Idlewild Golf Club | Sturgeon Bay, WI | Par 72

It’s not surprising that water is the prominent feature of a golf course when it’s positioned between Green Bay and Sturgeon Bay on the Door County peninsula. You notice it right as arrive, with greens and tee boxes that almost look like islands. While the water isn’t so blunt throughout much of the course, it’s hidden in the many penalty areas, making keeping your golf ball dry a challenge. Idlewild is a low-lying area that doesn’t offer much in the way of elevation change, but much like a Northwoods course, the holes are carved through long stretches of long grass and water. The course offers a traditional par 36-36-72 layout, with two par-5s and two par-3s on each side. The par-3s offer a nice variety, with a couple on the longer side, a medium-length one (#6) and finally a very short one on the back (#13). I would say three of the four par-5s have a chance of being reached in two, with only #11 feeling like a stretch. In all, there are five tees, including a combo tee, making for pretty good gapping. I would like to see the blue/gold combo stretched out a bit, as the hole between blue (6,509 yds) and the combo (6,052 yds) is kind of awkward, since the gold tees are only 100 yards shorter.

You could definitely tell that it had been a tough year, condition-wise, at Idlewild. I learned that earlier in the summer, much of the course was unplayable due to water, and it has not yet recovered. Every area of turf – rough, fairways, tee boxes – had some areas of trouble throughout the course. The greens looked very nice, but they were very slow, most likely to protect them after so much water this year. It’s a tough situation, and I try to give the course the benefit of the doubt in a situation like this. There are places where you can definitely see the impact of the weather, and there are places where the course just looks worn. I found the bunkers to be in really good shape. The rough was certainly penal in certain areas, even though the grass wasn’t particularly long. Balls off the fairway had a tendency to sink down a bit, making it tougher to gauge how the shot would come out.

Idlewild really has everything you need to work on your game or get ready for your round. There’s a range not far from the clubhouse or parking lot. On the far right side of the range, there’s an area to practice bunker shots, including a small green. On the other side of the clubhouse is a large practice green that has a couple ridges in it to challenge you as you chip and putt. The practice green has some shaved fringe area, as well as some rough, and is big enough to hit some longer pitches, not just chips. It’s a very nice area to work on your short game.

I didn’t get to see the bar on the first level at all, so this is based strictly on the pro shop that’s on the lower level. It’s a little cramped, because there is so much stuff. Lots of clubs, golf balls, and basically anything else you need. It kind of makes sense because there aren’t the same amount of sporting good stores nearby. I saw a bin of drivers you could demo, which is a nice feature. The pro shop also has a wide range of snacks and bottled drinks for you to grab before your round or at the turn.

Idlewild’s carts are your basic, run-of-the-mill golf carts. No frills like GPS, but they get the job done.

The staff at Idlewild were friendly and courteous. You could tell they had a rapport with the local clientele. The beverage cart did a really nice job of covering the whole course, and we saw it regularly throughout our round.

Located in Door County – a place not typically known for value-based pricing – Idlewild is a very solid value. It has some dramatic holes and offers a lot of challenge in a beautiful surrounding. The course wasn’t in its typical condition on my last visit, so keep that in mind, but you could certainly pay more for a worse course than Idlewild.

Idlewild keeps the pressure on, with water and penalty areas seemingly on every hole. The long grass int he penalty areas has grown up so much, and it is so thick, there is about a 98% chance that any ball that goes in will not be found. Sight and target lines can be kind of blurry, so knowing where you’re going is of the utmost importance. Greens are good-sized, giving you an ample target to fire at, but playing conservatively off the tee to make sure you stay in play, might mean longer clubs coming in than you’d like.

There are some very cool holes, mostly ones influenced by water, that raise up the fun level of the course. One of the most memorable spots is the tee box that’s basically in a pond (hole #4), and all you see around you is water. There are also a couple of island-like greens to close each nine. That helps on a course that you most certainly will lose some golf balls on. There’s trouble almost everywhere, so a day when you’re hitting it crooked might not be the most fun.

The par-4 18th is just a cool way to end your round at Idlewild. First, it’s one of the widest holes (maybe THE widest) on the course, which is nice to be able to have a little bit more room to miss with the driver. The green is guarded by water to the front and the left, giving an island-hole effect, making your last approach of the day a potentially memorable one.

The par-4 5th starts with a risk/reward tee shot. The hole doglegs to the right before a penalty area cuts off the fairway from the green. Cutting off as much as you can gives you a shorter club in, which is helpful on one of the longer par-4s on the course. However, there is hazard all down the right side, so you need to make sure you hit your target. If you try to play it safe down the middle or the left and pull it, the fairway runs out pretty quickly. Hit it too far down the left side and, you guessed it, more penalty area. A bunker guards the left of a pretty large green, but it’s the tee shot that is key shot on this hole.

Measuring as the longest par-4 on the course, the 12th hole is going to be a difficult holes for all but the longest hitters. However, water that angles through the middle of the fairway, makes it very difficult (and risky) to be aggressive off the tee. I am not a huge fan of a hole that really forces me to play an iron off the tee when it’s this long. It’s a tough hole, but it plays even tougher when you have to leave yourself 200+ yards in for your second shot.

I had visited Idlewild around the same time in 2023 during a family visit to Door County, so I decided to go back with my son to play there again. It’s definitely a challenging course, with pressure on a lot of tee shots. You certainly can’t just be bombs away here. The greens were especially slow this time, and I learned that the course has struggled with all the excess rain it got earlier in the spring/summer. You could see varying degrees of the impact it had on the course. Overall, it was a fun course that has some visually wonderful holes. And it definitely challenges you. For around $60 for 18 and a cart on a weekend, it’s a good value.