Interviews

Oakmont: An interview with Gil Hanse

With the 2025 US Open arriving at Oakmont, Richard Humphreys spoke with the architect, who renovated the course in 2023, about what to expect

Martin Ebert: Design journey

With a portfolio that includes eight of the ten Open venues, Mackenzie & Ebert occupies an enviable position in the golf design industry. Adam Lawrence spoke with principal Martin Ebert to learn how they got there

Designs for the big screen

Chad Goetz and Agustin Piza discuss their design decisions for the virtual holes that featured in the first season of TGL

Bob Harrison: Wizard of Oz

The Australian designer has had a long career and, like many of his countrymen, has spent much of it away from home. Adam Lawrence listened to his tales from the road

Ben Cowan-Dewar: Shock and awe

Golf development firm Cabot now has properties in six countries. Richard Humphreys speaks with co-founder and CEO Ben Cowan-Dewar about what makes a great site, selection of golf course architects, and more

Team building

Turfgrass has launched its US arm with the appointment of John Lawrence, Adam Moeller and Brad Owen. Richard Humphreys speaks with them, Turfgrass founder John Clarkin and director of agronomy Julian Mooney to find out more

Brian Curley: Life of Brian

The designer has surely clocked up more air miles than anyone else in the business. Adam Lawrence caught up with him in between flights to discuss his career and his new venture with Jim Wagner

Oakmont: An interview with Gil Hanse

With the 2025 US Open arriving at Oakmont, Richard Humphreys spoke with the architect, who renovated the course in 2023, about what to expect

Martin Ebert: Design journey

With a portfolio that includes eight of the ten Open venues, Mackenzie & Ebert occupies an enviable position in the golf design industry. Adam Lawrence spoke with principal Martin Ebert to learn how they got there

Designs for the big screen

Chad Goetz and Agustin Piza discuss their design decisions for the virtual holes that featured in the first season of TGL

Bob Harrison: Wizard of Oz

The Australian designer has had a long career and, like many of his countrymen, has spent much of it away from home. Adam Lawrence listened to his tales from the road

Ben Cowan-Dewar: Shock and awe

Golf development firm Cabot now has properties in six countries. Richard Humphreys speaks with co-founder and CEO Ben Cowan-Dewar about what makes a great site, selection of golf course architects, and more

Team building

Turfgrass has launched its US arm with the appointment of John Lawrence, Adam Moeller and Brad Owen. Richard Humphreys speaks with them, Turfgrass founder John Clarkin and director of agronomy Julian Mooney to find out more

Brian Curley: Life of Brian

The designer has surely clocked up more air miles than anyone else in the business. Adam Lawrence caught up with him in between flights to discuss his career and his new venture with Jim Wagner

Adam Lawrence
/ Categories: News

First course at new Sand Valley resort officially opens

The first course at the new Sand Valley golf resort in central Wisconsin officially opened yesterday. 

High winds and low temperatures made life for the 150 golfers booked in for opening day a little uncomfortable, but did little to dent the excitement of those seeing the Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw designed course for the first time.

The resort, set on a remarkable 2,500 acre plot of huge, rolling sand hills and valleys around 100 miles north of the state capital Madison, could eventually feature several more courses, though developer Mike Keiser Jr declined to comment on plans beyond the second course, Mammoth Dunes. The latter is designed by David McLay Kidd’s firm, DMK Golf Design, and is currently in construction. Four holes are already grassed; others will follow in the next few weeks and the resort expects to open a preview loop later in the summer.

The resort’s main clubhouse, which contains bar, restaurant, pro shop and 17 bedrooms, will open on 1 June. It overlooks the closing hole of Mammoth Dunes.

Coore and Crenshaw’s course begins atop one of the property’s largest sandhills. It features an extremely strong set of par fives, several of which feature split fairways, and an especially good collection of one shot holes. These range from the tiny eighth, uphill over a terrifying bunker to a skyline green, to the epic seventeenth, in excess of 240 yards to a largely blind punchbowl green.

The resort is billing the course as a ‘heathland’ experience. Although it is very different from the true heathland courses of England, France and so on, there are a number of overtones of Sunningdale New about Sand Valley, and there are even examples of a plant, native to the sand barrens, that closely resembles real heather.

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Slideshow HTML
  • Nemu2

    Sand Valley lies around 100 miles north of the Wisconsin state capital, Madison

  • Nemu2

    The tenth hole on the new course

  • Nemu2

    The course’s fourteenth hole

  • Nemu2

    The opening hole at the new Sand Valley course

  • Nemu2

    The resort is billing the new course as a ‘heathland’ experience

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