He Says: A Random Small Town in Wisconsin

Thanks to a biting cold Canadian winter, our path across North America was very carefully considered, with lots of tradeoffs between locations and driving times. Despite all this, one spot in particular stood out – “Green Lake, Wisconsin”. Our friends in Chicago, and our AirBNB hosts in Minneapolis both had no idea where this small town just a few hours away was. But for me it was one of the first spots I had on the list, all because I wanted to play the golf course attached to the town – Lawsonia Links.

Green Lake, population 960, is the quintessential holiday destination in the American Midwest – lakes, forests, cute little towns, a private recreational airport, you name it. We decided to pitch our tent at a campsite near the town for a nice change of pace from the hustle and bustle of Chicago.

The Lawsonia Links Golf Course was built in 1930, and has the unique feature of being one of the first golf courses to be built using a bulldozer. This idea fascinated me – golf course designers who for years were forced to work with the lay of the land now had the power to move ground at their will. The effects are obvious – its easy to see how the steam shovel was put to good use to create sweeping mounts and drop-offs around the greens. Legend has it that two boxcars full of sand were placed under the 7th green to create the dramatic slope.

Left: first green, showing a good example of how the steam shovel was used to push up dirt to create the drop-off on the left.

Right: the famous 7th green with two box cars full of sand buried underneath

Lawsonia ticked all the boxes for me when it comes to great golf – unpretentious vibe, affordable, open spaces, and interesting greens and approaches. I found myself laughing at how crazy some of the approaches into the greens were, and the spots you can subsequently end up if you miss the right landing spot.

After finishing up my round, I discovered that the twilight rate of $35 after 3pm lets you play all you want (!), so I raced around another 9 holes, grabbed a burger and headed back to the campsite. The next morning our tent decided to kick the bucket, so we gave it a graceful farewell into the trash and packed up before heading out to Minneapolis, our final stop in America before returning to Canada for the rest of our trip.

It’s hard to imagine a scenario where we end up back here, but nonetheless this was a golf experience I’ll never forget.

One of the friendlier bunkers on the course