Matched by no other on the course

By Dan Larson, Sauk Prairie Eagle

Editor's note: This is the first in a series of stories that will profile a different hole at Lake Wisconsin Country Club each week.

Maybe you pull the putter out of your bag, grab a handful of golf balls and line each up on the putting green before striking them in succession, all the while the summer sun is beating against your face as a light breeze keeps you cool.

Or maybe you’re warming up on the driving range on a crisp, cool fall day, mesmerized by the rhythmical sound of Big Bertha’s sending Titleists into flight as across the course the trees shed their myriad red, yellow and orange leaves.

They’re moments seemingly so perfect they leave you wondering if there’s anything better than golfing on a beautiful day.

After you finish your pre-round

routine at Lake Wisconsin Country Club — it’s circumstances leaving you with the sense nothing could ruin your good mood — you toss the strap of your bag over your right shoulder and start the walk toward the first hole.

And then suddenly, the good vibes are gone and you’re left scrambling to get them back.

"You need to place your drive very well in the fairway to give yourself a good shot up onto the green," Lake Wisconsin PGA Golf Professional Nic LeClair said of the 415-yard, par-4 first hole — a dogleg left with a large pond tucked next to the bend on the right side of the fairway and mature, unforgiving trees along the left, and rated as the most difficult hole on the course.

Of course, like any challenging hole, a well-placed drive is just the start.

"That approach shot into the green is so important," LeClair said. "... If you don’t put it exactly where you need to, you’re either going to 3-putt, chip it off the green, or it could come all the way back and you could have a 40-yard pitch back up to the green."

The reason? The green is elevated about 15 feet above the fairway, and slopes, as LeClair put it, "severely from back to front."

And dense trees are nestled right up against the back of it, which shades it from much of the day’s sun and causes it to play as one of the faster greens on the course — "When we get them going fast, it’s similar to almost a U.S. Open-type feel," LeClair said — and makes it nearly impossible to save par if your approach shot goes long.

Because there’s so little room for error in the approach — putting even more emphasis on a well-placed drive — the hole is perhaps best geared for golfers adept at controlling their shots.

"You need to be a shotmaker, be able to work the ball," LeClair said. "Somebody who can curve the ball and control their distances would suit better for No. 1."

He added that a long drive can make the approach more manageable, but that hitting driver can also bring the pond more into play.

"I’ve toyed around with hitting 3-wood off the tee, just to make sure that I could put it in the fairway to give myself a chance," he said.

And while the first hole certainly makes getting off to a good start challenging, it hasn’t always been that way — it used to be No. 8 before the front nine was redesigned in 1985.

But whether you were able to scratch a four — or, with some luck, a three — onto your scorecard then, or you do so next week, you can consider yourself fortunate.

"You need two good, full shots into the green," LeClair said, "and then you’ve got to make sure that you don’t get too aggressive with your putt.

"All four shots, to make par, need to be good ones."

Lake Wisconsin Country Club

 • No. of holes: 18

Weekend: $20.50 (9), 38.50 (18).

• Par: 70

• Yardage: Blue tees: 5,881. White: 5,600. Red: 4,783.

• Green fees: Weekday: $19 (9 holes), $33.50 (18). 

 

Course Superintendent: John Scott, Bruce Company of Wisconsin, Inc.  

 

• PGA Professional: Nic LeClair.

• Course Web site:  www.lakewisconsincc.com

• More about the course: LWCC was founded in 1925 as a nine-hole course, with the original nine consisting of what are now holes No. 10-18, and the second nine was added in 1964. ... In 1942, the course was closed indefinitely because it was built on land partly owned by the Wisconsin River Power Company, which owned and operated the nearby Prairie du Sac Hydroelectric Dam, and the creation of Badger Ordnance Works by the United States government on nearby land to manufacture ammunitions during World War II raised safety concerns. It was reopened in 1948. ... In 1985, holes No. 8 and 9 were changed to Nos. 1 and 2, respectively, and the original first and second holes became Nos. 3 and 4. ... PGA Professional Nic LeClair started in that role in February after working previously as the assistant pro at Bishops Bay Country Club in Middleton. ... The Bruce Company of Wisconsin, Inc., with offices in Middleton, is managing the groundskeeping this year after it was previously done independently.