Petrifying Springs Golf Course

Getting To Know: Petrifying Springs Golf Course

An Insightful Interview With Dan Drier, General Manager Golf Operations for Kenosha County

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 Dan Drier 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
Named as the "#1 Sporty Course in Wisconsin" by Gary D'Amato from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Petrifying Springs Golf Course is committed to giving you a great golf experience. Petrifying Springs is the most mature park in Kenosha County. Abundant trees and a rolling landscape add beauty and challenge to this classic 18 hole, 6,000 yard, par 70 golf course created in 1936. This course is traditional and a very player friendly must play.

Petrifying Springs Golf Course is skillfully carved from a spectacular natural setting. The excitement and challenge of golfing Petrifying Spring's mature, tree-lined course is enhanced by the majestic surroundings, hilly terrain along with well-manicured playing conditions. Petrifying Springs Golf Course is characterized by abundant, mature trees, strategic sand traps and challenging water hazards. Enjoy well-groomed playing conditions at very reasonable rates.

Petrifying Springs Golf Course, Kenosha County's sporty public course, is framed by breathtaking hardwood forests. Petrifying Springs Golf Course features a well-stocked golf shop, club and cart rentals, short game practice area, groomed practice green, and laser-measured yardage markers.

Courtesy, knowledge and professionalism are the words used to describe the Petrifying Springs golf staff. Whether you're scheduling an outing, selecting golf equipment or seeking advice to correct your swing, we strive to accommodate your needs. Reservations are accepted online at www.kenoshacountygolf.com or by phone 262-697-golf (4653).

Try us for your next corporate or group outing! Outings are welcome weekdays and weekends. Our guest service representatives can detail your outing to fit any desire and arrange banquets on-site to satisfy even the largest appetite.

After a great round of golf, enjoy a cool drink in the clubhouse, or relax and enjoy the congenial atmosphere on the patio at sunset. We have an excellent bar and grill with a friendly staff waiting to serve you. The public is always welcome to enjoy our tasty menu and wide selections of brews. We hope to see you on the golf course soon!

What Tips or Local Knowledge Would You Provide To Help Them Score Better At Your Course?
Petrifying Springs Golf Course can be a fun but challenging golf facility. Try and keep the ball in the short grass off the tee and take plenty of club on the par threes. The greens are very undulating so be sure to keep your ball below the hole whenever possible. Petrifying Springs is home to three of the most difficult closing holes anywhere in southeast Wisconsin, so stay focus until the end of your round or some big numbers could ruin your score. Enjoy the completely natural surroundings without any home sites and bring you're A game. Have fun on this darling of a great golf course!

Recent Awards or What You Are Most Proud About The Course?
Petrifying Springs Golf Course celebrated 75 years of play in 2011.

What Is The Signature, Most Talked About, or Most Photographed Hole?
There are many unique and outstanding holes and it is difficult to signal any one out.

I would say it would be eight and nine, the back to back par fives to finish the front nine. The eighth hole is a 492 yard uphill par five with a fairway that slopes right to left and has trees lining both sides. The green can be reachable in two for longer hitters and is accepting to those shots as the green is bowl shaped. The ninth hole is a 476 yard par 5 and is also reachable for longer hitters but be wary of the pond that starts about 100 yards out and is 30 yards wide. This up hill hole has a green with a false front and approach shots that come up short just might roll right back off the green. Any putt from the back of the green to a front pin has to be rolled with a cautious touch with that severe back to front slopping green.

What Is Your Favorite Hole? Any Tips to Play It?
Number 18 is my favorite hole as it is a great finishing hole that allows for great views of the lake between nine and 18 and the outstanding clubhouse. This 437 yard par 4 is a very challenging all uphill hole to a small severely sloped back to front green that is considerably elevated. A good drive will leave me about 165 with a golf shot that is over water and lengthened by the elevation change to a narrow and deep green. If I hit the green the putting is a challenge as there are many twists to this green and if I miss chipping can be a nightmare. This is truly a memorable hole and a par is a great score to finish with.

Must Have Dish or Drink after the round at the 19th Hole?
The food at Petrifying Springs GC is unrivaled. The menu is right for a fun atmosphere in the clubhouse or on the patio overlooking the golf course. The friendly staff takes real pride in serving the food piping hot and the beverages icy cold. The Fabulous Friday Night Fish Fry is excellent and offers four different entre selections. The sandwiches are prepared just the way you like it with an amazing variety of condiments. All of the appetizers are full of flavor as well. My favorite is the Crunchy Chicken Ranch Wrap with Cheddar and Bacon and a side of fresh hand cut warm Chips and Salsa.

Back Tee Stats
Par: 70
Yardage: 5979
Slope: 119
Rating: 67.8

More Information
Petrifying Springs Golf Course
4909 7th Street County Highway A
Kenosha, WI 53144
262-697-GOLF (4653)
www.kenoshacountygolf.com

Revised: 09/09/2013 - Article Viewed 36,123 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.