By Len Ziehm
Sand Valley’s two 18-hole championship courses, Sand Valley and Mammoth Dunes, are lauded by every golfer making the trek to the middle of Wisconsin. However, when we asked some of the locals to pick their favorite course they didn’t hesitate to go in another direction. The Sandbox was the overwhelming favorite. The par-3 short course forces a player to both think his way around and have fun at the same time.
The Sandbox
The 17 holes on the Sandbox measure between 50 and 150 yards. There is even an extra shovel-designed tee marker on each hole for those wishing to have the extra challenge of playing the course as putting only.
Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw designed the Sandbox with interesting humps, bumps and elevation changes, plus several deep bunkers to keep things interesting. They have done several golf projects at Keiser’s other golf properties.
Short courses have become very popular at resorts and choosing a favorite isn’t easy, but for me, it comes down to either the Sandbox, or the Cradle at the Pinehurst. They are both unique, but the Sandbox gets my nod as more fun of the two.
Keiser is responsible for Bandon Dunes on the Oregon coastline that set a new trend in must-play golf resorts in the United States. He became enthralled with links courses in Scotland and Ireland and brought that passion back to the United States.
Sand Valley opened in 2017, the courses are now mature and hosted the Wisconsin State Amateur, the most significant event to be held there thus far. Keiser’s Bandon Dunes has contracted to host several USGA Amateur Championships, we expect Sand Valley to join the list of USGA host sites in the future.
The Lido
The next course to open at Sand Valley will be the highly anticipated, The Lido, in 2023.
The original Lido Golf Club was a private facility built in 1917 on Long Island with Charles Blair Macdonald as its designer. It was called “the most demanding course ever built.’’ It only measured 6,693 yards from the back tees, a respectable distance for hickory-shafted clubs, but not so much for modern technology.
The Lido was demolished by the U.S. Navy during World War II and Tom Doak’s recreation of it at Sand Valley is being touted as the real thing.
Sledge Valley
Scheduled to open in 2024, Sledge Village will add something new to the resort. A residential complex with 36 homes will be constructed along with the Sledge Valley golf course, six-acre putting course, a tennis center, bistro restaurant, pool house and an arcade with golf simulators.
Along with the work being done at Sand Valley Keiser has just come out with a new book, “The Nature of the Game – Links Golf at Bandon Dunes and Far Beyond,’’ written with Stephen Goodwin.
The book provides insight into all of Keiser’s creations, including what’s in the works at Sand Valley and is available on Amazon.
It doesn’t appear that Mike Keiser is finished creating new and interesting golf travel destinations, the final sentence of the book may be the most revealing:
“The most interesting chapter is always the next one.’’
