MARCH/APRIL 08
Wild Rock emerges from the wilderness

Anyone who has spent much time  in Wisconsin Dells during the prime days of summer knows that businesses are always devising new ways to attract, entertain and feed visitors to the area while also setting themselves apart from some stiff competition.

So it’s not unusual for Dells businesses to evolve rapidly from season to season, even month to month, in order to stay a step ahead of the competition.

That said, the folks at the Wilderness Resort have taken things to the extreme in hopes of staying on the cutting edge of Dells tourism. Among the first resorts in town to latch onto the waterpark concept several years ago, the Wilderness is now poised to open a new championship golf course that will be the third different layout to grace the property in the last decade.

The new course, called Wild Rock GC, will officially open for public play on May 1. It was designed by the respected design team of Dr. Mike Hurdzan and Dana Fry on a wonderful piece of land featuring hills, valleys, woods, meadows and a former stone quarry.

In short, it’s a brand new day in the Wilderness Territory, where the previous golf courses, for a variety of reasons, never quite fit the bill.

Tom Lucke, a Dells native and currently the majority owner of the Wilderness Resort, bought in when the property was still called the Dell View Hotel, which had a golf course dating to the 1920s. A major golf upgrade was initiated in the late 1990s, when the old course was replaced with Wilderness Woods, designed by Wisconsin architect Art Johnson.

“We opened up Wilderness Woods, and some of those holes were pretty strategically located on Highway 12, so they were expensive golf holes,” Lucke said. “So we operated the golf course for six, seven years, and people liked it. We did 25,000 rounds a year, but then we needed to expand.”

Expansion came in the form of the Wilderness Resort’s Glacier Canyon development, which now sits on that prime property along Highway 12.

Despite its popularity with hotel guests, Wilderness Woods had some quirky holes with tight doglegs and a few tricked-up greens, and Lucke fully takes “credit” for them.

“The old Wilderness Woods with Art Johnson, I sort of worked hand-in-hand on that one,” he said. “I accept the fault on some of the bad holes. I had a lot to do with helping him lay it out. But on (Wild Rock), I let Dr. Hurdzan go to work on the topography. I didn’t have anything to do with it. I learned my lesson; let somebody who knows what they’re doing design the course.”

Trading the occasionally maligned Wilderness Woods for a true championship-caliber venue has turned out handsomely for Lucke and his fellow investors. Wild Rock, measuring 7,418 yards from the longest of five sets of tees, is the type of modern golf course that attracts today’s player. From the back tees, the new course boasts a course rating of 76.3 and a slope of 139.

Hurdzan predicts “a lot of wow factor” when the course opens in spring, and the media types and VIPs who got a sneak peek in October seemed to agree with that assessment.

To create room for Wild Rock, the Wilderness purchased 250 acres of land to the east about five years ago, some of which had been a quarry, plus forested and agricultural sections.

So Wild Rock flows over a variety of land forms. The first few holes are best explained in terms of a meadows and creeks terrain, but then the routing crosses Bunker Road where the landscape changes to thick woods and some extreme elevation changes. Then the course traverses the rugged quarry section of the property before going back across the road to the meadow for the 17th and 18th holes.

Despite the variations in terrain, Wild Rock presents some consistent challenges and themes throughout the layout, including several super-elevated tees, strategic bunkering in the fairways and at greenside and ridges and undulations on the greens. Another recurring theme is the huge boulders unearthed during construction which have been placed in various locations.

Surely one of the most enjoyable elements at Wild Rock is its many elevated tees. Long and short hitters alike are going to love launching drives here, perhaps especially on the par-5 sixth hole, measuring 588 yards from the back tee. It’s the longest hole on the course, but it doesn’t play that way because it’s downhill from tee to green. The sixth tee also is one of the places where players should take a moment to enjoy the scenery, which unfurls for approximately 15 miles including beautiful views of the Baraboo Bluffs.

The par-5 10th hole, at 567 yards, also plays from an elevated tee, but from landing area to green it plays up the same steep hill that No. 6 rides down. In other words, it plays a lot longer than the yardage would indicate.

