CaddieTrail Guide
Wisconsin punches well above its weight — Whistling Straits hosted the Ryder Cup, Erin Hills the U.S. Open, and Sand Valley has become one of the premier golf destinations in the country. The public trail here is among the most satisfying in the Midwest.
Wisconsin is one of America's great golf destinations, anchored by Whistling Straits and its iconic Ryder Cup and PGA Championship history. Erin Hills hosted the 2017 U.S. Open, The Lido is Tom Doak's celebrated modern masterpiece, and Sand Valley has become a premier destination resort with Mammoth Dunes and Sedge Valley joining the original course among the top 10 in the state. Milwaukee Country Club and Blue Mound add Golden Age depth to a trail that spans lakeside resort golf, links-style layouts, and classic private clubs.
#1 on trail
Whistling Straits (Straits Course)Haven, Wisconsin
Pete and Alice Dye carved this Lake Michigan shoreline layout in 1998, bringing Irish links character to Wisconsin. Host of three PGA Championships and the 2021 Ryder Cup, where the U.S. won by a record 19–9.
#2 on trail
Erin Hills Golf CourseErin, Wisconsin
Links-style public layout by Hurdzan/Fry/Whitten across glacial Wisconsin terrain. Hosted the 2017 U.S. Open. Wide fairways, native fescue rough, and exposed ridgelines define the challenge.
#3 on trail
The LidoNekoosa, Wisconsin
Doak and Schneider's 2023 recreation of C.B. Macdonald's lost 1917 Long Island masterpiece rebuilds the original hole-for-hole on central Wisconsin's glacial sand. Its template holes — Redan, Alps, Cape, Biarritz, Punchbowl — and enormous greens make it one of the most acclaimed new courses in the country.
#4 on trail
Milwaukee Country ClubRiver Hills, Wisconsin
H.S. Colt and C.H. Alison design from 1929, one of Wisconsin's most architecturally significant private layouts. Routing uses the natural ravines and mature hardwoods of River Hills to demanding effect.
#5 on trail
Blackwolf Run (River Course)Kohler, Wisconsin
Pete and Alice Dye's 1988 design along the Sheboygan River hosted the U.S. Women's Open in 1998 and 2012 — the first decided when Se Ri Pak outlasted amateur Jenny Chuasiriporn in a 20-hole playoff, a win that reshaped women's golf in Asia. Na Yeon Choi took the 2012 title. Resort access.
#6 on trail
Sand ValleyNekoosa, Wisconsin
Coore & Crenshaw's 2017 design sits atop ancient lake bed sand, producing naturally firm, fast conditions across expansive fairways. The sandy soil and native fescue recall Scottish heathland, earning consistent top-20 public rankings.
Wisconsin is the No. 1 state for public golf in America, with eleven courses among the country's hundred greatest publicly accessible designs — more than any other state, six of them in the top 25. This trail gathers ten of them: every fully bookable Wisconsin course on that list. The eleventh, The Lido at Sand Valley, operates as a private club with limited tee-time access for resort guests on select weekdays, so it sits outside this trail's scope. Destination Kohler anchors the east side. Whistling Straits' Straits and Irish courses run along the Lake Michigan bluffs, and Blackwolf Run's River and Meadow Valleys courses sit a short drive inland — all four are Pete and Alice Dye designs. Erin Hills, in the Kettle Moraine northwest of Milwaukee, hosted the 2017 U.S. Open and the 2025 U.S. Women's Open. The Sand Valley Resort contingent in the central Wisconsin sand barrens contributes three: Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw's Sand Valley, David McLay Kidd's Mammoth Dunes, and Tom Doak's Sedge Valley. Rounding out the trail: Robert Trent Jones Jr.'s SentryWorld in Stevens Point, host of the 2023 U.S. Senior Open, and Lawsonia's historic Links Course in Green Lake — a 1930 William Langford and Theodore Moreau design that remains one of the great preserved Golden Age layouts in the Midwest. The geographic spread, from Lake Michigan shoreline to central sand country to the southeastern parkland, makes this a true pursuit.
#1 on trail
Whistling Straits (Straits Course)Haven, Wisconsin
Pete and Alice Dye carved this Lake Michigan shoreline layout in 1998, bringing Irish links character to Wisconsin. Host of three PGA Championships and the 2021 Ryder Cup, where the U.S. won by a record 19–9.
#2 on trail
Erin Hills Golf CourseErin, Wisconsin
Links-style public layout by Hurdzan/Fry/Whitten across glacial Wisconsin terrain. Hosted the 2017 U.S. Open. Wide fairways, native fescue rough, and exposed ridgelines define the challenge.
#3 on trail
Sand ValleyNekoosa, Wisconsin
Coore & Crenshaw's 2017 design sits atop ancient lake bed sand, producing naturally firm, fast conditions across expansive fairways. The sandy soil and native fescue recall Scottish heathland, earning consistent top-20 public rankings.
#4 on trail
Blackwolf Run (River Course)Kohler, Wisconsin
Pete and Alice Dye's 1988 design along the Sheboygan River hosted the U.S. Women's Open in 1998 and 2012 — the first decided when Se Ri Pak outlasted amateur Jenny Chuasiriporn in a 20-hole playoff, a win that reshaped women's golf in Asia. Na Yeon Choi took the 2012 title. Resort access.
