The PERFECT Sand Valley Golf Trip – Full Itinerary (Courses, Food & Lodging)

The PERFECT Sand Valley Golf Trip – Full Itinerary (Courses, Food & Lodging)

All right, so we just returned from a bucket list trip to Sand Valley. And while we were there, we got to experience everything. We played every single one of the courses. We tried all of the food, and we even got to experience multiple amazing lodging options. So, if you’re thinking about putting together your own Sand Valley trip, you want to get the most juice out of that squeeze, well, we’re going to talk through an entire itinerary of how you can do exactly that. or if you’re just on the fence, if you’re thinking about where to plan your next trip to, I’m going to show you how this really is like the ultimate location for that and why you’re going to want to get ahead of it because as it gets more and more popular, it is harder and harder to get out there and get something booked. So, start looking ahead, start planning, and start getting excited because it truly is an amazing trip that you won’t forget with a diversity of golf like we really don’t get to see at many other resort style golf locations. And trust me, the food, well, I’m still dreaming about it. So, there’s there’s quite a bit here to talk about, but first, of course, we want to thank this week’s sponsor. And guys, if you are you got to ask the question, are your irons helping you or are they holding you back? And eliminating those gaps in iron performance is key to shooting lower scores. The good news is the new Titus T series irons are designed to help all golfers hit it higher, further, and closer. So whether you prefer tour precision with maximum speed and forgiveness or something in between, T-Series provides irons suited for every level of golfers, all with that signature titleless quality and feel. 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So, go titless.com, schedule your fitting, go and check them out. So, Mike, let’s let’s take everybody through here start to finish when it comes to Sand Valley. Um because you may be wondering like is it there’s sometimes there’s this myth that some of these locations are harder to get to than they really are. This is something we addressed when we did the podcast talking about when we went up to uh to Cabat Nova Scotia. I think a lot of people will rule out certain locations because they seem like they’re too difficult to and they look at it on the map and go, “Whoa, that’s way up and out there.” Right. Yeah. Yeah. Right. And the reality is it really wasn’t that bad. So easy. And and I’m going to say this, like I maybe I’m you guys can weigh in the comments. Tell me if you feel differently, but maybe I’m I’m in a different camp, but I kind of like it when it’s a little harder to get to a little like I don’t want it to take up an entire day of travel. I like to be the guy who gets to play some golf on the first day, which we’ll show you in the perfect itinerary how to do that, but I feel like it helps builds that anticipation. It feels to me more like you’re getting away when it has a little bit more of that, as you said, an adventure to the track. I feel like you need the helicopter when you land to the course. Like that fun, weird, awesome, like a ferry ride to Fischer Island. It’s like an adventure to get out there. Even if it’s something like this, being in Wisconsin, uh, multiple places to fly into. And we’ll talk about all the logistics logistics of it. But, uh, yeah, I’m with you in that. Like, it’s cool cuz we have a little bit of a drive and it’s that drive that just builds up that anticipation. You know what I mean? But, let me settle your doubt somewhere. There’s no helicopter required to get no not here. So, there’s a couple options. First of all, you I think two of the best are you can either fly into Milwaukee or fly into Chicago. I say that because there’s a lot of flight options no matter where you’re coming from in the country. We flew out of New Jersey right into Milwaukee. If you go into Milwaukee, it’s about a 2-hour drive to San Valley. If you fly into Chicago, it’s about 3 hours, maybe a little bit more. So, you’re looking at from the New Jersey area, you’re looking at a short flight, hour and a half max, and then about 2 hour drive. So, it does have a little bit of adventure to it, but it’s certainly not something that’s going to set you back too much of your trip as far as the travel time that’s taken up. Now, when we arrived on site, we perfectly planned it, and I think this is the the best way to do it. If you can plan your sand valley trip this way, do it. We arrived a little bit earlier before check-in. I think we got on grounds around 11:00 a.m. Yeah. Got there early. It does require a little