Hawthorne Hills Golf Course By Brian Weis

Hawthorne Hills Golf Course

Ozaukee County Diamond in the Rough

By Brian Weis

When most golfers hear the phrase "great county golf course" they likely list it among other oxymorons such as jumbo shrimp, French resistance and happily married. But my college education (sorry, another oxymoron) taught me that for every rule, there is an exception, and that exception is Ozaukee County's Hawthorne Hills Golf Course. Don't take my word for it: Golf Digest rated the course 4 stars.

When I asked the two gentlemen in the pro shop which hole was the course's signature hole, they paused and pondered. Then the two batted around four or five different holes, never quite settling on a signature.((

After playing the course, I understood their dilemma. Could it be the first hole? From the tee the fairway drops several stories to the wetland floor. The hole doglegs hard right to a small green nearly surrounded by water.

Or maybe the fourth? A downhill short par 3, guarded by a fountain-filled pond in front and edged by a dense forest on the right.

No, the signature, I thought, has to be the monster par-5 eleventh, which feels like riding a glacier-formed roller coaster. The tee and green are similar in elevation, but getting from the former to the latter requires both a dramatic descent and ascent.((

The final hole I considered was the appropriately named "bell hole," hole #14. The blind tee shot made me wonder what was over the hill. The anticipation built until the group in front sounded the "all-clear" bell, which let me know it was okay to launch my drive. After I did, I encountered one of the more dramatic second shots on the course: Mature trees backdrop the small oval green, mirrored by a teardrop-shaped pond, and the whole scene was breathtaking.

Upon completing the round, I realized that the staff's inability to name a signature hole made perfect sense. Too many good holes exist at Hawthorne Hills to single out just one.

In addition to the great design and the fantastic views, the conditions at Hawthorne Hills are country-club quality. Hawthorne Hills is indeed a hidden gem, a county course that shatters the ho-hum stereotype of county courses. But, of course, the residents of Ozaukee County have known of this exception for the last 50 years.((

The Skinny
4 Tee Boxes: 6657, 6246, 5769 and 5352 Yards
Slope/Rating: 119/70.8
Weekend Walking Rate: $34.00 ($29 with County Discount Card)

Local Tip
Many of the greens slope toward the fairway. To eliminate speedy downhill putts, leave the ball short of the hole, which will almost always guarantee an uphill putt.

Hawthorne Hills Golf Course
4720 Highway I
Saukville, WI 53080
Phone: 262-692-2151
www.co.ozaukee.wi.us/

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Revised: 07/26/2011 - Article Viewed 36,598 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.