the price tag. I think that the experience of just walking the property is half of what makes it special. I know there are a lot of you who have played the course before, and many people say it doesn’t keep up with the modern resort style courses, but I could play there everyday. we played the blue tees and I was 6 over in the 14 holes we played (couldn’t hit any greens). We jumped to 17 and 18 to finish our day and got to see the bald eagles that live on 18. craziness.
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Guise, be sure to keep an eye out for a YUGE announcement today making signing up for this even more important. So, for those of you who haven’t signed up yet, keep pondering it, but this is going to be something you wont want to miss out on.
Remember, this doesn’t have to be just current refugees, either! Have your friends #GetInvolved and get them singed up too! Things are better with bigger groups and more friends!
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Intriguing…
I will say, there is a possibility that they are related…
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Here you go guise
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In other words, if you haven’t singed up, do it immediately! We are currently at 28 people who are “in” and will have to start a waitlist after we get to 32.
Don’t miss out on the “Ope”-in!
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Is this different than what I already signed up for? I assume so since I don’t see myself on the list. Waitlisted already!