zackvandyke

My brother and I stopped to play Sand Valley on the way home to Chicago after being in northern Wisconsin for the weekend. The service and overall "feel" of the resort is very comparable to Bandon Dunes. Because it is very new there is still construction going on but you can see that in the near future it will be the Bandon Dunes of the Midwest.

We only played the Sand Valley course and I must say the views and layout are stunning! We couldn't stop taking pictures from every tee box. I would love to play it again later in the year when the greens are repaired and rolling at true speed.

The one thing that did frustrate me though was the level of knowledge or lack thereof my caddie had of the course and golf in general. On the second hole my "A" caddie informed me that it was his FIRST time actually being out on the course and that we would learn it together because it was also my first time being there. He also had no idea how to give me a yardage, didn't know how to work his rangefinder or how to step off yardages from nearby sprinkler heads. Managing this course by yourself is very difficult as there are many blind shots into greens and from tee box areas. I am not by any means high maintenance when it comes to caddies and I am not upset at my caddie at all (he was a really nice and pleasant guy) but I am upset at the caddie director as obviously there isn't any sort of training. I would be totally fine if this was a junior caddie. But how can you send out an "A" caddie who has never even stepped foot on the course and doesn't know how to give yardage?