Sand Valley

Had the opportunity to play with a group of buddies in early June for the first time. Place is immaculate and had the best time out there. Both Bandon Dunes & Cabot Links are next on my list to play! They really have made it magical at Sand Valley. Playing there again this Labor Day Weekend and staying on property for the first time. More reviews to come... I'd absolutely recommend making the drive or flight to play Sand Valley in middle-of-nowhere Wisconsin!

Every review and discussion I had heard going into this round lead me to believe Sand Valley, although being built first, was playing second fiddle to Mammoth Dunes. Having played Mammoth last October I thought I knew I would be able to compare the two, and let me first say that I think it's every bit as good as Mammoth. The scale seemed just as large stepping to the first tee.

The greens seemed every bit as large as Mammoth and those undulations allowed for some extreme lines for the putts. Although there appeared to be marshals out on the course they never seemed to enforce pace of play, we had to wait on almost every shot. I know it's a special round for many golfers, me included, but it's a little tough to get into a rhythm. The walk is not the easiest and the wind was really blowing, so I'm sure that played a factor in the time.

The fairways allowed for some significant roll out which allowed our group of somewhat shorter hitters to play from 6,500 easily. The greens rolled fast and true, the sheer size caused a few three putts, but it was still enjoyable from start to finish.

One nice touch that I don't see very often around central WI was the food at the turn. Instead of the traditional hot dog and hamburger, Craig's Porch was serving tacos that were absolutely delicious. The staff was incredible considering the COVID restrictions, sanitizing wipes on each tee box and the starters made sure to maintain distances throughout the staging area through the first tee. This will be a repeat course in the future, I have no doubt about it.

This was our second time playing the Sandbox, we use it as a practice session rather than beating balls on the range. Since it's a short course it can be played with 2/3 clubs easily, and that allows for different shots and the ability to work on some different shot shapes. All 17 holes can be played with a putter it you prefer or have a late night bet to settle.

Since we played in early May, all holes had to be played off the built in mats, that's fine for me as tight lies from 65-100 yards are pretty difficult to execute shot after shot, at least for me. The greens are large have a great deal of slopes. You are able to see the majority of the slopes from the tee boxes it allows each person to try and play something a bit different and see who can execute the shot better.

As mentioned both times playing this course it was used as a warm up, but I can just picture a buddies group up there and finishing up the day on the short course. One of the best features about the short course, a few cottages are located right on the 17 green. Would recommend for anyone playing a stay and play get away.

Mammoth Dunes is the newest 18 hole course at Sand Valley and while both are top notch, my opinion is Mammoth Dunes is the more unique, more dramatic and more enjoyable course at the resort. Despite the dramatic views and terrain, the Mammoth Dunes course is extremely playable for all abilities. The massive sand dunes the course is routed along combined with extreme elevation changes and large, undulating green complexes make this one of the most enjoyable courses I've played to date. If you can get an early season or late season day with good weather, the value is extremely appealing as well.

Sand Valley is the original 18 at the Sand Valley Golf Resort and is well worth the trip to central Wisconsin. The green complexes at Sand Valley are incredibly interesting and difficult and make the course what it is. The punchbowl green on #17 is one of the most unique green complexes in the country. Tee to green is enjoyable as well. This course is more difficult than its companion course, Mammoth Dunes but equally enjoyable.

Course is visually and strategically stunning. Sand is everything and completely different than anything I had previously played. Course has nice land movement and the greens are what you would expect from
C&C. This is another destination course from Keiser!

Just what you would expect from a C&C short course. Wild greens and bunkering that will test your short game. You will have a blast.

Wild ride in Wisconsin. Bold everything and sand everywhere. I loved the layout, rolling terrain and wild greens. The punch bowl 17th, wild 18th and 10th have to be seen to be believed.

Mammoth Dunes at San Valley is a great golf experience. The course routing is a roller coaster of a ride. All 18 holes are great. Had 4 birdies on back 9 alone and never saw the course before, that always makes it fun. The course was routed through the V Ridge on property perfectly. What a great complement to the Sand Valley course. Love the difference between courses and can't wait to go back when the 3rd course is done.

