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Sand Valley’s newest golf course, Commons, has opened at the popular resort and residential community in Nekoosa, Wisconsin, and it kicked off with an old-school bang. A group of 48 hickory golfers recently gathered for a kickoff event at the first course designed by Jim Craig, a longtime associate of design team Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw.
Craig crafted the new 12-hole course at Sand Valley, which is a nod to the old “common ground” courses of the British Isles. Craig and Sand Valley developer and co-owner Michael Keiser have said they were largely inspired by Prestwick in Scotland, which began as a 12-hole course and was host to the first 12 Open Championships.
Commons at Sand Valley measures 3,417 yards and plays to a par of 45, including one shortish par 5, seven par 4s and four par 3s. The Commons joins the highly ranked Lido, Sand Valley, Mammoth Dunes, Sedge Valley and par-3 Sandbox courses at the resort that has leapt onto many players’ buckets lists. Commons should take about two and a half hours to play.
“Commons is really a dream come true for me,” Craig said in a media release announcing the opening of the course. “Michael and I worked on so many ideas, and he gave me so much freedom to allow the course to evolve the way it did. It’s been a thrill to see people out enjoying it. That’s the goal – for golfers to have fun and feel the spirit of the game.”
The hickory golfers who enjoyed it early were led by Peter Flory, a golf historian from Chicago who is among the best hickory players in the world. Flory was the source of research and a home-generated golf simulation of the Lido, the famous Golden Age layout on Long Island by architects C.B. Macdonald and Seth Raynor that opened in 1914 but vanished after World War II. Flory’s efforts led to the Lido being rebuilt in detail at Sand Valley by Tom Doak and Renaissance Golf, opening in 2023.
Flory – who also hosts groups of Golfweek’s Best course raters at various layouts each year – won the Hickory Invitational at Commons by four shots. The event served as a great introduction for a course intended to offer fun golf in a relaxed environment. Still to come is the Commons Hamlet, a social hub that will sit alongside the lake with outdoor seating, food and retail trucks, and a path to the starter’s house.
“I’ve always loved places where golf is simply a part of community life,” Keiser said in the media release. “At St. Andrews, North Berwick and so many other villages where golf took hold, the game exists alongside walking paths and homes. The links are gathering places and sites for everyday activities. Commons was our attempt to create that feeling at Sand Valley – a place to play and to gather.”
Jason Lusk is Golfweek's travel and golf course architecture editor, as well as the magazine's creative director. He has written for and designed Golfweek for more than two decades.
This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Commons opens at Sand Valley in Wisconsin
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Craig crafted the new 12-hole course at Sand Valley, which is a nod to the old “common ground” courses of the British Isles. Craig and Sand Valley developer and co-owner Michael Keiser have said they were largely inspired by Prestwick in Scotland, which began as a 12-hole course and was host to the first 12 Open Championships.
Commons at Sand Valley measures 3,417 yards and plays to a par of 45, including one shortish par 5, seven par 4s and four par 3s. The Commons joins the highly ranked Lido, Sand Valley, Mammoth Dunes, Sedge Valley and par-3 Sandbox courses at the resort that has leapt onto many players’ buckets lists. Commons should take about two and a half hours to play.
“Commons is really a dream come true for me,” Craig said in a media release announcing the opening of the course. “Michael and I worked on so many ideas, and he gave me so much freedom to allow the course to evolve the way it did. It’s been a thrill to see people out enjoying it. That’s the goal – for golfers to have fun and feel the spirit of the game.”
The hickory golfers who enjoyed it early were led by Peter Flory, a golf historian from Chicago who is among the best hickory players in the world. Flory was the source of research and a home-generated golf simulation of the Lido, the famous Golden Age layout on Long Island by architects C.B. Macdonald and Seth Raynor that opened in 1914 but vanished after World War II. Flory’s efforts led to the Lido being rebuilt in detail at Sand Valley by Tom Doak and Renaissance Golf, opening in 2023.
Flory – who also hosts groups of Golfweek’s Best course raters at various layouts each year – won the Hickory Invitational at Commons by four shots. The event served as a great introduction for a course intended to offer fun golf in a relaxed environment. Still to come is the Commons Hamlet, a social hub that will sit alongside the lake with outdoor seating, food and retail trucks, and a path to the starter’s house.
“I’ve always loved places where golf is simply a part of community life,” Keiser said in the media release. “At St. Andrews, North Berwick and so many other villages where golf took hold, the game exists alongside walking paths and homes. The links are gathering places and sites for everyday activities. Commons was our attempt to create that feeling at Sand Valley – a place to play and to gather.”
Jason Lusk is Golfweek's travel and golf course architecture editor, as well as the magazine's creative director. He has written for and designed Golfweek for more than two decades.
This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Commons opens at Sand Valley in Wisconsin
Continue reading...
