by Ronald S. Montesano of www.buffalogolfer.com

If there were a way to combine the Norman Rockwell-look of a Kohler winter with the golf of a Kohler summer, I believe that I would truly be in an American sort of heaven. As it is, you’ll have to be satisfied with one or the other. Since this is a column about golf, we’ll pass on the snow, roasting chestnuts and Clydesdales and focus on fairways and greens (and other places, as you’ll soon learn.)

Mr. Herb Kohler, current overseer of the Kohler Kitchen and Bath Fixture company, made plans to build a remarkable resort in the factory’s hometown of Kohler, Wisconsin. Golf was to be of central importance, to the extent that the top architect of the day, Pete Dye, was retained to create four golf courses. Land slightly to the west of town was reserved for the Blackwolf Run complex. Named for a native chief, Blackwolf Run became the site of two, uniquely American, inland courses. Half of the River course was the site of the 1998 USGA Women’s Open championship, and is recognized as one of the top ten public access courses in America by many experts. The River follows the course of the Sheboygan River, at times surging uphill, at others, cascading downward. Like all courses at Kohler, please choose the correct tee decks. If you give in to pride, you’re in for a long and forgettable (not to mention painful) day. Trust me, play it shorter than you think best, and you might approach your handicap!

The Meadows Valley course provided the other nine holes for that ’98 Open, and is one of the best, 16-hole courses in America. Huh? Well, the first hole is completely forgettable, and the second or the third (depending upon your misgivings) is also unmemorable. The course gets started on the fourth hole, and from then on, it’s killer. The back nine at Meadows provides a more memorable, five-hole stretch (11-15) than any on the River course, and perhaps equal to anything found on the Straits course at Whistling Straits. When you cross the bridge to the green on #14, you might not realize that it’s an old railway car. That’s all right, you’ll figure it out when you cross back to the fifteenth tee. For kicks, play fifteen all the way back at 230 yards. Use an old ball and hit the heck out of it. You’ll have a story to tell on the 19th hole.

Nutty as this sounds, the Blackwolf Run pair is actually a warm-up for the real story at The American Club. Some five miles away, along Lake Michigan in Haven, Wisconsin, Pete Dye built a landscape for 34 great, old-world holes of Scottish and Irish links golf. Nope, we’re not pulling any punches here; the last two holes on the Irish course don’t belong with the first 16. Fortunately, they’re not abysmal holes, and certainly won’t make you give up golf. My suggestion is to play the Irish course before Straits. It’s better to finish on number 18 at the latter than at the former. Back to Dye…he truly built rugged land on top of a flat farmscape, then laid out the two golf courses. Essentially, he played God and then played golf architect. Not a bad day’s work. The two courses are Himalayan in their ascents and descents but, like all good links courses, give you a variety of ways to work the ball from tee to green. The Irish course is a bit wilder than its better-known sibling, and includes a few blind shots for kicks. The Straits course has hosted multiple major championships, and will continue to do so in the near future. Only one hole at Straits is ever picked on (the fourth), and it serves as a respite from the winds off Lake Michigan. It’s a strategic hole that shouldn’t be overpowered; play yourself into position to hit a solid short iron-third into the green, and get out with a par five. My favorite shot in all of golf (and that includes Bandon Dunes, Arcadia Bluffs, St. Andrews Old and New, anywhere in northern Michigan, etc.) has been narrowed down to the tee shot on number 12 or the drive on number thirteen. Twelve boasts a promontory green with an added ledge seemingly suspended over the lake. No matter where the hole might be cut, aim at the farthest right portion of the putting surface to test your nerve. On the next hole, bombs away! Never mind the consequences; you’re here for fun and memories. Try to drive the green on this downhill four-par that plays much shorter than its yardage.

There is much life after golf at Whistling Straits. If you’re well-to-do, stay at The American Club. It may have the softest pillows, the most stable mattresses, and the plushest comforters in the known world. You can get lost wandering the corridors, stumbling upon libraries and sitting rooms, ice cream parlors and gazebos. At times, it feels like a living game of Clue, albeit with no threats from candlesticks nor colonels. The American Club is opulence and luxury to the nth degree. If you’re a bit less flush, consider The Inn on Woodlake. Also owned by Kohler, it is a finely-appointed property at roughly one-quarter the cost of The American Club. If you need the basic lodging to be able to afford the golf, consider Sheboygan. It’s not too far away and has affordable Howard Johnson, Holiday Inn Express, and Sleep Inn (among other) lodging.

Of the four courses at Kohler, two allow carts for all (River and Meadows Valley), one encourages walking for all but the disadvantaged (Irish), and one requires walking and a caddie (Straits.) After my four-rounds-in-three-days experience at Kohler, I can definitively state that carts are critical at Blackwolf Run, and the caddie option at Irish is a good one. The bag-toter requirement at Straits is a blessing, as the loopers will read every putt well, club you flawlessly, and provide endless, useful banter about golf, the course, and your own swing. Kohler is a once-in-a-lifetime experience for all but the truly rich. Find a way to inscribe a visit once on your eighty-year calendar, and soak up every juicy moment.

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Ronald S. Montesano is a vastly experienced travel writer having written for some of the leading golf publications, including Travel Golf’s various publications. He is also the man behind Buffalo Golfer a great site dedicated to golf in the greater Buffalo Area.

He can be reached at www.buffalogolfer.com