Formerly known as The Playboy Club, the Grand Geneva Resort in southern Wisconsin, includes two championship courses, the Highlands, and the Brute.
Conveniently, the resort has an airstrip nearby. The formidable Brute course is one of the toughest courses in the state and endlessly but fairly tests your golfing skills. You must bring your ‘A’ game to have the most fun here. The 1968 Robert Harris design is sculpted out of rolling terrain near Lake Geneva. Houses are nowhere in sight. The views are marvelous. The course conditioning is first-rate. A full driving range, a chipping green, and a huge putting green are well maintained. The cart GPS includes a useful hole-flyover video feature.
Golf Magazine’s 2016/17 ranking places The Brute golf course #11 in the state.
The Brute Course – Bring Your A Game
As the name suggests, this is a power hitters course. Many elevation changes, some forced carries, elevated greens and numerous trees make this an intimidating course. Fairways are well maintained. Enormous greens have an average size exceeding 8,000 feet. They are tour fast especially with those with crowns. All aspects of your putting are sternly tested. Water hazards are prominent on several key holes. Bunkers are insanely large. Sixty-eight pepper this course and guard most greens. Approach and chip shots need to be airborne; there is little ability to play along the ground. The course challenges are apparent, and there are no hazards that you can’t see.
Most of the Par5s include forced carries, elevated greens or limited fairway forcing layups. Hence, few risk/reward options are available.
Elevated greens are commonplace. Water comes into play on six holes and it rears itself prominently. The closing hole on the front side is a beautiful Par4 with water down the entire left side. The back nine starts with a tight downhill Par4. Trees guard water on both sides of the fairway. The closing two holes are perhaps the toughest on the course. Hole #17 is a long downhill Par4 with water guarding the right side. Playing it too safe to the left leaves a very long approach shot. The long Par4 eighteenth requires a well-placed tee shot. Trees narrow the perceived tee shot angles while two fairway bunkers and a water hazard guard the right side. A good tee shot on Hole #18 still leaves a challenging approach to a firm green guarded on the left side by two large bunkers and a water hazard on the right.
The Brute at Grand Geneva is one of those courses with a challenge on every hole. It’s a fabulous but unforgiving course. It’s not tricky, and it’s not targeted golf. Its precision power golf. Whether you play well or not, it will be a memorable round of golf.
