This is what I did for Blue Mound. Spendy, but worth it. And a very under-rated/under-appreciated perk of joining a private club. You’d be surprised at how many supposedly ‘uber private’ places will open their doors to guests with just a call from the pro.
Edit to add a 4th way: Buy a foursome at a charity auction. Another option that is usually $$, but if you absolutely need to play somewhere that isn’t named Augusta National Golf Club there is probably someone auctioning off a foursome. There are some big online auctions every year (and the WSGA does a good one as well). The key is to find 3 other degenerates and agree on a price you’ll all pay and then hope to get lucky.
There have been all kinds of trips that I’ve been on that when it casually comes up in conversation my pro always asks “do you want me to make any calls” which is awesome. When I was last in Hilton Head, we played 5 private clubs and Harbour Town all though making calls from club to club. Sure, you’re going to have to spend sometimes, but I’ve also been in the situation where they welcome you on for a cart fee, which is awesome too.
I’ve heard the conditioning is suspect these days, especially for what they charge. However, I would agree with you that Hayward/Cable would be my choice because you have Big Fish, Forest Ridges, & Telemark (assuming Telemark stays open) all right there. Are any of them actually ‘good’? I dunno, probably not. But they are all fun as hell to play.
Timber Ridge is pretty good, and if @midwestgolfbum is to be believed, Minocqua is a superstar in that part and Trout Lake has always been fun when I’ve played it (admittedly not in the past 15 years)
Second, @PTM Timber Ridge is always on the scale of good, Trout Lake and I don’t get along, but it’s a nice track, and Northwood is there, though nothing amazing. If it fits into the eventual budget, Minocqua CC is somewhere I could play every day of the admittedly short season. I have never been there and not ended up hitting every club in my bag, which is part of the appeal to me. The conditions are also always great.
I’m a Door County gui, that’s where my old man grew up and where we have the family cottage, so I’m also not a ton of help outside of the Minocqua area.
Also if you have old money and a plane you can just fly into Boulder Junction and be on the first tee at Dairymen’s in about 5 minutes. Course doesn’t look like much but I bet the pace of play kicks ass.
If you have a plane, you probably don’t need to be looking in northern Wisconsin. Saying this because I have a buddy who has a plane and he goes south vs north so my experience is limited.
Well damn, not a bad way to make a first post after nearly 3 years! Generally, I would say welcome, but you’ve been around for a while, so maybe, welcome back.
Should it be of interest for you, we are running a season long match play here in Wisconsin, which will end with the top two in the larger regional event that is going to be held at Lawsonia next fall called the Midwest “Ope”-in.
If that’s not your speed, hopefully you get involved in some of the other meetup events that happen, as everybody is always friendly and happy to play a round.
I’ll take a stab at my own rankings. Wisconsin has some great public golf so I’m splitting hairs and am likely to continue to flip flop these over time. Hope to venture out and experience some new courses next year.
With respect to my rankings - I like it due to a combination of proximity, price, and conditions. I agree with you that there isn’t anything spectacular about the course (I also have the same thoughts about LL), I could play WC 2-3x for the same cost of LL and save an hour of driving each way from SE Wisconsin. I think if I lived more in the Fox Valley, my rankings would definitely be different with Lawsonia being a bit closer.
RE: Washington County; it’s a nice layout, almost always in good condition, fast greens, and other than some pace of play issues at times, I always enjoy playing there. So I don’t think it’s shocking to rank it higher than some of it’s pricier and more famous competitors.
I don’t see it as a shock to be ranked more highly than some of the more expensive options, but not sure that i would put it in my top 10 in the state. I recognize that I have been pretty lucky to be able to play a ton of pretty amazing places around the state, but Washington County doesn’t really do it for me. As @Klebs01 mentioned, it’s a decent muni that, in my opinion, generally has mid-tier public conditions for slightly less than . As a person who doesn’t live in the county, paying the full rate makes it even less attractive, especially with the fact that every time I have been there pace of play has been an issue.
By no means am I telling you, @ajvhandel, or @zednems that liking the place is wrong, just explaining my own opinions and why I don’t necessarily agree.