Also the hospitality and quality of food on site is wonderful. Make the trip to SV

Mammoth Dunes is remarkable, this is certainly not something you see in Wisconsin. As you sit on the first tee and see all the sand and huge dunes its amazing what they have done with this property. This a a must get to bucket list course/resort it is stunning.

The 1st hole is crazy 100 yard wide fairway par 4, what a way to ease you into a round. After that it just gets more and more fun. Huge sand traps (that are easily playable). Boomerang greens #6 , drive able and I mean easily drive able par 4 14th the whole hole slops right do the hole, and big elevation changes, with crazy undulating greens. There is nothing not to love able this place.

I really enjoyed the 10-14 hole stretch. 10 is a great dogleg par 4. 11 is a beautiful par 5 with a huge bunker in the middle of the fairway. 12 is a downhill par 4 with a huge mound guarding the green/hole. 13 is a short par 3 with a narrow green and bunkers galore. Finally 14 is the drive able par 4 that is just so well designed.

This place does not disappoint. Rooms are great. Food is delicious. Half-way house has amazing food at cheap prices. Haven't been to Bandon yet but loved this place more than Kohler just in an all round fun place to go and enjoy golf and your buddies.

What an experience. This place is so cool . The amount of fun you can have here is endless. The course are so playable but challenging at the same time that it doesn't matter if you are a 5 handicap or 20 you will have fun. We got in on a great package deal through the WSGA played all 3 course and a night stay for $310.

The Sand Valley course is terrific. The layout the conditions are all great. To me it was just a touch behind Mammoth Dunes but not by much. 1st hole is a great hole. It is a wide open par 4 to ease you into the round. Once you get through about the first 3 then the teeth of the course starts to show. The fairways are huge greens are forgiving but if you hit ball in wrong spots or off the wrong hump and you are in trouble. #8 and #9 were my favorite holes. 8 is a super short par 3 played at 102 yds but has a false front and is up hill guarded well by bunker (which is most greens guarded by sneaking bunkers or humps and bumps). #9 is a short par 4 but is very tight with the only water on the hole property. Plays to an up hill 2 tier green. The whole course is fun we all left smiling.

Amenities at this place are nuts. The rooms are awesome the bar/restaurant is great for watching games with reasonable prices. Craig's Porch is a must it is at the Sand Valley Course, $2 beer's $3 mixers and the best taco's you will eat for $1.50 a taco. Make sure to get a Nye's Ice cream sandwich too.

A most for golf lovers!

The Sandbox...what a course, it is one of the most fun experiences I have ever had on a golf course and when the longest hole measured at 114 yards that should tell you how much fun it is. What a great experience the course requires you to think on every shot but have so much fun at the same time if you hit the wrong hump or bump the ball could end up farther than when you started OR it could take it right down to the hole like the toilet bowl hole #9. The course was in great condition the course was designed amazingly and the amenities were great ( a canoe filled with beer for $2 how can you beat that). I have not been to Bandon or played the Cradle but The Sandbox has to be close to those it is so much fun you just laugh the whole time.

The service at Sand Valley is amazing the place is stunning, it some place everyone needs to visit once a YEAR. Loved every minute of my trip their. Only downside would be price of Sandbox in the summer. We played on a package price so it was all good.

Played both courses 2x in mid September 2019. Conditions were excellent, caddies did a great job and kept pace of play moving. Courses are very deceptive and must follow caddies direction. We had a group of 8 and there’s is always one guy who thinks he knows more than the caddies and complains his caddie was giving bad reads.

We rented 2 fantastic houses each with 4 bedrooms and 4 private baths. The one disappointing aspect is only 1 restaurant on property, and it can get crowded for dinner. Food was good and nice selection on menu. Have to experience Wisconsin cheese curds.

Great trip, look forward to returning soon.