bit of shuffling in the parking lot because if you arrive before check-in and getting to your golf bags and stuff like that, but I think the absolute perfect way to kick it off is to schedule a tea time for when you arrive and get right out on the sandbox because a the sandbox is it’s the most laid-back of all the loops. What the sandbox is is it’s a a short course. It’s par threes uh but still incredible architecture. It’s designed by Corin Cshaw. Uh, and it’s 17 holes just of some of the shots that really will get you geared up for what you’re going to see when you play the other courses. Um, there are some of the most interesting greens on the entire complex. I don’t I I think sometimes some par three or short courses are thought of like kind of like as an afterthought or just an added in thing just to get more golf in. But I think the trend that we’ve been seeing in a lot of our travel um is that the the short courses are being taken seriously. Whether that was when we played stream song at the chain or at the you know the the wedge at Cabbat Citrus Farms, you know, the nest up at Cabbat Nova Scotia. These are legit courses that are just shorter and they’re great to kind of squeeze in some extra golf. But here, I think for us, Mike, just getting the opportunity to play that first when we got there, get our feet wet, get some wedges, get some wedge shots in, start rolling some putts, start getting a a feel for how the sand is going to play. Really did set us up nicely to play well the rest of the trip. This was one of my favorite short courses we’ve played, man. I mean, and and you you rattled off a few. We’ve played some really good ones, you know, some high up, some nice short courses, even things like the Cradle at Pinehurst. Um, but real quick, just before I talk about the Sandbox, Sand Valley is owned by Dream Golf. They they also uh operate Bandon Dunes, correct? Which is the king of all golf trips, and Dream is just building more and more of these. So, they’re popping up everywhere. Can’t wait to go to all of them, but just wanted to make sure we we we let you guys know who Sand Valley is. Um, and then when we got to the Sandbox, you know, first first round of any golf trip, you’re you’re super stoked because you got there and and and amp level a million. The sandbox to me was probably one of the best ways, like you said, to start it off. Simple walk, very easy. You had the barbecue, which we’ll talk about in a second. You’re smelling it from the golf course. Literally smelling barbecue from the golf course. And it was like 60, 80 yards, 100 yards. Very cool layout. Like it was not a cheap design. This thing was a core and so good is like if they took a a massive core crunch, like a like a stream saw or something, and they just shrunk it down into this course. It was It was awesome. It No doubt. And like I said, some of the we could harp on it over and over, but like some of the the best green complexes that were out there. Um, but really cool. One thing that I’ll hit on is if if you’re someone like like with all due respect to the Cradle, I love the Cradle as a short course, but I I just have a soft spot for places where you can play off the grass instead of playing off of mats. And when we played the Cradle, unfortunately, it was mats because it’s a smaller property. it gets a lot of play and it’s hard to to keep grass when you’re getting that many rounds through. But um here at the sandbox you’ve got it’s it’s very cool. It’s marked off by shovels and the shovels have the exact yardage to the pin for that day. So you we’re noticing like these interesting yardages like 92 yards and we’re firing it with the rangefinder and it’s exactly that. So I’m like they must move these shovels and and label them per day. And the cool thing is we found out if you do get a hole in one on the sandbox, you get to take a shovel home. Shovel. Talk about a trophy, right? Yeah. Right here. It would have been cool. So, great way to warm up. It’s also a great way to round out your trip if you end up the another kind of pro tip would be there is a ton of hours of daylight in summer in Wisconsin. So if you can you schedule your trip for July, you know, August where the sun is up for quite a while, there are plenty of opportunities to play 18 holes at one of the other courses and then play the sandbox again. And just to give you an idea, we’ll kind of keep coming back to this, but for layoutwise, uh, everything is fairly close. It is a big property. There’s cottages, we’ll talk about that in a second, but there’s a shuttle service. They’ll take you anywhere you need to be. But right in the the heart of everything, you have the main clubhouse. You’ve got Mammoth Dunes, which we’ll get to in a second, is one of