The Bull at Pinehurst Farms     Sheboygan Falls, Wisconsin      920-467-1500  1-800-5-THEBULL

The Bull named as one of the TOP 10 NEW COURSES YOU CAN PLAY by GOLF Magazine! (February 2004 Issue)

By SCOTT GUMMER, Senior Writer, GOLF MAGAZINE, and
EAMON LYNCH, Associate Editor, GOLF MAGAZINE

There is a reason so many of America's finest courses are described as heavenly -- only a privileged few ever get past the gates. But not every worthy course has a velvet rope at the bag drop. Last year, 270 new tracks opened nationwide, and the vast majority welcome anyone who can pony up the greens fee.

Since 1990, GOLF MAGAZINE has separated the populist contenders from the pretenders. This month we present our latest Top 10 You Can Play. From coast to coast and from tee to shining tee, these are the finest public-access courses that opened their gates in 2003.

THE BULL AT PINEHURST FARMS
Sheboygan Falls, Wisconsin

In 1970, Jack Nicklaus and Pete Dye built a course at the old Playboy Club in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. More than 30 years later Nicklaus returned to help cement Sheboygan County's rep as the best golf destination you've never heard of.

The Bull at Pinehurst Farms Mike Klemme/Golfoto

The Bull at Pinehurst Farms is an hour's drive north of Milwaukee, near the village of Kohler, where the golf world will assemble in August for the PGA Championship at Dye's Whistling Straits. The Bachmann family raised champion Holsteins at Pinehurst Farms until a 1993 barn blaze ended the dairy-farming era, leaving Nicklaus to carve a layout from 418 acres of oaks, maples, meadows, wetlands and ponds.

The 432-yard 5th hole is a standout: A claustrophobic drive through a chute of trees leads to a fairway that doglegs left around a deep ravine. The Bear tempts you to be unwisely bullish at the 351-yard 11th, where a pond divides two fairways. Long hitters can have a go at the green, while the less daring can opt for the left fairway and still have a short iron in.

While The Bull is no Whistling Straits, it bears comparison with the Blackwolf Run courses at Kohler's American Club.

7,332 yards, par 72 • Greens fee $145 • 800-5-THE-BULL or 920-467-1500 • golfthebull.com

Wisconsin: 72 holes in 72 hours

By Mike McAllister
SI.com

(CNN) -- Someone says, "Wisconsin." What thoughts immediately come to mind? The Green Bay Packers? Dairy products? A TV show? ("Happy Days" for the middle-age crowd; "That '70s Show" for the younger generation).

One thing probably not on the tip of your tongue is golf. Yet you'd be surprised at the amount of quality courses in the state, especially within an hour's drive of its largest city, Milwaukee.

Thanks to plumbing fixture magnate Herb Kohler Jr.'s Whistling Straits layout near Sheboygan, the extended Milwaukee area is carving out a reputation as a must-play destination among avid golfers. As with fellow public-access courses Pebble Beach, Pinehurst and Bethpage, the allure of teeing off at a major championship track is too difficult to resist.

Whistling Straits, which has already hosted one PGA Championship and is scheduled to host two others -- as well as the 2020 Ryder Cup -- is just the centerpiece of what could be a delicious weekend of golf.

After flying into Milwaukee's General Mitchell International Airport on Friday morning, here's how we'd play it the rest of the weekend.

Friday afternoon

The Bog: As you travel north from Milwaukee toward Whistling Straits, stop by Saukville to play this Arnold Palmer-designed course, rated seventh-best in the state by Golf Digest. Though the western boundary of the course does snuggle up to the Cedarburg Bog peatlands, don't worry -- the course itself doesn't really reflect its name (although the 297 acres does include wetlands and wildlife habitats). Oh, and don't worry about seeing so many bunkers (20) on the opening hole; none of the other 17 holes contain that much sand.

Saturday morning

Whistling Straits: It started with 560 acres of relatively flat terrain along the Lake Michigan coastline, 55 miles north of Milwaukee. It required thousands of truckloads of earth as sculpting material. But what Herb Kohler financed and architect Pete Dye created in the late 1990s is now considered a modern masterpiece. The Straits, which runs two miles along the coastline, is rated among the top 10 courses you can play in the U.S. by Golf magazine; its sister course, Irish, is well within the top 100. The links-style Straits, with its 500 bunkers, offers such a British Isle-feel that even a flock of Scottish sheep roam the grounds. And please note -- you'll need to be stout of lungs and legs to play this 18, since no carts are allowed (although you'll have a caddie).

Saturday afternoon

Blackwolf Run: Ten years older than the more celebrated Whistling Straits, Blackwolf Run's courses -- River and Meadows Valley -- are two other Kohler-owned/Dye-created layouts that rank among the nation's elite public courses. The River course is the more highly rated of the two, but either one is worthy of your time. Unlike his two tracks at Whistling Straits, which were basically made from scratch, Dye was able to use more of the natural topography at Blackwolf Run. Golfers who like to take chances will enjoy Blackwolf Run's temptations ... but if your gamble fails, expect to be heavily penalized.

Sunday morning

Bull at Pinehurst Farms: Before heading back to Milwaukee, check out this Jack Nicklaus-designed course in Sheboygan Falls, just across the street from Blackwolf Run. Grand Champion-caliber cattle once roamed this farm, and the course has played to rave reviews since opening in 2003. The fifth hole will capture your attention with its dogleg around a 40-foot ravine. Added bonus for golfers: GPS technology is installed on every cart to help with distances and to speed up play.