Thornberry Creek - #15

Thornberry Creek

The Oneida Legends Course

By Brian Weis

The morning after a Sunday night Packer victory, I decided to take in a round of golf in before making the trek back to Milwaukee. The experience of Lambeau Field and a golf excursion are like a great cheese and wine pairing. Who am I kidding, I do not drink wine. The pair is a match made in heaven like a cold beer and perfectly grilled brat.

Thornberry Creek features 27 holes comprised of the 18 hole Oneida Championship course and the Original 9, one of 10 official PGA Family Courses in the Badger state. The championship course stretches almost 7000 yards weaving through native hardwoods, along tranquil lakes and through some of the most prestigious neighborhoods in the Green Bay.

Notable Holes
#1 - The opening stanza starts with a challenging par 4. Mark Becker, Director of Golf, shares, "The first hole might be the hardest starting hole in the area. An accurate drive or a cut is needed to reach the ridge and setup for a par. Anything left will get you in trouble fast."

The dog leg right narrows quickly. Big hitters are going to have to decide between bombing it over the ridge or layup with a long iron resulting in another long iron into an elevated green.

#9 - A large ominous lake lurks the entire length of this 518 yard long par 5. Getting home in two is possible if you want to challenge the water and bite off part of the dog leg left. A safer play is to take the water out of position and ride the right side. The slick double tiered green can spell three putt quickly.

Note, the course goes out and does not return to the clubhouse at the turn. For those who work up an appetite a grill house is accessible at holes 6 and 15.

#15 - Mark's favorite hole is a risk versus reward hole appropriately named, Eagle. "If I hit a big drive left of the bunker, I am considering going for it in two. It is a great gambling hole if I am striking the ball well."

#18 - The finishing hole climbs back toward the clubhouse. From the tee you will see 6 massive bunkers and from the green looking back you will see none. "It is a real cool design feature, that many people miss," Becker shared.

The Pine Tree Sports Pub, located in the clubhouse, might be one of the finest golf course pubs. After your round, choose from over 10 Wisconsin tap beer and a watch a game on one of the 24 big screen TVs.

The Skinny
4 Tee Boxes: 6934, 6376, 5725 and 5103 yards
Slope/Rating: 134/73.4
Par 72
Weekend Rate: $59

Contact Information
Thornberry Creek at Oneida
4470 N Pine Tree Road
Oneida, WI 54155
(920) 434-7501
www.golfthornberry.com

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Article Tags: Thornberry Creek

Revised: 09/23/2011 - Article Viewed 33,499 Times - View Course Profile

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.