Hole #6 - The Horseshoe Green

Getting To Know: Mammoth Dunes at Sand Valley Golf Resort

An Insightful Interview With David McLay Kidd, Golf Course Architect

By Brian Weis

Whether you have played a course 20+ times a year or looking to play the course for the first time, insights from an insider can help enhance your golf experience. Below is an interview with David McLay Kidd who shares some valuable tidbits about the course, memorable holes and must eats and treats at the 19th.

Give Our Readers An Overview of the Golf Course/Property
Sand Valley brings the drama and playing style of a seaside links to the heartland of America. Coore & Crenshaw built the first course that open this year (2017) and we are completing the second course at Sand Valley, Mammoth Dunes. The golf course is set to open in 2018. Golfers are starting to nickname the resort as the Bandon Dunes of the Midwest. This place is really special!

If Someone Was Looking To Golf In The Area, Why Should They Play Your Course?
If you traveled to central Wisconsin, you should play all the courses at Sand Valley, if not once but twice. Mammoth Dunes will be a memorable experience for all that play it.

What Tips or Local Knowledge Would You Provide To Help Them Score Better At Your Course?
A few years ago, we had the epiphany that the average golfer does not break 100 and has troubles with 30-40 carry shots. In the past, we built courses that would challenge the better golfer but absolutely punish the everyday resort guest.

When we designed Mammoth Dunes, our goal was to provide an opportunity for birdie on every hole. The challenge for the golfer (and his caddie) is to solve the riddle. Off the tee, fairways are generous, but there is an optimal angle to which to approach the green. There are straighter ways to get to pins/greens but they offer some great risk/reward opportunities. Generally, if you avoid the trouble you will be rewarded.

Golfers may find some sand bunkers or waste areas but it is difficult to lose a golf ball.

Opportunities To Play
Currently, 9 holes are open for preview play on Mammoth Dunes and will continue continue into the Spring of 2018. The course open date is to be determined but we are forecasting in the summer of 2018.

What Is The Signature, Most Talked About, or Most Photographed Hole?
We do not build golf courses around a signature hole. So far when i sit down in the bar to listen to golfers, they have equally talked about every hole on the course. They is exciting for me as a designer that we built 18 memorable holes.

It is worth noting, the 14th hole was designed by Brian Silvernail, the winner of Golf Digest's 2016 Armchair Architect contest. Over 530 entries were submitted and Silvernail developed a hole that fit the terrain and golf course perfectly. Not surprising he is a graphic designer who moonlights as a computer golf game architect. The hole is a fantastic sweeping downhill left, driveable par-4 14th hole. The play is to hit a slight draw down the middle above the pot bunker. If you catch the speed slot you will have a putt for eagle.

What Is Your Favorite Hole? Any Tips to Play It?
Hole #6! I spent a lot of time shaping the horseshoe shaped green. I actually rolled basketballs to mimic the roll of a golf bar before planing grass. The back of the green is a swale with a ridge that can be used to move the ball from one end to the other. Big hitters can reach the ends of the green from the tee. Trust the ridge as a backboard or ramp to creatively get the ball to the hole. For example, if the pin is on the far right drive to the left side and play the horseshoe break.

Must Have Dish or Drink after the round at the 19th Hole?
Guests are raving about the corn chowder and the walleye tacos.

Back Tee Stats
Par: TBD
Yardage: TBD
Slope: TBD
Rating: TBD

More Information
Mammoth Dunes
1697 Leopold Way
Nekoosa, WI, 54457
888-651-5539

http://www.sandvalleygolfresort.com/

Revised: 10/13/2017 - Article Viewed 14,742 Times - View Course Profile

About: Brian Weis

Brian Weis is the mastermind behind GolfTrips.com, a vast network of golf travel and directory sites covering everything from the rolling fairways of Wisconsin to the sunbaked desert layouts of Arizona. If there’s a golf destination worth visiting, chances are, Brian has written about it, played it, or at the very least, found a way to justify a "business trip" there.

As a card-carrying member of the Golf Writers Association of America (GWAA), International Network of Golf (ING), Golf Travel Writers of America (GTWA), International Golf Travel Writers Association (IGTWA), and The Society of Hickory Golfers (SoHG), Brian has the credentials to prove that talking about golf is his full-time job. In 2016, his peers even handed him The Shaheen Cup, a prestigious award in golf travel writing—essentially the Masters green jacket for guys who don’t hit the range but still know where the best 19th holes are.

Brian’s love for golf goes way back. As a kid, he competed in junior and high school golf, only to realize that his dreams of a college golf scholarship had about the same odds as a 30-handicap making a hole-in-one. Instead, he took the more practical route—working on the West Bend Country Club grounds crew to fund his University of Wisconsin education. Little did he know that mowing greens and fixing divots would one day lead to a career writing about the best courses on the planet.

In 2004, Brian turned his golf passion into a business, launching GolfWisconsin.com. Three years later, he expanded his vision, and GolfTrips.com was born—a one-stop shop for golf travel junkies looking for their next tee time. Today, his empire spans all 50 states, and 20+ international destinations.

On the course, Brian is a weekend warrior who oscillates between a 5 and 9 handicap, depending on how much he's been traveling (or how generous he’s feeling with his scorecard). His signature move" A high, soft fade that his playing partners affectionately (or not-so-affectionately) call "The Weis Slice." But when he catches one clean, his 300+ yard drives remind everyone that while he may write about golf for a living, he can still send a ball into the next zip code with the best of them.

Whether he’s hunting down the best public courses, digging up hidden gems, or simply outdriving his buddies, Brian Weis is living proof that golf is more than a game—it’s a way of life.