Sand Valley Golf Resort
As someone who frequently dreams of his next golf trip, Sand Valley has been at the top of my bucket list for a long time. This trip was my wedding present in February 2022 and it was a long 15-month wait to get up there. As new parents, we decided to forgo the 10-hour drive from Cleveland and choose to fly to Chicago and then rent a car. I was very excited that Haley could join me on this trip to help share my golfing passion and it was a nice getaway together without our 3 month old.
My first tee time was 2pm on Friday so we decided to fly in Thursday afternoon and spend the night in Madison, WI. We flew into O’Hare and then got in our rental car for the hour drive to Madison. We didn’t have any expectations for our night here and were blown away by our experience. Madison is home to the University of Wisconsin (UW) and we stayed on campus at The Graduate. The location was perfect as it was walkable to anywhere we wanted to explore, our visit there was after school let out but you feel the energy of the school and how crowded everything would be when school is in session. We met a colleague of mine at the Old Fashioned which was featured on Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives and was voted the best cheese curds in Wisconsin. This place has good food, drinks, and a great atmosphere, we probably would not recommend dinner here but great for lunch or a drink & appetizer. Click here for our full Madison guide. The next morning we woke up, grabbed coffee, and walked around campus. It was very peaceful and beautiful as UW sits right on an interior lake, we drank our coffee and watched the crew teams practicing before we started our 2.5 hour drive up to Sand Valley.
The drive up to Sand Valley is pretty boring except when you get to pass the world's largest Culvers (we stopped for lunch here on our way back). You drive about an hour on the highway and then an hour through back roads and farms until you make a left turn and start to see the sand dunes that the courses are built on. As you enter you can still only see sand dunes and trees until you drive up to the clubhouse. We pulled up and unloaded my bag, the room wasn’t ready yet so we grabbed some lunch at Craig’s Porch next to the Sand Valley course before my tee time. They offer $1 tacos here and they are some of the best-pulled pork and chicken tacos you will find. Personally, I think one of the best things they do at Sand Valley is not overcharge for food. We are in the middle of Wisconsin and many places would gouge you on food prices, not Sand Valley, most of the food while the golfers are playing is only $1 and beers are $3. We ate our tacos and watched golfers finish up on 18 of the Sand Valley Course from the Adirondack chairs.
Now onto the important stuff, the golf! My first round was on the Sand Valley course which is the tougher of the 2 courses. All the courses are walking-only courses so you either have to carry your bag, use a push cart or use a caddy. Since this was my wedding present I reserved a caddy for all 3 of my rounds. The Sand Valley course is an extremely open and fun course but you get punished if you hit your shot in the wrong spot. It was my favorite of the 2 courses but I did not play well on my first day. Due to this, I rescheduled my final round which was supposed to be on Mammoth Dunes to Sand Valley so I could have another shot at the course and improved my score by 10 shots the second time around. I always recommend trying to play a course 2 times (if you can) so you can use the first round to learn.
Our second day was jam-packed with golf. We played 18 on the Mammoth Dunes (MD) course which is more of a resort course where most shots funnel towards the hole so bad shots are not usually left in a difficult spot. This is an extremely fun course and I recommend playing this course first on the trip so you can ease yourself into the round after traveling to get there. After the MD round, we had lunch from their BBQ truck and played the 17-hole par 3 course, The SandBox. This is a great way to end your day as you grab a 6 pack, take off your shoes, turn on some music, and enjoy time with your friends (or wife). Our room was located off one of the greens of the SandBox so at sunset when the course had cleared we had some wine and just chipped onto the green. It was the perfect way to end the day and a great trip.
If you are into golf a trip to Sand Valley should be at the top of your list. Go with some buddies, take your wife or go alone, no matter the choice you make you will have a great time.
Favorite Holes:
Mammoth Dunes: Hole #14, Par 4, 297 Yards - this fun downhill hole is a driveable par 4 that funnels towards the hole if you can land your drive on the right side of the fairway
Sand Valley: Hole #12, Par 5, 487 Yards - stay left on this par 5 for a shot to reach the green in 2 and to give you a shot at birdie around the green.
Tips:
Get a caddy! The insight from the caddy makes the round more enjoyable, especially since you have some blind shots.
Stay on site! Some people try to save money by staying at a local hotel (the closest one is about 15-20 minutes away). Your experience will be much better if you stay at Sand Valley.
Drew’s Favorite Golf Looks:
