Pros:
The amount of difficulty can be varied so much. Short tee to short pin for beginners, short to long or long to short for intermediate players, then long to long for the top end of players... and you will need to be a top-end player to break par. Some holes the tees/baskets are only 50 feet apart, and sometimes they add 250+ feet to the hole. Having now played the short-short layout, the difficulty isn't all gone as there are still some difficult shot shapes required. With this, all skill levels can have a great, challenging round at Wilderness.
No hole can be considered boring. Sure, 16 and 17 are short and 1 and 6 are pretty dead straight, but there is always something to keep the hole interesting whether it be a fast green or a cage of trees around the pin.
True two-shot par 4s abound. 5, 6, 8, 10, 11, 14, and 15 all do this well. The par 5s (3 and 18) are true par 5s. 3 is possibly an eagle opportunity, but it would take two superhuman shots, and 18 we'll talk about later.
For being an all wooded course, the shot variety is second to none. Being forced low was the main challenge here, as holes 6, 7, 11, and the green of 8 had some serious low-hanging branches to avoid. Obviously the left-to-right and right-to-left and uphill/downhill mix was just about perfect, too.
The maintenance is just about as good as it can be for a heavily wooded course like this. The upkeep around the tee pads is superb and the baskets are in excellent condition.
The tee signs are very helpful. There is one at each pad listing the distances to both baskets from both tees, and the overhead illustration is really quality, except it doesn't really show all the trees...
Scary greens all over the place. The first one is the long pin of 3, set just before the top of the hill with plenty of opportunity to roll back down the fairway, 11 short is similar but less extreme. 5, 12, 15, and 18 long are set with sheer drops behind them, as is 14 short. Hole 7 is just one big hillside. There are also plenty of holes where the foliage is close behind the pin making a comebacker difficult (4, 8, and 17 long being the most blatant).
There are so many unique features, I will share just a highlight reel here:
- Hole 3 long is absolutely unreal. A 30-ft wide tunnel for the first 450'. then a sharp 45° left, and a 5 story rise in elevation over a further 300'. This is one of the most impressive holes I've ever played and I was lucky enough to grab the par.
- Hole 7 is a short hole, but plays onto a hillside about 30 feet high. The short pin is to the left and the long is to the right. The rollaway danger is high here.
- Hole 10's long pin is tucked behind a tight 90° right mando which could (nee, will) force some creative shots unless you beat it in one.
- Hole 14 plays 150' through a tunnel of trees, then comes blasting out over a two story drop in elevation, culminating in a short uphill to the green.
It's time to talk about it. Hole 18. It is the best hole I have ever played. I have never been so wowed by the sheer look of a hole. Sure, I've seen some great views from certain tee pads, but this was purely the hole. Staring at a 30' drop in elevation off the tee and then a slow right turn about 300' down the fairway, followed by 550 more feet of trees to play through (over a rise in the ground) to get to the green, which has plenty of trees itself... the breathtaking view followed by the challenging hole was unreal.
Cons:
The first tee can be hard to find from the parking lot since there are two practice baskets. It's just past the yellow one.
There is a risk of going into the campground/RV area if you get a bad kick on hole 1.
The rough is appropriate for a place called "Wilderness," but the thorns can get nasty and recovery shots from off the fairway can be both overly difficult and uncomfortable.
There are a few spots where I feel there are just a few too many trees. Hole 1, and the approaches to 5 and 6's long greens. Some may consider hole 12 in this as well, but once you beat the first tree it becomes considerably easier.
Other Thoughts:
If you're used to bombers then there will be some frustration as it is a technical challenge, but it's a style you probably need to learn *wink*
Take your time as it seems like a pretty low traffic course. Throw 2-3 shots per hole and see what works best. The lines you'll learn (*cough* hole 12 *cough*) are ones you can take with you to other wooded courses.
Go play this course. The most unfortunate thing about this course is that it's so far away from major cities. I came from the Dells about 40 minutes away, and it's about an hour from Madison... but I can't say enough good about this course. If you happen to be anywhere near here, stop and play it. No excuses.