University Ridge Hole #5
University Ridge
The Famous Pro Shop

Getting To Know: University Ridge

An Insightful Interview With Michael Gaspard, General Manager

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 Michael Gaspard 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
University of Wisconsin Golf Course! The apparel, golf shop, W Grill, and staff are all a part of a true Badger experience. Golf course is a tale of two nines. Front nine meandors through prarie like conditions, while the back nine is carved through the woods.

If Someone Was Looking To Golf In The Area, Why Should They Play Your Course?
If you are in Madison and want a true WI Badger experience, then University Ridge is the only choice. Eleven consecutive years of the Gold Medal award for Best Madison Golf Course (Madison Magazine).

What Tips or Local Knowledge Would You Provide To Help Them Score Better At Your Course?
If you are playing the tips, you better bring your A game in every aspect!

Recent Awards or What You Are Most Proud About The Course?
12 time winner of GolfWorld's top 100 United States golf shops and being a facility of the University of Wisconsin Athletic Department.

What Is The Signature, Most Talked About, or Most Photographed Hole?
Hole #16. Downhill par 5 off the tee with split fairway and large trees splitting. 15 bunkers surround the approach/green. It is a truly beautiful hole!

What Is Your Favorite Hole? Any Tips to Play It?
Hole #4. Very difficult tee shot from blue/black tees. A line of trees are on the left side of fairway and the hole is a dogleg right with Morse Pond on the right. Approach shot is to elevated green with a lot of undulation. Tip: Play to the right side of the fairway off the tee and take an extra club and a half (no wind) on the approach.

Must Have Dish or Drink after the round at the 19th Hole?
Buffalo chicken wrap and Capital (Seasonal) draft beer!

Who Holds Course Record and What Was Their Score? Garrett Jones from the black tees: 65

Back Tee Stats
Par: 72
Yardage: 7259
Slope: 144
Rating: 74.9

More Information
University Ridge
9002 County Road PD
Madison, WI, 53593
608-845-7700
www.universityridge.com

Revised: 04/26/2012 - Article Viewed 36,077 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.