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From our Directory of the most recommended golf courses
Erin Hills Golf Course
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The course is northwest of Milwaukee about 45 minutes depending on where you are. Erin Hills GC, a public course, routed through glacial dunes in the Kettle Moraine, and is a potential course the USGA is considering for a future US Open. It was designed by Hurdzan-Fry, and Golf Digest writer Ron Whitten in 2004. Erin Hills is an inland links design with fescue fairways that play firm and fast, on land that was barely touched during the construction of the course. The fairways are the corridors between the dunes and ridges, and the greens were dug out on existing knolls and plateaus with the tees nears the greens to allow for walking. It looks like the course has been here forever and the setting is unmatched in the Wisconsin area, let alone the whole Midwest. The greens range in size from 3,000 to 12,000 square feet and are slick A-4 bent-grass, protected by fescue edged bunkers that are deep and penal. In addition to these defenses, it's is almost impossible to find a level lie in fairways. It can play to 7,824 yards, par 72, 141 slope from the back tees, fortunately there are 4 teeing areas. There truly are some spectacular holes, and as the conditions continue to mature, will allow for the opportunity to hit some creative shots. Bring your long-ball game, because you will need all of it. There is no doubt the course could be a fantastic venue for a major championship. And especially if it plays firm and fast, the best players in the world will not win – the course will.
Posted by: Gilbert
Dec 26th, 2010
Last played on Labor Day, Sept. 6, 2010 and came away from it amazed at the challenge that Erin Hills presents. For some reason, I decided to play from the Black tees, which measure 7820 yards, and feature no par 5s under 600 yards, and only four of the 10 par 4s are under 460 yards. There is another set of tee boxes behind the Black tees, but the yardages are not listed on the scorecard, and I assume that the course has not been rated from those tees. I would guess that from there the course would play 8300+ yards. On the day we were there, it actually played longer due to heavy rains the night before. The terrain is very hilly, and the result is numerous uneven lies in the fairways. It is a challenge to walk (no carts are allowed), and will reinforce the fact that Tour players are indeed athletes. Conditioning will be a major factor at the 2017 US Open for sure. I was sore for 3 days and I can't imagine walking this course under tournament conditions for 4 straight days plus practice rounds. Despite the hills, there are not many blind shots, which is a great design feature in my opinion, and makes the course play fair. Wind will be a significant factor during the 2017 open, as the course is exposed and unprotected from the winds. Some of the overall design features include: elevated tees that provide players will great views of what lays ahead, dozens of deep awkwardly shaped bunkers that are perfectly played in landing areas and around greens, and fescue. Long fescue surrounds the fairways and greens, and can easily steal your ball. I found this long grass a few times--a couple good lies, and a couple horrible lies. In my opinion, the best design feature is the lack of sharp dogleg holes. (Is there anything worse than a 400 yard hole with a 90 degree dogleg, that forces you to hit two 200 yard shots?) The holes have gentle curves, but everything is laid out for the player to see. Some of the greens have long rough surrounding them, while others have closely mown areas around them. Forces players to have to hit a number of different shots. Despite it's length, Erin Hills is an extremely fair test of golf, and personally my two worst holes were #2 (the shortest par 4 at 363 yards), and #9 (the shortest par 3 at 165 yards). So you have to be able to hit it long, but there is also a premium placed on accuracy off the tee, and into the greens--which are perfect. Absolutely perfect. Challenging, but not overly rolling and undulating. You feel like you have a chance to make putts on these greens. On some courses, if you're more than 15ft away, you're just trying to lag it close because of the undulations and mounds in the greens. Not the case here. There are some greens with multiple tiers, but the majority of the greens have gentle breaks that are challenging, but not impossible.
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Posted by: EvanH
Jun 16th, 2010
Great news Erin Hills was just selected to host the 2017 US Open, a fantastic golf course and selection by the USGA, and will bring an awareness of the quality of the golf in Wisconsin other than Whistling Straights and Blackwolf!
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Posted by: JeremyN
Dec 5th, 2009
Crazy long and tough course, from any tee box, of course depending on your ability. One of the better munis I've ever played, has to be Wisconsin's answer to Bethpage or Torrey Pines. Nice routing with a lot of change of pace holes, some very short, some very long, a few doglegs, some more open and straightforward, with the greens the same, very small to huge. Some quirky holes with blind shots, one a par three #7! Pace of play was as long as the course played unfortunately, and was our only negative.
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Posted by: MikeMike
Mar 9th, 2009
Fine course, host course to the U.S. Women's Amateur Public Links last year, and the U.S. Amateur is scheduled for 2011. Everyone's talking up a U.S. Open at Erin Hills in 2017.
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