I played Erin Hills on a recent trip to Wisconsin. The course if about 50 miles from the Kohler resort on lake Michigan, and it's not very hard to take in both destinations on a trip to this area. I really enjoyed the course and it should make an excellent venue for the 2017 U.S. Open

The course is set in rolling farmland and apparently very little dirt was moved in the construction. The holes have a nice rolling feel to them. The fairways are defined by thick and tenacious fescue rough, and if the wind is up and the rough is thick the best players in the world will struggle with this course.

The green complexes are brilliant and the approach shot often has to be very precise to get close to the hole. The routing has the holes running in almost every direction so that the wind has a different effect on each hole.

The course has a nice combination of short and long par 4's and the par 3's can be played at slightly difference differences offering up a nice variety of strategic options. Holes 2 and 11 can certainly play as driveable par 4's which seems to be the fancy of modern championship golf course setup. A couple of holes were somewhat undistinguished, specifically 5 and 17, which keep me from giving the course a 6 ball rating, but this is a great layout that is enjoyable providing you play from the correct set of tees. There are 6 sets of tees, from a women's gold tee at 5082 yards to the back tees of 7800 yards. I would let the excellent caddies guide you to the proper teeing ground.

Erin Hills is a nice layout that will probably move up in the rankings as the years go by. I would make every effort to play here and enjoy this fine layout. Read my full story here: The Wisconsin "Pearl" Golf Trip

Richard Smith

Knoxville, Tennessee