"Can Sand Valley Make Wisconsin the Next Golfing Destination?"

The New York Times' Tom Redburn visited Sand Valley last fall and just when it sounded like he had visited too early, he makes clear he was taken with Mike Keiser's latest vision. To avid followers of the Keiser project, there won't be much new here. However, it's refreshing to read old style travel writing that takes you to a special place, gives you an idea what to expect, but doesn't give all of the surprises away.

He also gives this preview of what to expect from the resort going forward:

After the resort’s opening, the Coore/Crenshaw layout will be the only course fully available for play. But a second design, by David McLay Kidd, who created the first links at Bandon Dunes, is already well underway. A six-hole loop named Mammoth Dunes is expected to open for preview play this summer, and the full 18 holes might be ready as early as September.

Lisa and I walked the first hole and a couple others as the sun was setting, and the course looks like it will be as beautiful, and even more wide open, than Sand Valley. Mr. Coore and Mr. Crenshaw are also designing a short par-3 course, which should be ready in 2018.

“There’s already great golf in Wisconsin,” said Josh Lesnik, an executive at KemperSports, which will manage Sand Valley for the Keisers. “But soon golfers will look to Wisconsin as a place like Scotland or western Ireland, where they can go for a week and, within a short drive, play someplace special every day.”