#5 on trail
Mammoth DunesNekoosa, Wisconsin
David McLay Kidd's 2018 design sprawls across central Wisconsin's ancient sand barrens on a massive scale — enormous fairways, minimal rough, and a dune ridge nearly 100 feet high. Built to bring fun back to the game, and ranked among America's top public courses. Resort access via Sand Valley.
#6 on trail
Sedge ValleyNekoosa, Wisconsin
Tom Doak's par-68 heathland design at Sand Valley packs strategy into barely 6,000 yards, drawing on the classic inland courses south of London. Small, firm greens and sunken bunkers reward precision over power in a compact routing that proves less can be more.
Four championship courses in the Central Sands of Wisconsin — Sand Valley (Coore & Crenshaw, 2017), Mammoth Dunes (David McLay Kidd, 2018), The Lido (Tom Doak, 2023 recreation of C.B. Macdonald's 1917 original), and Sedge Valley (Tom Doak, 2024) — routed through prehistoric sand dunes that give this modern resort an otherworldly links character. All four courses are walking-only. Sand Valley, Mammoth Dunes, and Sedge Valley are resort-accessible, with group tee times requiring substantial advance planning. The Lido is a private destination club with a national membership roster; Sand Valley resort guests can access it only Sunday through Thursday on a limited basis. Sand Valley has been named the USGA's host site for four national championships beginning with the 2026 U.S. Mid-Amateur. Roughly 2.5 hours from Milwaukee and 3.5 hours from Chicago. Pairs naturally with Whistling Straits for a Wisconsin golf circuit.
#1 on trail
Sand ValleyNekoosa, Wisconsin
Coore & Crenshaw's 2017 design sits atop ancient lake bed sand, producing naturally firm, fast conditions across expansive fairways. The sandy soil and native fescue recall Scottish heathland, earning consistent top-20 public rankings.
#2 on trail
Mammoth DunesNekoosa, Wisconsin
David McLay Kidd's 2018 design sprawls across central Wisconsin's ancient sand barrens on a massive scale — enormous fairways, minimal rough, and a dune ridge nearly 100 feet high. Built to bring fun back to the game, and ranked among America's top public courses. Resort access via Sand Valley.
#3 on trail
Sedge ValleyNekoosa, Wisconsin
Tom Doak's par-68 heathland design at Sand Valley packs strategy into barely 6,000 yards, drawing on the classic inland courses south of London. Small, firm greens and sunken bunkers reward precision over power in a compact routing that proves less can be more.
#4 on trail
The LidoNekoosa, Wisconsin
Doak and Schneider's 2023 recreation of C.B. Macdonald's lost 1917 Long Island masterpiece rebuilds the original hole-for-hole on central Wisconsin's glacial sand. Its template holes — Redan, Alps, Cape, Biarritz, Punchbowl — and enormous greens make it one of the most acclaimed new courses in the country.
Four Pete and Alice Dye courses at Destination Kohler, set along and inland from Lake Michigan's western shore in eastern Wisconsin. On the lakefront at Whistling Straits, the windswept, walking-only Straits course — a faux-Irish links of tumbling dunes and a hundred-odd bunkers — is paired with the inland Irish; a half-hour south in Kohler, Blackwolf Run's River and Meadow Valleys courses wind through the glacial valley of the Sheboygan River. Between them the property has staged as much championship golf as any Pete Dye site anywhere: the Straits hosted the PGA Championship in 2004, 2010 and 2015, the 2007 U.S. Senior Open and the 2021 Ryder Cup, while Blackwolf Run held the U.S. Women's Open in 1998 and 2012. Hosted by the historic American Club, the flagship of the resort, tee times favor resort guests. Firm, fast, and fiercely bunkered, this is Dye at his most demanding.
#1 on trail
Whistling Straits (Straits Course)Haven, Wisconsin
Pete and Alice Dye carved this Lake Michigan shoreline layout in 1998, bringing Irish links character to Wisconsin. Host of three PGA Championships and the 2021 Ryder Cup, where the U.S. won by a record 19–9.
#2 on trail
Whistling Straits (Irish Course)Haven, Wisconsin
Links-style inland terrain with dramatic elevation shifts, bentgrass fairways framed by native fescue rough and dunes, with select views of Lake Michigan. Public access via The American Club resort.
#3 on trail
Blackwolf Run (River Course)Kohler, Wisconsin
Pete and Alice Dye's 1988 design along the Sheboygan River hosted the U.S. Women's Open in 1998 and 2012 — the first decided when Se Ri Pak outlasted amateur Jenny Chuasiriporn in a 20-hole playoff, a win that reshaped women's golf in Asia. Na Yeon Choi took the 2012 title. Resort access.
#4 on trail
Blackwolf Run (Meadow Valleys Course)Kohler, Wisconsin
Pete Dye design carved through glacial terrain in Kohler, WI. Meadow Valleys plays more open than its River Course sibling—wide fairways, fewer forced carries, still Dye-sharp.
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