Bridges Golf Course | Madison, WI | Par 72

Bridges Golf Course is a traditional par 36-36-72 layout, with four par-3s and four par-5s. The course is built in a low-laying piece of land and in close proximity to the Dane County Regional Airport, and both these things pose problems. The course struggles to handle water due to how low it sits, and when you have the amount of rain we’ve had in 2024, the course simply cannot handle it. For the most part, the course is flat, with water and wetlands features being the most prominent. The front nine offers some holes with larger trees along some fairways, but mostly it’s penalty areas that frame the holes. Unless you’re playing the tips, the course is relatively short, though, the course has been shortened up due to the damage caused by recent flooding (2024). The course starts you off in a friendly matter, with a pretty simple par-4, which I always like. The second hole is the first of four difficult par-5s that require accuracy and an understanding of the desired line. Those lines are much more difficult to see when the reeds and cattails are as high as they were in my recent visit. Makes it a bit of a guessing game, so a GPS that shows the entire hole will be very helpful. The back nine plays a little longer, but is a bit more open than the front. You start off on a brutal par-4 that runs alongside the driving range. The second half of the hole has a familiar sight at Bridges – penalty area on both sides. And on the 10th, the fairway is pinched as you get closer to the hole, making a long shot into the green a little more intimidating. The second hole of the back side is another visually deceptive par-5, where knowing the course will really help. The course finishes a little gentler, with a short par-3 and a pair of shorter par-4s. There’s a total of five tees to choose from, including a popular Blue/White combo. Understanding that keeping the ball in play is the key on this course should guide you int he tees you choose.

I am taking into consideration previous visits when making this ranking, because Course condition is nowhere near an 8 right now. I am cutting the course some slack, because the rain it took on was very damaging, and there wasn’t anything they could do. There a lot of fairways with large areas that have no grass, cracked earth and massive gouges. Several holes have had to be shortened. It’s not usually like that. The greens have always been the highlight of the Bridges, and they are still in very good shape. If you can look past the damage the course has endured, utilize generous ground under repair rules, and know that the greens are still good, you can still enjoy The Bridges. Aesthetically, it’s tough. I don’t know how long it will take to get back to the norm, but I know that I will give it some time and check in again in the future.

Update May 2025: The course was back to all its normal tee boxes and the visuals of the course, particularly the fairways, have improved quite a bit. There are still a lot of large blemishes that can be fixed, but large patches that were destroyed by flooding look to be mending. I will be curious to see how the course looks later in the summer, a full year removed from the flooding.

Bridges has a good-sized range right off the parking lot, so it’s easy to access if you’re just there to practice. There are a lot of targets, both long and short, to utilize. Not that it will affect you while you use it, but the range runs parallel to the 10th hole, which can lead to some issues when playing that hole and you’re on the left side. There are two practice greens. Most people gravitate to the one near the first tee, and it has some room to hit some pitches and longer putts. There’s another green a short walk away by the 10th tee. This one has a practice bunker and is probably designed as more of a short-game practice area.

There’s a lot of merch jammed in a pretty tight pro shop, so you will want to spend a little time checking it all out. Drinks and range balls share space with apparel, clubs and balls. The nice open dining/bar area is just outside the pro shop, and the food choices are very solid. There’s also a patio area that wraps around the outside of the building with covered tables and views of the 9th green.

Basic, no-frills golf carts that will get you where you need to go. No GPS, no club washer, no cooler. Carts were clean and seemed to run just fine.

There were only two staff members I saw during my last round at Bridges. The clubhouse guy was apparently shocked that I didn’t know that each cart already had a scorecard and pencil on it. Not a big deal, but his attempt to mess with me was off-putting. The beverage cart did an excellent job all day. It was a warm, humid day, and we needed something nearly every time we saw her, so the coverage was much appreciated.

Being in the city of Madison, Bridges has followed the lead of the golf industry and risen their rates over the past several years. Their peak rates now come in around $70 for 18 with a cart, which just feels high to me. The course is in a low, swampy area, so it’s always going to struggle to keep its fairways in good shape, and the course was decimated by rain this summer, to which I am sympathetic. They offered some heavily discounted rates after reopening, and brought the peak price rates down a bit, but they’re too high with the condition the course is in right now. Holes have been shortened due to the rain, making it play quite a bit shorter than it lists. If they can keep the price I paid where it is and the course can come back from all the damage, then this rating will go up.

