Wild Rock Golf Club | Wisconsin Dells, WI | Par 72

You start your round with a long drive away from the clubhouse and range, which immediately gives you a feel of solitude. That feeling remains virtually throughout as you weave through the woods, as you won’t see much more than the hole you’re on at any point. Fairways are wide and forgiving, especially on the first, which is always a nice sight. Wild Rock offers several holes where you’re presented with a visually deceptive shot, which adds to the overall challenge. Elevation change can make pulling a club tough, but easy to get caught up in the views. Be sure to take a minute to enjoy the view from the sixth tee box – it’s amazing. Once you manage to get on or around the green, things can really get tough. Most greens have a lot of undulation, and a bad line could leave you with a longer shot than the one you just hit. One suggestion I would make is to add a tee between Blue and White – there’s a big difference between 6,400 yards and 7,000 yards.

Wild Rock is always one of the best-conditioned courses that I play regularly. Because of that, it’s one I try to get to at least once a year. Visually, it’s a stunner, with all the trees and fescue lining the course throughout. Tee boxes and fairways are always impeccable, and the greens are usually in very good shape. The green speed has been inconsistent over my last few visits this year, but that’s nothing to complain about. Make sure you get a good feel for them, because you will be tested often and speed will be very important.

Range balls are included with your greens fee, which is a nice perk. The range often has you hitting off of mats, but the grass was available on my last visit. Overall, it’s a spacious range with several targets to get yourself ready for the course. The chipping and putting area is a ways away from the range and the staging area, so groups kind of need to agree on when to hit balls and when to putt. The practice green isn’t small, but it’s not huge. It would be nice if it were a little bigger, especially with the emphasis this course puts on your short game.

Talk about getting that Northwoods feel from a clubhouse. A really spacious log cabin that has a ton of great merchandise options in the pro shop and nice places to relax before and after the round. There’s a bar area just off the pro shop that serves some excellent food.

Wild Rock offers very nice carts that have everything you need for your round. The GPS is available on a tablet in the cart to get you measurements to various targets. A club cleaner is available, as well as a cooler to keep your extra drinks cold. Divot sand containers are on the cart, so make sure you take care of the course by filling your divots – there’s more at the turn if you run out.

All the staff at Wild Rock are good at what they do. The crew that gets bags to and from the bag drop are efficient and friendly. They get your bag on the cart and will clean your clubs after the round before they take them back up to the bag drop. There is usually a starter either at the practice green before you leave for the course, or at the first tee. They will help you choose a tee and give you any other pertinent information you’ll need. Beverage carts make it around the course well, but there’s also a concession stand between the sixth and seventh hole where you can buy drinks, a brat or several other snacks.

Wild Rock can absolutely offer some excellent deals, and if you manage to play one of them, value is a 10. I paid close to $120 for a Friday morning round in June earlier in 2023, which was more than I was expecting. It’s not that the course isn’t worth the money, but just that I’ve typically paid far less. Getting range balls included with the greens fee is a nice bonus. Also, Wild Rock often makes passes available for around $70 before the season starts, so that’s a good way to lower costs.

Off the tee, Wild Rock is pretty forgiving, allowing all levels of players to get going on each hole with a good start. Approach shots are where the challenge really begins, because you don’t want to leave your next shot in a bad place. Many of the greens can be downright diabolical, and finding yourself on the wrong side of a ridge (or two) will lead to a lot of wasted shots.

Wild Rock is a dramatic course that offers stunning views and a wonderful feeling of seclusion. I cannot recall playing a round there where I didn’t encounter some kind of wildlife, which adds a great deal to any round for me. The par-5s offer good risk/reward, and the collection of par-3s might be the best in the area. At no point do you really feel like the course is beating up on you, but you have to hit good shots if you want to score.

Wild Rock is a great buddies trip course, and hole #15 is one of the holes you and your crew will remember. Sometimes for good reasons, sometimes for bad. The short par-3 would not feel intimidating at all if not for the huge quarry you must carry if you want to get the green. A few yards short, and you’ll be dropping or trying again. But if you can find the right yardage, you’ll look like a hero.

Hole #10 is a rude greeting after you make the turn. It’s the longest hole on the course that doesn’t require a great tee shot – just one that allows you to keep your second shot in position. It’s blind, and narrows the further you try to stretch down the right-bending fairway. Once you get to the green, you will find another surface with some severe undulation. Escaping with a par on this beast is nothing to sneeze at.

Maybe it’s results-oriented, but hole #5 is not my favorite. It’s a short par-4, but the approach shot is severely uphill to a visually deceiving and difficult green. You can find yourself with a wedge into the green with any sort of decent tee shot, but you better gauge the distance right, because short is bad and long is worse. What looks like it might be a break on the scorecard is anything but.

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