Glen Erin GC

Getting To Know: Glen Erin Golf Club

An Insightful Interview With Mike Tabbert, Head Golf Professional

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 Mike Tabbert 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
Glen Erin - "Ireland's Valley" - a bit of the Auld Sod right here in Jansesville, Wisconsin. Playing a course of this quality usually requires airfare, hotels and very expensive green fees. Not to worry - we've made the Scotts/Irish tradition of links golf available to you right here in Janesville. With our unique rolling terrain and the prominent vale that runs through the site, we simply could not conceive calling this tract of golf anything but Glen Erin! Our name is a tribute to the proud Irish heritage of our Janesville community and an affirmation of the "wee bit o'the Irish" in all of us. At 6,849 yards with wide, firm, undulating fairways, immense greens, pot bunkers, sandy waste areas and native fescues in the outer rough, this golf course is reminiscent of those courses on the other side of the pond! We have a distinct, Old Irish flavor. Prominent stone walls framing the entranceway speak to a simpler time, and an ancient game with a rich history and tradition. We opened to the public in the spring of 2003, but the course has an old soul for a relatively-modern course. Our Course Architect is Greg Martin.

What Tips or Local Knowledge Would You Provide To Help Them Score Better At Your Course?
I have about 8 years of course knowledge playing at Glen Erin and two years of management experience at Glen Erin. To play Glen Erin like a pro, you must understand that driver is not required for the majority of the holes. Driver is a good idea for hole #5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 15, 17, and 18. On every par 4 you want to aim at our 150 yard pole located in the middle of the fairway from the tee. Only use a club that will finish near the 150 yard pole. This portion of the fairway is generally the largest part of the fairway and trouble comes into play as you get c loser to the green. It goes without saying that you want to avoid our 78 pot bunkers on the course spread out on every golf hole. Our greens are enormous, each are on average about 30 yards in depth and are sectioned off into 3-4 different portions by large undulations across all of our greens. Make sure you are playing by the yardage to the flagstick if the flag is located on the front or back of green to put your ball in the correct quadrant. Finally, play to the yardage over your depth perception for your first round. Do this, because our flagsticks are 4 feet tall for the Old Irish Links feel!

Recent Awards or What You Are Most Proud About The Course?
Rate 5-Stars from Chicagoland Golf Magazine from 2006- Present

What Is The Signature, Most Talked About, or Most Photographed Hole?
Our most prolific and talked about golf hole has to be #12, Temples Gate. This is a demanding par 4 playing deep into the woodland. A tee shot must bisect oaks that stand sentinel along the edges of the wide but menacing landing area. The second shot must soar over a valley to a green fortified by two majestic hardwood trees. This is by FAR our most difficult golf hole. A good Par feels like a birdie and a Bogey is okay by many!

What Is Your Favorite Hole? Any Tips to Play It?
My favorite hole is #18, Faith & Hope. This is a grand and befitting finish. A long par five must be played with cautious aggression. A well-placed tee shot encourages a second shot to the top of the hillside, and then a shot or mid-iron to a shallow, well-guarded green sited at the base of the clubhouse. This two-tiered green requires play to the proper section for a chance at a birdie. This hole makes for a great risk/ reward finishing hole and also provides the best view for an approach on the whole course. You're elevated on the fairway and hit into the green that is located 30 feet below the fairway. Your ball seems to hang forever and your holding your breath hoping to see your ball find the surface of the green.

Must Have Dish or Drink after the round at the 19th Hole?
In our Cursing Stone Pub, you must have a pint of our "Cursing Stone" on tap. It is an Irish ale brewed by Grays Brewing Company. A must have dish is our "Sandwedge" which is a delicious pulled pork sandwich laced with sweet BBQ sauce, topped with melted provolone and homemade coleslaw. This sandwich goes great with our Irishman's Nachos; warm potato crisps lightly seasoned and smothered in Guinness cheese sauce topped with bacon chives and sour cream.

Who Holds Course Record and What Was Their Score?
Ryan Helminen with a score of 62(-9) from our Orange Tees.
Scorecard: 3 3 3 4 3 4 3 4 3 4 4 3 3 3 5 2 4 4

Back Tee Stats
Par: 71
Yardage: 6849
Slope: 126
Rating: 72.4

More Information
Glen Erin Golf Club
1417 W. Airport Rd.
Janesville, WI, 53546
608-741-1100
www.gleneringolf.com

Revised: 03/25/2014 - Article Viewed 32,663 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.