Whistling Straits - The Irish Course

Stands Alone As A Top Course In The Country

By Brian Weis

The Straits course along the shores of Lake Michigan needs no introduction. Annually, the Pete Dye masterpiece tops every major golf magazine annual list of best public courses. For years, I have surfed through these guides to check off the courses I have played and note the Wisconsin courses on the honor roll. I have been fortunate enough to play the Straits course a half dozen times since opening in 1998. Until recently, I have never played the Straits sister course, The Irish. Largely, because I felt if I was going to travel to the golf Mecca of the Midwest, I wanted to play the top course. A few weeks ago, the 2011 Golf Digest ratings were published, ranking The Irish course the 35th best public course. Staring at the list, I realized I needed to play the course.

I admit, driving to Kohler I wondered the following questions. If the course was 30 miles inland would it be on the list? Is it getting too much credit for being the sister course of Whistling Straits? Is it the same course as the Straits without the majestic lake views? Would I be disappointed that I didn't play the Straits course?

Walking off the 18th green, I was both in awe and disappointment. For 4 and half hours I was in golf heaven. Every hole was a picturesque post card. In a nutshell, The Irish course is a classic Dye course with risk/reward holes featuring dramatic mounding, meandering streams and acres of sand bunkers. Why was I disappointed? The disappointment was internal, that I let a decade pass before I played the course.

The Skinny
5 Tees: 7201, 6750, 6366, 5992, 5109 yards.
Rate/Slope: 75.6/146
Rate: $180

More Info
(800) 344-2838
www.americanclubresort.com

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Article Tags: Whistling Straits

Revised: 05/06/2011 - Article Viewed 33,249 Times

About: Brian Weis

Brian Weis is the mastermind behind GolfTrips.com, a vast network of golf travel and directory sites covering everything from the rolling fairways of Wisconsin to the sunbaked desert layouts of Arizona. If there’s a golf destination worth visiting, chances are, Brian has written about it, played it, or at the very least, found a way to justify a "business trip" there.

As a card-carrying member of the Golf Writers Association of America (GWAA), International Network of Golf (ING), Golf Travel Writers of America (GTWA), International Golf Travel Writers Association (IGTWA), and The Society of Hickory Golfers (SoHG), Brian has the credentials to prove that talking about golf is his full-time job. In 2016, his peers even handed him The Shaheen Cup, a prestigious award in golf travel writing—essentially the Masters green jacket for guys who don’t hit the range but still know where the best 19th holes are.

Brian’s love for golf goes way back. As a kid, he competed in junior and high school golf, only to realize that his dreams of a college golf scholarship had about the same odds as a 30-handicap making a hole-in-one. Instead, he took the more practical route—working on the West Bend Country Club grounds crew to fund his University of Wisconsin education. Little did he know that mowing greens and fixing divots would one day lead to a career writing about the best courses on the planet.

In 2004, Brian turned his golf passion into a business, launching GolfWisconsin.com. Three years later, he expanded his vision, and GolfTrips.com was born—a one-stop shop for golf travel junkies looking for their next tee time. Today, his empire spans all 50 states, and 20+ international destinations.

On the course, Brian is a weekend warrior who oscillates between a 5 and 9 handicap, depending on how much he's been traveling (or how generous he’s feeling with his scorecard). His signature move" A high, soft fade that his playing partners affectionately (or not-so-affectionately) call "The Weis Slice." But when he catches one clean, his 300+ yard drives remind everyone that while he may write about golf for a living, he can still send a ball into the next zip code with the best of them.

Whether he’s hunting down the best public courses, digging up hidden gems, or simply outdriving his buddies, Brian Weis is living proof that golf is more than a game—it’s a way of life.