Lawsonia Golf Course (Links)

Favorite Hole

No. 10, par 3, 162-239 yards

If I were to judge the holes at Lawsonia Links based on my scoring over the years, No. 10 would certainly not be my favorite. It’s a brute. Think about playing a 240-yard par 3 in 1930! Not to mention one with an absolutely mind-boggling green.

The 10th green slopes from back to front severely and has a ridge that cuts across the putting surface diagonally. These contours create three distinct sections. So not only is No. 10 crazy long, but it also requires a great shot to make a comfortable 3 or have a good chance at 2.

One fun thing I did last year—and the course probably won’t like me saying this—was play the hole from the back of the practice green, extending it to 285 yards. It was a blast to hit driver at this green, just as everyone probably did when the course opened.

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Overall Thoughts

The Links at Lawsonia is one of the best public courses in America and in the argument for the best course—public, private, or resort—in Wisconsin. The Langford & Moreau design pairs rolling topography with a set of bold manufactured greens and bunkers. Regular blind shots create a sense of adventure throughout the course, which matches the spirit of remoteness in Green Lake, Wisconsin, a place people have historically gone to escape.

At Lawsonia Links, the talk of the town is the back nine. This is understandable. On the 10th green, you get one of the best reveals in golf. From there, you can see the entire back nine sitting on a wide-open expanse. Everywhere you turn there are golf holes and striking Langford & Moreau features. I haven’t played anywhere else like it. Lawsonia may not have an ocean or giant sand dunes, but it does have a golf playground.

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The first few times I played Lawsonia Links, this back nine mesmerized me. But the more I’ve returned to the course, the deeper my affinity has become for the front nine. I now actually believe it’s the better of the two nines.

The front nine at Lawsonia doesn’t have the long views of the back, but it has a lot more variety. It starts with the land. On the back nine, everything is visible: it’s basically a tilted field with a large swale running through the middle. While Nos. 11, 13, and 15 play over the swale in thrilling ways, the other holes are on fairly ordinary land. The terrain on the front nine is more varied and unpredictable. It banks different directions and has a few hills that the holes play over. This type of land, in my opinion, yields more interesting golf.

The first two holes feature blind tee shots, which get you into a suitably unsettled state to start the round, but the front nine really hits its stride with Nos. 4-8. These holes are simply fantastic and showcase the front nine’s variety.

The fourth is a long, uphill par 3 where the surface of the green is blind from the tee box. It’s a par 3.5, for all intents and purposes. The prudent play is short right, leaving a simple chip up. If only it was that easy to convince yourself to do that.

The fifth, a short par 5, begins with a semi-blind tee shot to a rolling fairway. A good drive has a chance to bound forward and lead to a gettable approach into one of the best greens on the course. Like many of Lawsonia’s greens, the fifth is perched up and has remarkable internal contours. The front shelf is almost like a triangle, with the base at the front of the green and the two sides meeting toward the back left. This shape creates a small, diagonal lower tier on the left and a back right section that falls away. These intricate contours, combined with steep dropoffs on the exterior, put a premium on accurate approaches. If you miss your spot, you’re facing a tough two-putt or up-and-down.

You could argue that the long par-4 sixth is the best hole at Lawsonia Links. It has another semi-blind tee shot, this one downhill. The carry bunker that you see from the tee is not really in play, but it creates doubt. Getting over this bunker dramatically shortens the hole and keeps you away from the trouble, including another bunker, on the left. The approach is tricky because you’re hitting from a downslope to a green sitting on a ridge. The green itself is diabolical. There are two main sections: a low, narrow left one and a wider, higher right one. What makes these tiers special is how they run on a soft angle, creating advantageous and disadvantageous lines of approach. When the pin is on the left section, being left off the tee is better; when it’s on the right, being right is preferred. The false front is terrifying and will send any short ball tumbling 30 yards away from the green.

Lawsonia’s most famous hole is the “Boxcar” seventh, a hit-it-or-else par 3. Legend has it that Langford & Moreau buried a boxcar under this green, which almost seems plausible, since the green hovers about 20 feet above its surroundings. The tee shot is tough for right-handers because the green, like the 12th at Augusta National, sits on a left-to-right angle. The most common misses are short right and long left, both of which are no good here. Hopefully one day the cart path long left, which adds a random trampoline effect to some wayward shots, gets ripped out.

There are multiple telltale signs that the eighth tee is not in its original position. First, it’s unusually far from the previous green. Second, from today’s tee, the bunkers in the eighth fairway don’t orient directly toward the player, as they do elsewhere at the Links. My guess is the original tee was somewhere behind the seventh green, but I have yet to find any remnants of the tee box.

In any case, the eighth is still a stellar drive-and-pitch hole. From the back tee you have a choice: play at the green or hedge to the left and sacrifice proximity for safety. The former option is enticing, as it can result in a very short approach, but it’s not easy. Going left gives you a far superior angle and the ability to control your spin into one of the least forgiving greens on the course. I’ve played this hole over a dozen times, and I’m still not sure what the right strategy is—which I love.

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I could have gone equally deep on the the other holes on the front nine. Nos. 1-3 and 9 are no slouches! It’s a terrific sequence of holes, and it flies under the radar because of how spectacular the view from the 10th green is. When you put the obvious strengths of the back nine together with the subtle virtues of the front, you have one of my favorite courses anywhere. -AJ

2 Eggs

Lawsonia Links has blossomed under the guidance of Oliphant Golf. As soon as the fairways are expanded closer to their original size, this is a no-brainer 3 Egg course. Last year, the course invested in rebuilding bunkers, and this past fall, some mowing lines were pushed out. Recapturing the original width will create more angles to play into a magical set of greens. Lawsonia’s willingness to keep upgrading an already popular public course should be admired. It would be easy to sit back and count profits, but instead the Links just continues to get better.

Additional Content

The Boldest Value in Golf: Lawsonia Links (Article)

The Sultans of the Steam Shovel: Langford & Moreau (Article)

Course Tour

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