University Ridge Golf Course

Yesterday, upon reflection on of a recent round at Cog Hill #4, I was telling Melanie that I wish we had booked more TPC type courses on the trip. Tournament ready courses that set up for “good old fashioned golf” rather than necessarily being focused on attempting to accomplish breath taking effect on every hole. Enter University Ridge at the University of Wisconsin.

This course feels, from start to finish, like a tournament course; ready to challenge your golf game at least as much as your shot making. It makes sense because, as it turns out, there is a Champions Tour event there in about two weeks. In fact as we hit our approaches on 17 and 18 we were shooting into grandstand construction projects of somewhat staggering proportions (the guy I was playing with said they were expecting a couple hundred thousand people to attend). In other words, University Ridge was set up to play tournament golf at just about the highest level there is.

Most of the holes are straightforward with all of their challenges made clear. Number two has a few surprises in the second shot landing area if you don’t take a peak down the course before you shoot, but the hole clearly states on the tee box what you must carry to cross the creek that wanders across the fairway.

While there are few surprises here, there’s also not a lot of room for poor golf. Plan on giving up a stroke if you mishit a ball. Having said that though, what you don’t have to worry about - for the most part - is giving up multiple strokes to a middling shot. University Ridge plays very fair, and again, in my estimation is a very good test of your golf game.

Fear not though, there is still some shot making fun to be had out there, as exemplified by the three finishing holes. Big hitters will love the par 5 16th with multiple tee shot options (including, as my playing partner described it, the “pro option” which is straight over the trees with a mid-range iron into the green for an eagle try). Shot makers will take pleasure in firing into a pond-protected postage-stamp of a green from 192 (blues tees) on 17. Course managers will enjoy their options on 18, where following the fairway leads to a lengthy approach, but the safety of flat ground; coming up short attempting to cut the corner can leave you firing from thick rough in a series of grass bunkers.

You don’t have to be a monster off the tee to have a good round here. I shot an 89 from the blues using a 6 iron (averaging about 185-190) from the tee pretty much all day (largely due to the fact that my 5 iron broke yesterday and I was playing with a 2nd degree oblique strain which left my woods stranded in my bag). I was forced to lay up on #2 rather than clear the creek (but another 6 iron put me within 100 yards, so I didn’t feel compromised by this), but other than that I really didn’t feel that there were any holes I couldn’t play at least to a bogey. I could have played much better, but I had arguably the worst putting day of my entire trip and was generally average at best around the green.

The course goes from 5752 (whites) all the way out to 7259 (blacks), so there are tee boxes for just about every level of player. I played the 6718 blues (72.5/140). It also mixes a links feel on the front 9 with a parkland woods feel on the back, so bring both your grass and tree jokes, you’ll get to use them all.

On the topic of bunkers, University Ridge does one of the better jobs I have seen of keeping their bunkers very purposeful while simultaneously contributing significantly to the visual appeal of the course. Maintenance on the bunkers was almost flawless, as was the case with pretty much all of the course. I’m struggling to think of any component of the track that was want for attention. Additionally, I’ve played 39 courses in 39 states over the last 39 days, and this was the least “present” grounds crew I have experienced… pretty good for a course in such fantastic condition.

The pace of play was great; we played as a twosome, with a foursome playing behind us that was only about two holes back by the end (and actually caught us briefly on 12). We finished in three and a half hours. All of the groups that we saw coming in as we ate lunch after the round were one after the other, so the pace was clearly maintained throughout the morning.

With Cog Hill fresh on my mind, University Ridge was exactly what I was looking for, if you are looking for a test of your golf game that is largely gimmick free, it’s probably for you as well.