A recent visit by this MGM staff writer to Canada’s new golf hot spot provided blue lobster tales, runaway push carts and under-the-lights putting. It’s 6:10 a.m. at an island outpost in the North Atlantic. Overcast skies shroud the sunrise of this hilly, rural fishing community. But that does little to darken the excitement of a new day. Breakfast is served. For a table of one, six half slices of Bananas Fosters French Toast is the choice. Down the way, a larger group – say two foursomes – checks out the buffet area and partakes in some much-needed local coffee.…
Author: Matt Tevsh
Matt Tevsh
Matt Tevsh is a Wisconsin native and has been a contributor to Midwest Golfing Magazine since 2004. He also spent 23 years covering the Green Bay Packers as a regular freelancer for Packer Report and PackerReport.com. Matt can’t plan a trip without including golf and would someday like to spend a summer traveling the Midwest in a sprinter van and journaling about the great golf experiences the region has to offer. In his spare time, he also enjoys documentaries, Seinfeld and The Office re-runs, and thrift store hunting.
There has been some heartland talk in America’s Dairyland this summer. Golf fans who tuned into U.S. Open coverage may have heard it mentioned when the masses were trying to define the style of Erin Hills in rural Wisconsin. Is it a links? It sure looked like a (British) Open Championship from the overhead views. Is it a prairie course? All that fescue with hardly any trees certainly played the part. And what about all those kettles and eskers left by glaciers? There might not be another course in America that accentuates such natural characteristics. In the end, when the…
This year’s U.S. Open course has a short but fascinating history that is coming to life. Included in that story is the death of its most unique par-3 among the rise of another. The bell is more symbolic now than anything. It really serves no function yet the powers that be left it there because, well, it has a story to tell. Supported by ironwork that inspired a logo and wooden posts about 10 feet high, it hangs just before the start of the seventh fairway. Golfers will walk by it after hitting their tee shots on the par-5 and…
Long before 99 holes of golf were an option, people flocked to a small Wisconsin county to take in the summer breezes and cool waters as a respite from the heat. It sounds simple enough, but the combination of one of the state’s deepest lakes and prevailing southwest winds offered a coveted form of free air conditioning for visitors kicking back on wraparound porches as far back as 150 years ago. The Green Lake Chamber of Commerce claims that Green Lake is “the oldest resort town west of Niagara Falls.” Oakwood Lodge (1867) was said to be the first summer…
Blondes or brunettes? Brats or burgers? Craps or blackjack? Some choices in life are tough. Really, it comes down to a matter of preference. The same goes for pitting Arcadia Bluffs and Whistling Straits against each other. Those who have had the opportunity to play each should consider themselves to have won the golfer’s lottery. Regarded by many as the top two public access courses in the Midwest, the shoreline layouts are separated by just 75 nautical miles across Lake Michigan, yet too far by automobile to make in the same day. Staff members at Midwest Golfing Magazine (MGM) have…
A recent MGM trip led to playing a reversible course and playing hickory-shafted clubs. And read about the feat of two holes-in-one on the same day in this issue’s Editor’s Choice Awards. Can the best of golf in Northern Michigan be tackled in a single trip in under a week? That was the mentality Midwest Golfing Magazine’s Glen Turk and I and GolfMichigan.com’s Brian Weis took to a recent trip just before the end of summer. Here is where our dizzying journey – with two arriving by Lake Michigan ferry and one by driving over the mighty Mackinac Bridge -…
The Bill Coore/Ben Crenshaw layout in central Wisconsin opened all 18 holes Sept. 1. The single-lane dirt road seemingly leads to nowhere. And the intersecting dirt roads only make it feel like one of those corn mazes. Except this man-made labyrinth is made of young pine trees. There is little to no signage to indicate the destination is near. About a mile into the dusty voyage comes the realization that there has to be another way. Thankfully, there is. A quick re-route and some help from the friendly staff at adjacent Lake Arrowhead (a fine 36-hole golf facility in its…
This may come as breaking news to some: Lawsonia will be hosting the U.S. Open. No, not that U.S. Open. The U.S. Hickory Open. September 23-25, the Society of Hickory Golfers will descend on Green Lake, Wisconsin, to hold its annual championship. For three days, participants wearing knickers, ties, and newsboy caps will be wielding wooden-shafted clubs and using balls fashioned pre-1935. The tourney – and Society for that matter – pays tribute to a bygone era in golf which makes the Links Course at Lawsonia a fitting host since its design is a true treasure for public golf in…