Though he didn’t use the phrase “problem,’’ Tom Ferrell clearly threw down the gauntlet (or golf glove) when he just lately instructed me this at Sedge Valley – Tom Doak’s latest creation right here at Sand Valley Golf Resort. “I wager, in relation to par, your scoring common at Sedge Valley isn’t decrease than some other course right here.’’
I didn’t take that wager. I’m guessing most gamers who do will lose. At 5,800 yards, par 68, Sedge Valley is greater than sufficient golf course for gamers no matter handicaps or talents. Doak has made certain of that with deceptively thick underbrush off the fairways and slim, undulating greens.
“The directive had all the time been to search out one of the best greens websites,’’ stated Ferrell, vp of communications for Sand Valley mum or dad Dream Golf Resorts. “The purpose is to discover the property (by way of) golf. That is very distinctive piece of property.’’
Sedge Valley, little doubt, ups the ante for Sedge Valley as a premier golf vacation spot for golfers from throughout the nation. Situated in the midst of Wisconsin – lower than a three-hour drive from Milwaukee and fewer than two hours from Madison – Sand Valley Golf Resort all the time has appealed to critical golfers within the Midwest and Higher Midwest. However as the recognition of high-end vacation spot golf resorts continues to develop, so does Sand Valley’s repute nationally. With Wisconsin’s average summer season daytime temperatures, cool evenings and lengthy days of summer season daylight, Sand Valley is a perfect vacation spot for South Floridians to get away from the summer season warmth and humidity.
Whereas some gamers may chuckle at a 5,800-yard, par 68 course, listed here are a few issues to recollect about Sedge Valley: One, your swing doesn’t know the distinction between 5,800 yards and seven,300 yards; two, the Keiser household, proprietor of Dream Golf Resorts, doesn’t construct golf programs simply to be constructing them. Whether or not it’s The Lido at Sand Valley or Pacific Dunes at Bandon Dunes, every course is constructed with a objective. Within the case of Sedge Valley, that objective was to construct a sub-par 70 course that rivals the highest “quick’’ programs within the U.S. (par 69 Wannamoisett in Rumford, RI) and the UK (suppose Crail’s par 69 Balcomie Hyperlinks in Fife).
Reality is, there’s nothing “quick’’ about any of these programs besides the numbers on their scorecards.
“Every time I see (Sedge Valley) I stroll away with totally different descriptions,’’ stated Sand Valley Director of Advertising Brandon Carter. “It’s intimate and it’s brawny. It’s completely totally different than the rest now we have right here immediately.’’
What Sand Valley has are two giant–than-life programs – Sand Valley (Invoice Coore and Ben Crenshaw) and Mammoth Dunes (David McLay Kidd) that every sweep throughout the Wisconsin sand hills. The Lido is Doak’s (profitable) try at time journey that transports gamers again to C.B. Macdonald’s “misplaced’’ traditional of the early twentieth century. The Sandbox, in the meantime, is Coore and Crenshaw’s par-3 course that pays tribute to the traditional designs of golf “golden age.’’
All of which brings us again to Sedge Valley, which not like Sand Valley and Mammoth Dunes, hugs the terrain just like the heathland programs south of London (suppose Sunningdale).
With two par-four holes (Nos. 6 and 12) measuring lower than 300 yards lengthy every, Sedge Valley checks a participant’s ego as a lot as his or her expertise. The back-to-back par 3 holes (Nos. 7 and eight), with the eighth measuring 227 yards from the ideas, are the highlights of the entrance aspect.
Sedge Valley’s solely par-five is the eleventh gap, which performs a tricky 542 yards from the ideas. Any ultimate ideas about Sedge Valley being a “quick’’ course dies on the twelfth gap.
Ferrell smiled and gazed towards Sedge Valley’s first tee.
“I believe lots of people will come right here licking their chops and go away licking their wounds.’’
