Golfers who have been playing the same courses over and over could enjoy the game more and take in new fall scenery if they travel to different destinations, such as the colorful Idlewild Golf Club near Sturgeon Bay. Facebook photo.
Like many other northern Wisconsin golf course owners, Brandon Hansen started promoting lower rates as autumn arrived.
But he’s not just advertising fall specials. The Idlewild’s leader and PGA (Professional Golfers’ Association) Head Professional just loves golfing in September and October.
“Fall golf in Wisconsin is some of the best golf all season,” Hansen said, with courses benefiting from the seasonal change. His course is tucked along the boundary of Potawatomi State Park, punctuated by ponds and lined by trees.
“Grass becomes very lush, and course conditions are really nice – not to mention the trees changing colors is beautiful in the fall,” he said.
Many tourists gravitate toward courses on the northern part of the peninsula and miss out on the challenging, scenic and unique tracks near Sturgeon Bay – Cherry Hills and Idlewild.
“With the state park on the bluff, we get a lot of the good fall color,” Hansen said. “It definitely gets quieter on the golf course this time of year, so the wildlife becomes way more active, too.”
Fall is also a great time for golfers to get out and see new courses – not only to enjoy new scenery and challenges, but also to get out of a rut. Many golfers with course memberships rarely stray from their home courses. But golf experts like acclaimed teacher and retired Baylor University women’s golf coach Sylvia Ferdon say playing different courses is good for your game.
Door County is fortunate to have good public golf courses to play, Ferdon said.
“And Brown County has several, all within a little over an hour drive,” Ferdon said. “It challenges you to look at the roll of the land and the direction of the wind and much more.
“Players have a tendency to play golf on a straight line to the pin, but usually [that] is not how you will play your best golf,” Ferdon continued. “If the hole is a dogleg to the right, your widest side of the fairway will be left-center. And if you are on a par-5, you should do some lay-up calculations because the architect will have some hazards out there that can be totally avoided.”
When Ferdon plays different courses, she often aims for the “wide side” of the green away from the pin. Unless she’s a full-swing wedge away from the pin, aiming for the wide-open part of the green often results in lower scores, she said.
This golf writer and addict finds that he can develop uncertainty and a lack of confidence on certain holes if he plays the same course over and over again. Instead of trying to hit the best shot, a golfer who plays the same course day after day can start to dread a certain tee shot or approach shot, then aim without confidence rather than swinging a driver freely.
“Playing new golf courses requires all the discipline of ‘playing golf’ – not just thinking about the golf swing,” Ferdon said. “If you look at the land and the design of each hole and pin placements, you will enjoy playing at different venues much more.”
Hansen agrees that it’s good to play a variety of courses.
“I like getting to know a ‘home course,’ but, yeah, when you venture to other places, there [are] a lot of different shots that you have to hit, hazards you have to avoid, and so on,” he said.
When golfers play the same course over and over, they hit the same clubs and same shots over and over, “because that is what you’re used to,” Hansen said.
For both the views and the game, Ferdon said, “Variety is the spice of life!”
Restoration at Idlewild
Did you know Idlewild’s layout includes the county’s only island green – and island tee?
For most of the summer, Idlewild couldn’t allow players to cross the footbridge onto its fourth-hole tee box on a little island in a lake. The tee area has since been restored, and it’s now safe to access. Plus, it restores the fourth hole to a 428-yard Par 4 with a forced carry from the back tee instead of a less-challenging 400-yarder.
For a week after a thaw and heavy rains, The Orchards’ 17th green, normally surrounded on three sides by water, became an island until the water subsided.
Do you have column ideas, golf feats or photos to share? Fairways freelancer Craig Sterrett can be reached at [email protected].