Sand Valley

Enjoyed the pics. Looks like it's in very good shape this early in the season. I am booked for late September and excited to get there. Staying on property and wondered if you could comment on the restaurant?

Sure. We ate dinner the first night there at Aldo's. The waiter was great and the food was excellent. Got the pasta with meatballs. Another guy got the chicken and really enjoyed it too. Breakfast waiter was not as good. The buffet was a bit pricey and i wasn't in the mood so did the German pancakes. big disappointment. They were nothing like German pancakes. They were two small regular pancakes served in a cast iron skillet. The next morning we just got breakfast sandwiches at Craig's Porch. That's the place to go. It has lunch items too and cheap beer. There are two off-property places for dinner. We ate at "The Lure". It's casual, almost a dive on the big lake a few miles down the road. I would go back. Very casual. The other is "Dirty Oar Supper Club". We didn't get there but would try it next time. A little more formal and more steaks and seafood style. First week open this year so they were working out the bugs, especially with the staff. Lots of new construction as they are adding cabins and soon will be starting on the third 18-hole course. You can definitely tell it's a Keiser golf property. Many similarities to Bandon. We'll go back, probably before the third 18 opens which won't happen until late 2021 or early 2022. All in all, i would give the courses a 5 star rating and the resort a 4.5 with the ability to get it up to 5 some day.

Thanks for the insight on food services. Anxious to get there.

Thanks for the update Dale. I've been curious about this course ever since it was announced. Did you walk, ride or use caddies? If you did walk, how was the walkability of both courses? Were these courses fast and firm?

How did you get there? Did you drive in from Madison, Chicago, Milwaukee or Minneapolis?

Jerry, like the other Keisler properties (Bandon and Cabot) they are walking only. No electric carts and only dirt trails for the maintenance equipment. I walked with my Players 4 carry bag and the other three guys rented to pull carts. Pull carts are like the $5 ones at Bandon but cost $10 here. Wide tires make it easier to pull through the sand. The entire course was firm but not too fast. They needed to mow but i think they were waiting a few extra days to get the fescue growing well. Between the melted snow and all the rain, you saw a lot of standing water on the drive up but being all sand based, the course was nice and dry. It will be very much like Bandon in a few years as the fairways pack down with age. I can see it getting very fast, especially on a warm, windy day. It was fairly hilly, more than i was expecting but was still very walkable. Not too much wasted space between greens and the next tees. They have experienced and junior caddies giving you two options for two different price points. We didn't use any and still had no problem finding our way or picking lines as i did buy the yardage book. It's a must have if you skip having a caddie. You will also need a rangefinder as the greens are very large and the courses are yet to be mapped to most GPS systems. There are a lot of sprinkler head yardages out there, which also helps. Last question, we flew in and out of Chicago O'Hare as this was the cheapest and the only one doing direct flights from San Diego. It was a long drive and I am not crazy about the traffic and toll roads so next time we will try to go into Central Wisconsin Airport (CWA), even if that means paying a bit more and doing a connecting flight. All-in-all, definitely worth making a trip out there.

Milwaukee and Madison are closer alternatives than Chicago or Minneapolis. You might also look into flying to Central Wisconsin [CWA] in Mosinee/Wausau, or Appleton [ATW].

We go through CWA a lot, because it's so convenient to home. About 45 minutes from Sand Valley. Connections from the major airlines are jet service through Chicago, Detroit and Minneapolis. Short check-in times and short TSA lines are also a bonus. After deplaning you'll wait 5-10 minutes for your luggage.

I have a buddy who travels for work a lot. He will only fly on Southwest, which doesn't have service into CWA. So he'll get up at 2:00 am to drive to Minneapolis for a 7:00 am flight, instead of sleeping in until 5:30, leave the house a little after 6:00 am and still have time for a cup of coffee at the gate before boarding.

Dale, Thank you so much for the information. Very valuable. I agree with your assessment that in a few years the fairways will pack down making it fast and firm. That was quite a drive to SV from Chicago. But then I once flew into Denver and drove to North Platte, NE. Yeah this course is a challenge to get to.....sort of like Bandon Dunes.

I do a similar drive every December for Bandon. We fly direct from San Diego to Portland and then drive 4 hours down to the resort. Not only a long drive but twice we have had heavy snow on the Interstate south of Portland until you get close to the coastline. It's just the only way to do a cheap, direct flight for us. Love our annual winter trip to Bandon. Now to find a way to include Sand Valley every few years too.

I had it opportunity to visit the Sand Valley Golf Resort last year for the opening of the Mammoth Dunes course David McKay Kidd the architect of Mammoth Dunes , Bandon Dunes and TPC Stonebrae which is my home course invited a group of us out. We played in a tournament with golf media from around the country there's a pic of me and Matt Ginella of the Golf Channel there's also a pic of my team I'm there standing next to David McKay Kidd

I had it opportunity to visit the Sand Valley Golf Resort last year for the opening of the Mammoth Dunes course David McKay Kidd the architect of Mammoth Dunes , Bandon Dunes and TPC Stonebrae which is my home course invited a group of us out. We played in a tournament with golf media from around the country there's a pic of me and Matt Ginella of the Golf Channel there's also a pic of my team I'm there standing next to David McKay Kidd

I am definitely putting this on the list of travels. We did Whistling straits last year and TPC Deere Run last summer (two different trips). Love the Midwest courses.

Interested in this, as just paid a deposit to come across to Sand Valley in September next year, and head to the Ryder Cup too.

Looks fairly spectacular, and glad that Caddies are not a requirement, as I'd rather save the $300 for the 3 rounds of golf!

Yeah Matt, I am a big supporter of the caddie program, anything to keep electric carts off these classic links style courses and it helps that Sand Valley has the two-tier system where you can get a less experienced caddie at a cheaper price but we had no problem seeing where to play the shots without one.