the courses. And you’ve got the sandbox located right there. And then, as Mike was teeing up before, right behind the sandbox is Bill’s Barbecue. And this to me, we’re going to talk a lot about the different food we experienced. This was my favorite. It was the one that we came back to more than once. Um, great options. And and one cool thing with Sand Valley is that there are a lot of very affordable food options. You don’t they don’t get you on site and then hammer you with expensive food. Um so we’ll talk about some of the the the famous dollar tacos and the dollar options in a second, but quickly on Bill’s barbecue, you’ve got a couple different sandwich options. You’ve got, you know, there was there was a uh brisket option, which I hit hard. Would you put that in the top three barbecue of your life? Oo, that’s a great question. You had a lot of barbecue. I’ve had a lot of great barbecue, but you know what? I would, you know, for especially for its uniqueness. Uh there was this this and the vibe and everything. The vibe was great. There was this sauce that I got. I got the Carolina Gold. I was nervous to get it, but Oh, it was so good. So So you have that you have, you know, inexpensive beers, local beers right there. So we ended up, we came off the sandbox and talk about itinerary and timing. Played the sandbox. We walked off. You don’t need a reservation or anything. It’s it’s a literally a food truck. You walk up, you order. We had a a nice big late lunch there. Uh had a beer to celebrate, you know, the arrival. And then from there, we went right to check-in and our room was ready. So, if you do plan, you want to get more out of the trip, get there before your check-in time, play the sandbox, grab lunch at Bill’s Barbecue. We’re already setting up an incredible trip. It’s so funny you gently called it our room. Was Yeah, this wasn’t quite a room. It wasn’t quite a room. It was much more. Now, now I’m going to say this. We were very fortunate to get to experience some of what I would call the best lodging there. That being said, all the lodging is great. Uh, all the lodging it’s it’s not a huge place in that way and that you’re not going to have a bad room. Every room is like is located in a in a hot spot like you’re right there. You This is all about golf, right? However, if you do want to do this big, let’s say you’re celebrating, you know, a a bachelor party, you’re celebrating a big retirement trip, a milestone birthday, you’re bringing a crew and you want to go huge, the Mammoth Suite is where the place that is the place. I get chills just remembering it, thinking about it. So, the Mammoth Suite is is so convenient. It’s located literally above the main clubhouse at Mammoth Dunes. So, you were in the center of it all. You’re sleeping above the pro shop. Right above the pro shop, right above the the the restaurants that are there. Everything is is you are talk about like they say like real estate is all about, you know, location, location, location. Well, the mammoth suite is location, but it’s also epically huge. I mean, we walk into this place, it it has four bedrooms that are all suites. Every bedroom had its own bathrooms or all suites. You’ve got a massive kitchen there. Um, so cool. They stock the fridge, the freezer I should say, with uh with ice cream and these uh frozen pizzas, which such a cool touch. Admittedly, we hit pretty hard and because like you you have a long day playing golf, 36 holes, you come back and it’s just like that’s there and you throw it in the oven. But if you want to go even bigger, it’s a chef’s kitchen. I’m sure you could hire a private chef if you want to make food there. A lot of great dining options at Sand Valley, so you don’t have to go that way. But it was like if you took man cave and just imagined what that could be. This was it. Yeah. Pool table, golden tea, uh massive 70 whatever inch television. The cappuccino maker in the wall, you know, insane. Top-notch appliances. Like they really thought of everything. But again, it’s that location. Like we woke up the next morning, we just went downstairs for breakfast. Yeah. Yep. I mean, this is like luxury meeting, you know, golf to the finest. Uh, you even have a back balcony that you can sit on and you’re looking out over the putting green in Mammoth Dunes. So, just incredible. But it wasn’t the only place we stayed. We also wanted to experience the cottages. So, we’ll get to that in a second. Let’s fast forward next day, right? And I this itinerary. So, no matter where you stay, kind of building that itinerary out. If you do stay there in that summer hours, you’re going to get I mean the sun was up by 6 and I think it’s set at 9. We were there during the solstice like right we had more than enough time