Horicon Hills Golf Club | Horicon, WI | Par 70

Horicon Hills is located adjacent to the Horicon Marsh, and much of the course is impacted by it. Water and wetlands are lurking on many of the holes after you start out on a more standard dry land layout. It’s a par 35-35-70 setup with just one par-5 per side, leaving the course a bit on the shorter side – it measures just 6,350 yards from the tips. But the abundant water features and many holes that have doglegs that are framed by large trees make it more of a target golf course in practice. Most of the trees are very large, allowing shots off the fairway to be played around and under them, but good luck trying to cutoff one of the doglegs by going over them. Right from the start, there’s a lot of elevation change, as you begin on an elevated tee box to the lower first fairway. Once you get back to the holes on the marsh, the terrain is flatter and accuracy becomes more important, as there is water everywhere. There are only four sets of tees, though the gapping isn’t too bad. Another set between the blues and whites would probably be a good idea.

A late-summer dry spell definitely impacted Horicon Hills. The course was very inconsistent, with large portions of rock-hard, burnt-out ground, then areas of thick lush rough. Areas around sprinkler heads had a tendency to be saturated, especially around the green, making for some tough lies to manage. The greens overall were pretty good, though there were some spots that were extremely rough. The tee boxes were generally in good shape, level and flat. I understand that the bunkers were renovated recently. I was only in one bunker, but the sand in it was playable.

There was a range available that ran parallel to the first half of the 1st hole’s fairway. There was also a chipping and putting area towards the 10th tee, and it looked like it had seen better days. There were parts that were definitely burnt out.

The clubhouse had a nice pro shop with plenty of selection of your basic needs, including bottled drinks. Connected there was a beautiful bar area that would be great to hang out after a round. The bathroom was new and clean, which is always a nice feature.

The carts at Horicon Hills were your basic, run-of-the-mill carts that got the job done. There weren’t any extras – GPS, ball/club washer, cooler – available, but it did what I needed it to do, and the cart I had ran pretty well.

There wasn’t much staff that I ran into, but I will say that the pro shop attendant was friendly and accommodating. He helped me out, as I came without a specific tee time, and was able to figure out some people to pair up with. There were some maintenance staff on the grounds, and they did a good job of pulling off to the side when we were on the same hole. There wasn’t a beverage cart out when I played, but it was a weekday afternoon, so I am not too surprised. I would imagine they’d have them on weekends.

I wasn’t playing at peak times, but I did have peak weather, and any time you can play 18 holes in that for around $50, it’s a pretty good deal. The course had some blemishes, but the design was good and the challenge was there. Horicon Hills is absolutely worth the sub-$60 price for a weekend round of 18 with a cart.

Horicon Hills isn’t very long for a par-72 course, even from the back tees. It makes up for the lack of distance with water and penalty areas all over, including some blind ones. In all, there are 13 holes that bring water into play. People that want to hit driver off every tee are going to find themselves in trouble, as laying back is often the correct play. The greens are pretty good sized, so once you’re in play off the tee, you should be just fine. Playing conservatively here is the best way to go, but even then, there are some holes where you can make a big number rather easily.

Horicon Hills makes you think around the course, playing a more strategic brand of golf. The course puts pressure on you to keep the ball in play, with water and wetlands popping up all over the place. Those same hazards that might bring some stress also create a lot of holes with beautiful views to enjoy. Add in a good amount of elevation change throughout the property, and it’s definitely a fun course to play.

The par-3 13th hole has one of the best views on the course from the tee box. You hit to a severely downhill green, but your attention might be drawn to the large pond to the left. Bailing out right will bring some large trees into play, but an up-and-down is still possible. I might be a little biased towards this hole, as I hit my best shot of the day there.

The par-5 18th hole is visually deceiving, especially for someone new to the course. There is trouble all down the right side on the tee shot, so missing that way is not really an option. There is a red stake on the left side of the fairway that indicates where the water on the left begins, but because the hole is uphill, you can’t really see what is going on. Basically, if you don’t hit it right of the red stake while remaining left of the trouble on the right, you’re probably in trouble, because the pond is large and will suck up a lot of errant balls. I am not sure how far the pond is from tee, but I think the best way to handle the hole, now that I’ve played it, is to either lay back off the tee, staying short of the water, or aim left of the red stake and play down the parallel fairway. Either way, water is still in play on your next shot, so you have to make sure you a) know where you’re going and b) fly the ball far enough to cover all the wet stuff. The green is more severely elevated, so it’s also somewhat blind. Experience is your friend on this hole, but either way, it messes with your senses and requires well-played shots.

I like the overall design of Horicon Hills, and didn’t really feel like there were any bad holes. There are some tough holes with some demanding tee shots – hole #15 comes to mind – but I don’t really think the holes are poorly designed. So when that happens, I nit-pick a little, and that’s the case here. The par-4 14th is a fine golf hole, it just happens to have the main entrance road to the course running down the length of its right side. With some water to the left, and the majority of right-handed players’ miss to the right, this feels like a disaster waiting to happen.

I took the hour drive on a weekday afternoon to play Horicon Hills, a course I had never played before on a truly perfect weather day. The course was pretty empty, so I started off as a single before joining a twosome on the 5th hole. That was helpful in navigating the course by playing with some people that knew it, and I had a great time playing with them. The course had some condition issues. There were plenty of areas that were burnt out, and I saw some pretty crazy bounces during the round. I thought the design was quite nice. Challenging, beautiful, and with a good variety. Some of the par-4s were on the shorter side, leading me to hit irons off some tees, but the par-3s are quite challenging, as a whole. There was a good amount of elevation change, which I always enjoy, along with the flatter part of the course that approaches the marsh. The greens rolled well, with moderate speed. Like the rest of the course, there were a few with some issues, but most were not impactful. I enjoyed the round and could absolutely see playing there again.