Golf in Madison

With few trees to knock down errant drives, the wide-open course at Kestrel Ridge rewards control and course-management skills for players negotiating its more than 6,000 yards. Players point their tee shots down the center of the fairway from one of four different sets of tees, taking care to avoid numerous lurking fairway bunkers and the water hazards that run alongside the fairways of holes 1, 8, 9, and 10. When they're not engaging in physical altercations with swirling crosswinds, visitors should take time to appreciate the open expanse of rolling Wisconsin countryside through which the course winds. The track saves its crown jewel for last, with an 18th hole that forces players to nail a small, sloping landing area from the tee and then carry their approach over a rock ravine that runs alongside the right of the hole and contains fossils of Neanderthal golfers.

After a round, tired golfers can head to the clubhouse bar for traditional pub fare or re-create dramatic putts on the two large putting greens. A driving range hosts hitters on both grass and rubber mats and challenges them to assail greens located strategically between 125 and 230 yards away.

The course at Glen Erin Golf Club harkens back to the earliest days of golf with a links-style layout inspired by traditional courses in Ireland. Though it opened in 2003, the course pays homage to yesteryear with rolling fairways, oversize greens, and deep pot bunkers. Native fescues ensnare wayward shots that venture outside the first cut of rough, forcing players to chop through dense grasses with scythe clubs just to get the ball back onto shorter grass. The back nine is bookended by par 5s on holes 10 and 18, each more than 575 yards in length and unreachable in two strokes for all but the longest hitters or golfers who have wired their golf ball with hummingbird wings.

Course at a Glance:

• 18-hole, par 71 course
• Total length of 6,849 yards from the back tees
• Course rating of 72.4 from the back tees
• Course slope of 126 from the back tees
• Four sets of tees per hole

Bentgrass greens and fairways blended with blades of bluegrass and fescue connect across 3,284 yards to form Argue-Ment Golf Course’s nine-hole golf course. Natural wilderness, tall grass roughs, and rows of crops flanking the course stand as testaments to the horticultural conscientiousness of the family-owned facility, which minimizes the amount of pesticides used on the layout to preserve the area’s ecological integrity and create a traditional links-style course right in heart of Southcentral Wisconsin. Golfers must exercise astute club selection and confident swings to steer balls around or over water hazards, which come into play on three holes and torment hydrophobic golf balls. At the end of each fairway, small greens elude errant approaches and flummox putters with subtle breaks. Golfers can prepare for their round by enrolling in a lesson with PGA member David Haugh, who helps hone swings at the course’s practice facilities.

Course at a Glance:

• Nine-hole, par 36 course
• Length of 3,284 yards from the farthest tees
• Course rating of 35.6 from the farthest tees
• Slope rating of 123 from the farthest tees
• Five tee options

Built in 1925 as a nine-hole course from soil harvested at a local farm and placed by horse-drawn carts, Lake Wisconsin Country Club has since grown into an 18-hole course that runs alongside Lake Wisconsin. At a distance of 5,881 yards from the farthest tees, the picturesque par 70 eschews overwhelming length in favor of a hazard-intensive round, as players must reckon with dense tree lines, water that comes in play on five holes, and territorial blades of grass throughout the layout. Rounds begin with the course’s most difficult hole, a 415-yard par 4 that demands a straight drive to keep balls out of a small forest on the left and a pond located on the right. A stint at the club’s driving range grants clubbers a chance to prepare for the round and guide 9-irons through warm-up calisthenics.

Kissing the shores of Lake Wisconsin, the club offers complimentary dock slips for guests approaching by boat or in need of a place to station their pet porpoise. The club’s dining room is open to the public for Friday-night fish fries, during which patrons can take in cocktails, surf 'n' turf entrees, and evening views of the lake.

Course at a Glance:

• 18-hole, par 60 course
• Length of 5,881 yards from the farthest tees
• Slope rating of 117 from the farthest tees
• Three tee options

At most golf courses, players look out onto dew-kissed fairways or swaying trees and, for a moment, have their breath stolen by the picturesque landscape. At Baraboo Country Club, those moments arrive seemingly at every turn.

With unrivaled views of the bluffs at nearby Devil's Lake State Park and water features formed by Draper Creek in play on nine holes, Baraboo Country Club’s scenery enchants golfers as they traverse the 18-hole course. The inventive layout makes the most of its surroundings, as showcased on the club’s signature hole—the par 5 8th—where drives must carry a water hazard down a tree-lined fairway that dog-legs left on its way to a blind green that, like all of the Club’s putting surfaces, reads a slick “10” on the stimpmeter and doubles as a dance floor for squirrel wedding receptions.

Golfers can prime swings for upcoming rounds with a 10-stall driving range, practice bunker, and putting green, while a full-service pro shop lets golfers replace worn-down gloves or disloyal sandwedges. A wraparound bar with granite countertops awaits at the Fore Seasons Restaurant and Lounge, which serves a menu of classic sandwiches and weekly specials.