to play at least 36. I mean we we played 36 this the you know the first full day there and we took a massive break in the middle, right? So what we did is we ended up we got up that morning and again trying to give you guys every detail for breakfast. You’ve got a lot of different options down at the Mammoth Bar. There’s a quick grab and go if you have that early early tea time and you got to grab and go. Also, Craig’s Porch. We’ll get to in a second, which is I think the heart and soul of Sand Valley 100%. And it is a place you will hit many, many times. We got DMs, people saying us, you have to try the breakfast sandwiches there. They’re three bucks. They are incredibly simple but delicious. You kept calling it a bioshi bun. Yeah, it was. Remember that it was a biohi croissant. Croissant. Croissant. If you can imagine a bio and a croissant. Has a baby. Has a baby. That’s what this sandwich is on, right? And then it’s just, you know, eggs. You could get bacon, sausage, whatever you want. Shove that for a second cuz we didn’t have it that morning. We went down to the Mammoth Bar to have, you know, a quick grab and go, but then like we had some time. We didn’t have the early early tea time. So there right there is also Aldo’s Farm and Table. Uh they serve breakfast, lunch, dinner. So that was our first experience. They got a great buffet there. If you’re looking for a breakfast, if you want more of that sitdown vibe, you could do buffet or you can order at the table. So, Mhm. great option. Keep that in your mind. If you’re a breakfast guy and you want that sit down, Aldos is kind of the place to go. After that, we ended up teeing off our first real full round was at Sand Valley. And that place was incredible. I think that was a great way to start like a the full golf experience. You know, it it set it up because it was the OG, his first course on property, right? Um, and it gave you like a lay of the land. You got to see Craig Sports for the first time. It’s got a beautiful driving range there. I think it was the perfect spot to start a day, especially a day of 36. Right. And it keep that in mind. That’s a good point to bring up. The shuttle service is great because it’ll get you wherever you need to be really quickly. There are certain spots that don’t have a range. Yeah. So, you’re going to do a lot of your warm-up right there at Sand Valley. Uh, so you may want to get your warm in before you hop on a shuttle to get over the Leo or XYZ. But let’s stick to Sand Valley for a second. Um, I think it was a great like the goo cool thing that about Sand Valley is you got a lot of diversity of golf. You’ve got stuff that’s going to please like the scratch, you know, gamers in the group with some really testy golf and then you’re going to have some places that are those feel-good rounds like we’re going to talk about Mammoth Dunes in a second. Huge fairways, huge greens, you know, you know, even your more casual golfers can post a good score there and feel really good about it. Sand Valley was kind of this middle ground. It wasn’t a beat you up in any way, but it was going to test you. And it also depends, of course, on what TE’s you play. One big tip that I would give you guys, they’re not required caddies, but take one. Oh, yeah. You know, especially if it’s your first trip, you want to get the most out of it. Um, we had we had a guy JD, uh, who was assigned to us and then the cool thing, we had such a great round with him. He was he was just like he he routed us around that place. I’m He saved us tons of strokes and he was just like a great vibe. So we ended up the rest of the time we just went into the the pro shop and just requested to have JD again and uh I got to give it to him whether it was our late tea times, our morning tea times. He was just there. Yeah, he was there. He was just there and ready to go and he was such a vibe on camera too and and we have a full video of this whole thing. We’ll link to it below. Uh but he was cool. He definitely was. But I would say the pro tip there is get the caddy. But yeah, on Sand Valley, um, what you get are these these great, you know, exposed dunes. You’ve got fast, firm fairways. I remember even one night we had quite a bit of rain the night before. We were very fortunate that none of our rounds got rained out, but there was quite a bit of rain the night before and I was thinking, well, everything’s going to play really soft to this morning and it did not. Um, and that is a tribute to like the very, very sandy soil that drains quickly. So they’re able to keep that place fast and firm at all times. And I like that. You know, you can kind of play the contours. You can get very creative. So if you are playing a course more than once, they’re never going