Lawsonia (Links)

It’s worth driving to the heart of Wisconsin’s dairyland to play one of the finest and best value courses in all USA. For as little as fifty bucks you can play The Links at Lawsonia, designed in 1930 by William Langford and engineered by Theodore Moreau. How good is that?

Lawsonia has two 18-hole courses – Links and Woodlands – and some golfers find it hard to pick their favorite layout from these two very different tracks. We know which course we prefer, but maybe play both, it won’t break the bank but it will put a smile on your face.

No expense was spared when Lawsonia Links was built back in the 1930s. $250,000 was invested in the course, a figure that equates to around $30,000,000 in today’s money! Blueprints were taken from British Open Championship holes to re-create many copies at Lawsonia, but you will require a vivid imagination to notice the resemblance in most cases.

A tree-clearing programme started in 2000 to return the Links course back to its former treeless glory so expect the wind to play a part on this historical and strategic masterpiece.

Writing in The Confidential Guide to Golf Courses, Tom Doak commented as follows: “Langford and Moreau built many fine courses in their trademark style all over the Midwest, but without question their best-preserved design is Lawsonia, developed just before the Depression from the 1,000-acre Victor Lawson estate overlooking Green Lake, in central Wisconsin…

You might not think that an architect known for major earthworks would need to be good at routing golf holes, but Langford’s design at Lawsonia proves this to be a lie, but it is the juxtaposition of features which makes Lawsonia so captivating…

Most of all, Lawsonia is an exhilarating venue for the game, and a wonderful example of how earthwork can sometimes be more appealing than Nature.”

Craig Haltom is currently working with historian Dan Moore on a long-term project to restore the bunkers on the Links layout.