But Hurdzan and Fry did not design strictly a bomber’s playground, and that’s where their strategic bunkering comes into play. Several of the holes with those wonderful high tees also feature bunkers in their massive landing areas, sometimes on the edges of fairways but often in the middle of them.

“That’s sort of an old-style design that harkens back to the penal days of the cross bunker,” Hurdzan said. “The idea was to get people on the tee to think about, ‘Do I want to hit it right, left or in the middle?’ And those bunkers cause you to think that thought, we hope.”

Among the holes that feature sand bunkers smack dab in the middle of the fairway are the par-5 first hole, the par-4 fifth, the par-4 seventh and the par-5 10th.

On a few other holes, bunkers have been placed in front of greens, all but eliminating the bump-and-run approach.

As for green contours, they take many shapes at Wild Rock. Some putting surfaces have distinct tiers that are visible from the fairway, while others have more subtle undulations. The short par-4 17th hole has an unusual bowl-shaped contour on the left side of its green, while the previous hole, the par-4 16th, has a green that is essentially flat except for the back-right portion.

“Generally those changes in elevation on a green are dictated by the land around it,” Hurdzan said. “If you lay a green into a hill, it’s fairly easy to split the difference between the front elevation and the back elevation with a tier or terrace. Where you have greens that are basically built on a flat, then you can go to little valleys and ridges that are much more subtle.”

As mentioned earlier, the layout plays through varied landscapes, and some of the most interesting holes are found in the old quarry section of the property. Nos. 13-16 flow through that rugged area.

The par-4 13th, at 453 yards from the back tee, may well end up being the most difficult hole on the golf course. There’s a huge landing area here, but the fairway narrows to a sliver at the dogleg, which is guarded by bunkers on the right and left. From the landing area, it’s still about 160 yards to the green, which lies next to a canyon remaining from the quarry.

The par-3 15th also plays over an old canyon. With six tees scattered around the periphery ranging from 118 to 179 yards, players will have to think hard about club selection on this all-carry hole.

The par-4 finishing hole at Wild Rock is another beauty. Playing 436 yards from the tips, all downhill, No. 18 provides a generous landing area, but the approach shot can be a bit intimidating. The hole curves subtly to the right with the green down in a hollow guarded by a small bunker in front and the biggest bunker on the course in back. The green’s two distinctive tiers are also visible from the fairway.

Of course, the whole reason for investing in golf is to attract ever more visitors to the Wilderness Resort. Lucke knows that businesses that do not keep up are soon left behind. That’s true everywhere, but perhaps especially so in Wisconsin Dells.

“You got to think about what’s next, what’s out there that’s needed?” Lucke said. “If you’ve got a first-class golf facility, it’s a big deal. That’s one thing I learned. That’s one of the reasons we wanted to keep golf, and make it even better. It enhances our resort. Now we have a Hurdzan and Fry course, and that’s a level or two above what we had.”

It’s no secret that many Dells visitors are families, which is why nine holes from the old Wilderness Woods course have been retained – including the infamous island green par-3 hole – and they now make up the Woods Family Course.

“We’ve converted it into a very nice family golf course,” Lucke said. “When we have 6,000 people (at the resort) in the summertime, we’ve got a lot of families. So we’re making it really family friendly so families can go out there and not be pressured like you sometimes are on a big course. They can walk it. There will be shorter holes.”

Lucke said he doesn’t foresee much development around the Wild Rock course. The red barn from the old Sullivan Farm still stands near Bunker Road, behind the 16th green, and Lucke said it may be improved for some sort of use. There’s also a possibility the routing could be changed in the future if a new clubhouse is ever built on the plateau behind the current 13th green, but Lucke is still considering that. If the clubhouse is built, No. 13 would become the final hole, and No. 14 would become the first hole (and the layout would still begin with a par-5).

Regardless of any minor changes down the road, Lucke insists Wild Rock will have a longer run than Wilderness Woods.

“This one’s going to be around for a while,” he said.

Wild Rock is the third course in Wisconsin designed by Hurdzan and Fry, joining Troy Burne GC in Hudson and Erin Hills GC in Erin, which Hurdzan and Fry designed with assistance from Ron Whitten.

For more information, go to www.wildrockgolf.com