Island greens aren’t necessarily uncommon — perhaps the most famous of them on the 17th hole at Florida’s TPC Sawgrass — but island tee boxes? Those are less so.

But at Lake Wisconsin Country Club, one serves as its signature.

"It’s not your typical teeing ground," LWCC PGA Pro Nic LeClair said of the one on No. 12, a 181-yard, par 3, whose green is separated from the tee by a a portion of the lake that spans about 75 yards.

"I don’t know of too many shots where you’re going to take a full swing and have that kind of surrounding.

"... It’s pretty neat. I can’t say that I’ve ever seen or experienced anything like that at any other course I’ve played at."

That’s likely a sentiment shared by most who golf at the course, mostly because the tee offers such a picturesque view of the lake to its west and north — opposite directions from the green.

But No. 12 also serves as the most high-profile hole on a course chacterized by generally short holes.

"We’re not a behomoth of a golf course," LeClair said. "We don’t have big greens, we don’t have big tees, but the challenge is there. ... (No. 12) really does embody what the golf course is about."

It’s not just defined by playing it, either.

It’s also the hole in most clear view from the clubhouse — if the view from the tee isn’t enough, imagine sitting down to a relaxing dinner or a drink at the bar and looking past No. 12 to the sun setting on the lake — where onlookers certainly will see as many balls land on the green as sail over it or never draw back from over the water.

That’s because the wind predominantly blows from off the lake behind the green, meaning golfers generally attack the green more aggressively than if the opposite were true.

"You’ve got to live dangerously to hit the ball close," LeClair said. "It’s not an easy shot."

No, but the green slopes ever so slightly from front left to back right — "I would be willing to bet it’s the flattest green we have," LeClair said — so missing it means pitching onto it for a makeable par is realistic.

The hole is rated as the eighth most difficult on the course, so making bogey isn’t necessarily a scar. And the sting of doing so likely will be eased by a feeling of serenity gained from the natural beauty of the hole.

Maybe not so much as on the 18th at Pebble Beach in Southern California, where perhaps the most famous of the island tees is surrounded by the Pacific Ocean. But enough so that taking a moment to put golf on the backburner is warranted.

"If you take the time while you’re out there and actually realize what you’re doing on that tiny little area surrounded by Lake Wisconsin, it’s kind of neat," LeClair said.