Played Sand Valley in September 2019. Played Sand Valley and Mammoth Dunes but didn’t have time for the Sandbox. Both courses are amazing but Mammoth definitely stands out being just more dramatic. Incredible property and fun golf. Friend of mine popped for caddies which was very nice but not necessary. Staff is beyond friendly and the place is just a top notch golf destination. I stayed off property at a townhouse rental and saved 50% which I would do again. I put a lot of stock in the conditions of the course when I rate golf courses. This being said SV technically isn’t pristine, but the rustic, somewhat linksy, wind swept bunkers had a cool feeling. Greens were in tip top shape which is #1 in my book. At the end of the day I definitely recommend visiting this property.

Mamouth Dunes and Sand Valley was nice, but disappointing. Having played Streamsong and many other high end golf destination courses, my expectations were high. Mamouth Dunes was dry, greens very hard, putting difficult. Course is open off the tee, there is a ton of large sand bunkers and waste areas and its difficult to stop the ball near the hole, and I am a good player. The two big disappointments were the driving range/practice area (tons of divots, no real targets just a totally flat range with 4-5 pins like a muni range and the pace of play. Almost 5 hours and we only finished 10 minutes after the group in front of us. The clubhouse was nice, but some basics are missing like a decent size locker room (basement) and no fitting room in the proshop,

Course is one you want to play! Very challenging and fun course to play!

Bring your A game! You will need it to score there!

I didn't fall in love with Sand Valley the first time in 2017. A couple tee shots bothered me - over or around the trees on the par-5 12th and the blind tee shot on the par-3 17th. Solving them a second time helped me appreciate the routing a little more.
This is my favorite kind of golf. The ball rolls for days and the greens are easy to hit and hard to putt. It's engaging golf but not penal - kind of the hard par/easy bogey mantra that RTJ Sr. employed.

Mammoth Dunes shoots up my list of maybe among the top 25 courses I've ever played (out of more than 1,000). It's such a creative, thoughtful interpretation of what a modern golf course should look and play like.
It will give (I made three birdies) and it will take too (I made a whopping 8 3-putts). Everything is supersized, from the fairways to the greens to the waste bunkers.
There are endless scoring opportunities if you play the proper angles, especially on the two drivable par 4s. I drove the downhill 14th with a 5-wood for a simple birdie. It was interesting that our caddie told everyone to layup on the short 6th. After making birdie, I saw why. The guy behind us drove his ball onto the left side of the kidney-shaped green, while we were putting to the pin on the right side. That ball had no chance to be putted close to the hole, so his risk-reward tee shot wasn't in the 'A' position. Good fun.

I don't think the Sandbox is as compelling as The Preserve at Bandon Dunes or as endearing as the Cradle at Pinehurst, but it certainly delivers the fun, if done right.
I walked it solo when I should have begged my way into the six-some a couple holes behind me. They were having a great time and the alcohol was flowing. There's a bartender and a canoe filled with beer serving groups on the first tee.
Most of the course is wedge/half-wedge shots to treacherous, sloping greens. Some pins get tucked behind evil bunkering.
Beyond the 145-yard second hole, it's not until holes 14-16 that golfers hit more 8 or 9 irons. Those holes play from 120 yards to 149 yards. The final green, the 17th, is guarded by perhaps the scariest bunker on property, a deep and dark pit. Avoid it at all cost. Unless you want to drop a ball in there and give it a go.

Hard to believe this course is located here as I drove miles through rural Wisconsin. Once you arrive, the facility and experience are 1st class. Driving range, practice area, putting green, second to none. Staff both on and off the course really make you feel like it’s all about you today. Now on to the course......18 fantastic holes, one after another. Fairways are extremely forgiving, and grass appears to be a fescue which is different than the bent grass most commonly seen in this part of the country. With all the sand, you get a thumping sensation when you hit the ground at times. Chipping around the greens can be tricky as the lies are tight. I recommend running the ball on as much as possible. Greens don’t check as much as others, so allow for one club less as ball rolls out. The greens are ENORMOUS, and offer great options for pins and tactics to play. Yes, there is a lot of sand, but the course is playable for the average player. The vistas from many tees is breathtaking, and the expansive area for each hole can offer a lot of solitude in a peaceful way. I won’t go into hole descriptions, but they are really fun, with the par 3’s being the most interesting. May rate of $155 was a very reasonable price. This is a walking only course, with caddies available. If you live in the Upper Midwest, it’s a bucket list course !