Our series on America’s best golf courses continues with a look at the three best modern courses in the North Central U.S. as determined by Golfweek magazine’s handpicked panel of 385 course raters. The raters, who are students of architecture, attend national workshops and each evaluate 15 to 20 courses per year.
Here’s what distinguishes the top modern courses in the North Central U.S., according to Golfweek architecture editor Bradley S. Klein. We’ve also included information on the most convenient places to land your business jet near each course.
Whistling Straights, Kohler, Wisconsin
Prior to the 2004 PGA Championship here (won by Vijay Sing in a playoff with Justin Leonard and Chris DiMarco), the grounds crew started counting all of the bunkers and quit when they reached 1,100. No one, not even designer Pete Dye, knows for sure how many pot bunkers and sandy waste areas are at this stunning setting. With two miles of shoreline holes on a bluff overlooking Lake Michigan, it’s hard even to concentrate on the shots. The par threes, all of them perched on the water’s edge, are especially scenic. Whistling Straits, ranked fourth on Golfweek’s modern list, is one of four stellar resort courses that are part of the American Club. All of them are worth playing.
Airport
Sheboygan County Memorial (SBM), 5,402-ft runway, five-mile drive.
FBO: Western Shore Aviation,
(920) 467-6151.
Sand Hills Golf Club, Mullen, Nebraska
Golfweek’s perennial number-one modern course is a naturalistic prairie gem set in the vast mid-American grasslands. Designed by Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw and opened in 1995, it offers windswept, wide-open holes and green contours that are often hilarious yet work well because they fit the native contours of the land. The journey to Sand Hills, 55 miles north of Mullen, is like a sojourn to Mecca, as is staying in the on-site cabins overlooking the Dismal River.
Airport
Hooker County (MHN), 2,525-ft runway,
55-mile drive.
FBO: None
Muirfield Village Golf Club, Dublin, Ohio
“The House that Jack Built,” Jack Nicklaus’ hometown tribute course, has hosted the PGA Tour’s Memorial Tournament since 1976 and regularly wins plaudits as the circuit’s most meticulously manicured layout. The elegant routing by Desmond Muirhead and Nicklaus in 1974 gave breathing room for each fairway, and the Golden Bear continues to micromanage every square foot of this parkland layout. It’s sixth on Golfweek’s modern-courses list. Kudos, too, to veteran greenskeeper Paul B. Latshaw. It’s always fun to play a course you’ve seen on TV, though for all the times you’ve watched them play the devilish, 363-yard, par-4 14th hole, you still won’t believe how narrow and tilted the putting surface is.
Airport
Dublin (OSU),
5,004-ft runway, seven-mile drive.
FBO: Ohio State University,
(614) 292-5580; (800) 777-5488.
'The Best Modern Golf Courses in the North Central U.S.' PDF