to play the same. There’s a lot of different ways, a lot of different routes to play them. But having the caddies, trust me, especially with the subtleties of the greens, it really can help you score better. I may be stating the obvious here, but I think that’s kind of a pro tip. anytime if you’re going to be, you know, doing these bucket list trips that maybe you only get to do once in your lifetime, you might as well do it the right way and and have the caddies there to guide you through it. But Sand Valley was a a great mix of interesting holes, lot of riskreward holes that were out there. Um, not quite as many riskreward as I would say we saw at Mammoth Dunes, but it almost felt like a a you know, a a tighter a little bit tougher Mammoth Dunes. Um, but great greens. uh pretty holes and just even though there was quite a bit of elevation, there really was you could tell from some of the vistas, it never felt like a grueling walk because one thing to also keep in mind, Sand Valley is all walking. So if you you know, I mean with the caveat, I’m sure that there’s a way to get a cart if if there’s a a need for it from like an ability standpoint. But otherwise, it’s walking. You can take your own push carts. You can carry your own your own clubs, but it’s a really enjoyable walk, especially if you have the caddy. Yeah, I I felt that way for all the walks. I mean, they were not grueling. And with Sand Valley, Sand Valley was the first time we experienced which might be my favorite food we ate, which were those dollar tacos. And we hit those at the turn and I think they were so good. We went back. We hit them twice. Right after the round. Yeah. At the turn. And then within nine holes. Yeah. And that’s what like leads me like saying like Craig’s Porch truly is like like I said the heart and soul of Sand Valley. If you were to captivate the entire vibe of this place in one location, it’s Craig’s Porch and it sits right at the highest point right at Sand Valley. Um you’ve got it the the first you can see the first T, the uh the 10th T and the 18th green are all right there. So everything kind of comes back to it. these aderondac chairs. Uh, and you can just you could honestly you can sit out there for hours, the end of the day, the middle of the day, between rounds. That is the place if you’re going with a big group. I’m sure you’re going to say meet you at you know at Craig’s porch. That’s the meetup spot. You’ve got um beers are three bucks. Tacos and and this is a cool kind of vibe throughout. All of the courses have one food options that’s just a buck at Sand Valley. It’s the tacos. But trust me, it wasn’t just when we were playing it. We kept coming back for more. We even hit a a bunch of tacos on our way out to the airport. But you’ve got pork or chicken tacos. Uh they’re a dollar each. You just load up on a bunch of them whether it’s at the turn or not. And they This is like when I say golf resorts know how to cater to golfers. Perfect example. There’s even a separate window to order if you’re making the turn where you can get it even faster versus everybody else who comes up and just is coming back for more tacos. But hit the tacos. The other thing to get, get the ice cream sandwich. It’s a vanilla soft serve smashed between two fresh cookies that are a blend of chocolate chip and oatmeal cookies. Absolutely iconic. Delicious. Uh our caddy even had a a logo with the ice cream sandwich, you know, in a Sand Valley logo on his uh on his towel the whole time. That’s how iconic it is. But really quick, easy. They’ve got that. They’ve got beers. They’ve got transfusions. It’s kind of like golfer’s paradise right there. And it is the spot to sit before your round, after your round, grab a spot in the like take time, slow down, sit in the aderonic chairs, and take it in. I think I’m going to create a coffee table book called The Best Porch Sits in Golf. Yeah. I’ve yet to be at the Kioa Rider Cup. That porch, I know that’s like probably my favorite. That’s your favorite of all time. But this one was We’ve had some nice drink sits after a round with the view cabb all that stuff. Uh Craig’s porch is on. sports top three. Yeah, top three. Like I said, it is it’s iconic. That’s the spot you’re going to hang out. So anyway, we we finished our round at Sand Valley. Like I said, just a great walk. Um a a a incredible, you know, layout, design, playability. Um it it’s it’s worth going there just for Sand Valley. I think out of if you were, you know, chasing ratings, um I believe as far as public courses in the US, we actually have a map up here. It says it up there somewhere. Sand’s up there. Sand’s in the top 10 or so, right? It’s tw It’s either 12 12 or 17. 