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Big Fish

Wisconsin, United States

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Debuting in 2004, the 18-hole layout at Big Fish Golf Club is a new millennium Pete Dye design. Located close to the old logging town of Hayward, this course lets nature and the game of golf exist together in total harmony.

Overall rating

Course rating full ball
Course rating full ball
Course rating full ball
Course rating full ball
4
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Big Fish

“Big fish” tales are a concept that golfers are almost as familiar with as the fishermen themselves. The “Big Fish” in this club’s title is a literal reference to angling, however, as the National Freshwater Hall of Fame is just down the road in Hayward, Wisconsin. The proprietors were able to hook a big one when they landed an architect for the property: Pete Dye. The Kohler resort on Lake Michigan (including Whistling Straits and Blackwolf Run) is perhaps the most celebrated location in Dye’s oeuvre, however he got away to a more isolated location in the state for this development.

This course is a story of two nines, with the front being laid out among grassland, while the back winds its way through a forest. Those trees rarely come into play however, with most agreeing the windy first-half of the round will play considerably more difficult.

Somewhat ironically — both for a designer noted for his water hazards, and for a town noted for its fishing history — there is only one hole at Big Fish where you could potentially catch a big fish.

World Top 100 Golf Courses

The latest ranking of the Top 100 Golf Courses in the World serves as the ultimate global golf bucket list. Most members of our World Top 100 Panel are seasoned golfers, each playing 20-30 of these courses annually while travelling extensively over decades to form their opinions on others. We recognise that opinions vary—even among our panel members. Rankings are subjective, and there are undoubtedly 50 or more courses in the UK and USA alone that could easily fit onto this list. Links Golf Pilgrimages The rankings

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