It’s not that any one stretch of the golf is extremely tight, it’s just the continual feeling that you can’t really miss on either side. There is a lot of water throughout the course, and swampy areas that you will never find your ball in are on virtually every hole. There aren’t any real grip-it-and-rip-it holes to be found. There are always consequences for hitting crooked shots or taking poor angles. The course is pretty short, though, so fairways woods and irons off many tees should help keep the ball in play, which is usually all you need. If you’re off, this course can eat into your golf ball supply very quickly.

For the most part, Bridges encourages you to play conservatively off the tee. There are some shorter par-4s, but the prudent play is to hit less than driver to make sure you keep your ball in play. If you can control your driver, this course can become very scoreable. If you’re crooked off the tee, it can be a long day. There’s not a whole lot that stands out as far as terrain, outside of all the wetlands. Especially in my last visit, the reeds and cattails looked like they were on steroids thanks to all the wet weather, and they really dominate the views. Another thing that tends to come along with a wetlands golf course is mosquitos, and Bridges is usually a haven for them. There are some places, especially on the front nine where there’s more tree-lined holes, where the mosquitos can be a problem. It’s also not a lot of fun when multiple jets come flying over you as you trying to hit a shot. It’s kind of cool at first, but it can get old. If you’re there on any sort of military training day, make sure you have some ear plugs available, because it gets really loud. In general, like with any course, if you’re playing well, this can be a fun course, but it definitely keeps the pressure on, with penalty areas on virtually every hole.

In the process of writing these reviews over the past year or so, I’ve learned I definitely have a type. Give me downhill, right-to-left holes where you can rip driver all day. The par-5 15th at Bridges meets that criteria. It has an extremely elevated tee that allows you to see for a long ways. The fairway is wide open, as long as you don’t get too greedy and cut off too much. This is also a downhill hole where you will NOT get away with a topped shot that will roll out a respectable distance. Instead, you’ll be re-teeing because you won’t find your ball in the large patch of long grass on the slope. If you can hit a got drive that favors the left side, you’ll have a chance to get to the green in two. If you play more conservatively off the tee, you can safe layup to a yardage that you like. The area around the green has changed a lot over the years. I remember when there was a pond that went right up to the left greenside bunker, causing it to feel like an actual trip to the beach. Now it’s swamp area with huge reeds dominating the sightlines. All-in-all, it’s not an overly difficult hole – I’d argue it’s the easiest par-5 on the course. It’s just a fun hole to play with a great view.

The par-5 2nd hole is one of those holes that worries me as soon as I get to the course. Maybe even when I make the tee time. I have had some many big numbers on this hole through the years. It all starts with the tee shot. There’s penalty area both right and left, and with the grass and reeds overgrown, you will not be finding any stray shots that reach it. The problem is that, due to large trees about halfway down the hole, an in-play tee shot might still have problems. You can be blocked towards going towards the hole in varying degrees, leaving a more conservative shot as the only option. The penalty area all down the right side of the entire hole is also just waiting to gobble up wayward shots. The green is pretty tame, with some mounding around it. If you can manage to get there with the same ball you teed off with, you’ll be in good shape. So often, that has not been the case for me.

The par-4 10th hole has a lot of things going against it. First off, it’s a tough hole. It’s long and exposed, so it requires well struck shots. That’s not why I think it’s the worst hole. Reason one is the location of the creek basically cutting the fairway in two. If you lay back, you are going to have a long ways in on a hole that narrows as you get closer to the green. If you go for it, you better hit a good one, because it’s a long carry. Add in the driving range down the first half of the left side and relatively poor conditions of the fairway and rough, and this one is a no-brainer.

I got back to the Bridges one a smoky Sunday afternoon, curious to see what the course conditions were at. It’s been about two years since the course flooded really badly, and it looks like it has bounced back pretty well. The fairways still show a few places of trauma, but the turf itself was quite good. The greens again looked nice, but were on the slower side. I remember my previous visit, and they were nowhere near as slow as they were that day, but fast greens were something the Bridges always had in its early days. The peripheries of the course still need a lot of work – roped off eye sores on way too many holes – but there is improvement.