12. Okay. So, as far as if you’re if you’re chasing ratings, technically speaking, it’s the highest rated course at Sand Valley. Um, but also there’s a fine line there because that’s kind of public courses. The reason I say there’s a fine line was our afternoon round. And again, keeping this itinerary, if you want to keep the same itinerary we did, we played Sand Valley in the morning. We took a little break, nice quiet, slow lunch at at at at you know Craig’s porch and then we hopped on the shuttle over to the Leo. And the Leo is its own very interesting little animal in that it’s actually semi-private. You know, it’s technically a a course that has membership and private. However, it is open to uh resort play Sunday through Thursday, I believe it is. So keep this in mind as you’re booking your trip and and ask as you’re booking your tea times. Make sure that there’s a way that you can get around in Alto with because I to me a trip to San Valley is is not quite complete without a round at the Leo and it’s not open to resort play every single day. So it’s probably going to be your hardest tea time to get, but if you’re smart about it, you can get out there. There’s no parking there. We learned that the hard way. We we had a car so we tried to take it over there. We tried. No, there’s no it’s the only thing that’s there is the golf course. There is no driving range. There’s no parking lot. You have to shuttle over there. But like I said before, shuttles are super convenient. They’re there and they’re running constantly at Sand Valley. So, we hop on the shuttle. We take it over to the Leo. And like you literally have moved your body maybe a mile coming from Sand Valley. It’s like maybe a miles difference in where it’s located, but you feel like you went to a different planet. Yeah. the the golf there is comp is in so many ways so vastly different and the the story is so is so interesting. So the the Leo was one of the world’s best golf courses. It was it’s just like a worldrenowned legendary golf course that was located actually on Long Island, New York and it was lost to the wars, you know, in World War uh two was there was a naval base used there and unfortunately the land got repurposed for that and it got destroyed. it was gone, you know, for all intents and purposes. But through the very hard work of some dedicated, you know, just golf enthusiasts, they were able to use old pictures, use, you know, old maps and recreate the entire golf course down to the last undulation right there in Wisconsin. And of course, there’s very few of today’s modern architects who could handle a job like that quite like Tom Do. um he is like one of the greatest living golf architects right now and he was the lead architect on it and using the help of like all these different pieces of the puzzle he was able to put it together and you have right there true golden age golf architecture replaced in a modern setting and you don’t see that other places you just don’t you don’t and you’re right it was extremely different and it had a little bit of also like a Scotland feel because it was like a link style in those pot bunk ers. You had pot bunkers, you had wall bunkers. Um, so I felt like it was a little bit of Scotland in Wisconsin. Y um, the most different golf course you will play on that trip. No doubt. And if there is one, if you’re going to kind of forego the Caddies, I would say that you can get away with that, even though I still advise them everywhere but the Leo. Yeah, get the Caddy at the Leo. Just do it. Um, blind shots galore. I think we would have been lost. I fired at the wrong green and we had a Caddy. I just didn’t pay attention to it. That’s on me. That was on me. That’s on you. I was so tired at the end of 36. It was probably like the 34th hole of the day, right? And I thought I was firing at a at a green that it was a par three, but I ended up s it was a mess. But it does show you how you can get it wrong. So, uh, blind shots, but again, some of the most stunning bunkering, these elevated protected greens. There’s water that comes into play. Now, the original Leo played right along the coastline, so there were some that were coastlined, but you don’t get that here. But there are some ponds that were rebuilt. So you do get the water that’s in play. And because it is the flattest course on the property and the most exposed in that when you’re on the Leo, there isn’t a tree to be found, you do get the wind. So in a way, they were able to kind of bring back some of the elements that you would get in playing a coastline course, but in this in the middle of Wisconsin because you do get the wind there. And they said it’s it’s always up. It’s always blowing. I think when we teed off it was blowing at about 15 20 mph and they said that’s the daily and on some tougher weather days you’re getting 30 mph winds easy. So that’s a huge defense to the golf course but interesting um tough course not easy to score on. lot of ways you can get in trouble with crossbunkering and otherwise but unique uh and you just you feel like you’ve stepped back in time even down to the smallest little elements like the the way that you have the water out there. It actually pumps from the ground and you fill your they have reusable water bottles there that you grab one of those and you actually pump the water and have that um down to right in the clubhouse if you have time to play this more more than once or you’re a true like history buff. They’ve got the Hickory Revival there so that you can actually rent Hickory clubs and play it and really feel like you’re playing in the early 1900s which I thought was such a cool little element to it. Yeah. Yeah, it was a cool spot, man. It really was. So, now we’ve got a lot more golf and food to talk about. I want to talk about our dinner that night. I want to talk about playing Mammoth SGE. There’s a lot more to get into. Let’s take a quick break there and let’s talk about a word from our sponsor. All right, so we’re in the full swing of golf season. Foot Joy’s got you covered with the latest performance footwear and apparel. They’ve got everything you need, guys, from shoes like the new Premier Series, the new Hyperflex, and even the new Quantum to the layers, uh, whatever weather conditions that you may encounter. So, Thermoseries, believe it or not, I played golf yesterday morning. It was cold in August. It was 54° at tea off and I wore thermoseries out there in August. So, you never know when it’s going to come. So, you got to make sure that you are prepared. Not to mention gloves, accessories, socks, belts, headear. Footoy has it all. They are obsessed with golf just like we are and they have been for over a hundred years. So why trust your golf gear to anyone else? Trust your game with the latest from Fjoy. Learn more at footjoy.com. All right. So, you know, it would be nice to be at Sand Valley for a full week. We couldn’t obviously do that. We were there for three nights, right? Three nights. Yeah. Three nights. So, in order to get everything accomplished, you got to put at least one third uh uh 36 whole day in. And that was this day that we’re talking about. So, we had the uh we played Sand Valley in the morning, played, you know, the Leo in the afternoon, which by the way is is in of itself. You put those two golf courses together, it’s a day you’ll never forget of of two amazing golf courses. But after that, we’re like we had to celebrate, right? So, it’s like we worked up an appetite. I remember I looked at it, we had done 30,000 steps walking those two courses. So, those are the days you feel like you’ve earned it. That’s the day if you’re going to schedule your big dinner, right? But because again, a lot of food options there, a lot of quick grab and gross go stuff like we talked about, but you want your big dinner. Aldo’s Farm and Table to me is it, right? So, we we made our reservation and they just the the stuff on this menu is just like you you could just you could absolutely like blow your mind when you look at it cuz we ordered like for example, I think it was the pork shank, right? Yeah. Yeah. this thing comes out and it’s just like you’re looking at it’s like that equal parts that it just it feels very gourmet but also filling right because sometimes you feel like some of this gourmet stuff you’ve walked 30,000 steps you’re like I need more food than that you’re getting that best of both worlds there so you know mark that one on your calendar the day that you’re you know you want to have that celebratory dinner like I said if you’re there you’re celebrating a birthday whatever it may be Aldo’s farm and table dinner there great menu fresh stuff and it’s in the name you know it’s like it’s a very farmtotable type place and uh that pork shank that that’s got to be on your mind. Fell off the bone, man. Right. I mean, I think every golf trip needs that one bougie dinner like like we were huffing it with the dollar food all week at Craigs and it was delicious. Even the 8 to$10 barbecue sandwiches, which I would eat every day for the rest of my life at Bills. Uh but I think you got to go big once a place was great. If you’re going to go big, that’s your spot to do it. Um but it’s not the only restaurant option. We’ll talk about another one here in a second. Let’s keep taking you guys through it. So that that next day um we got we checked into a new Yeah, we got to talk about Logic. That was in I don’t even know which one was better. I know. So it’s it’s it’s laughable because there’s so much great options. But if you are coming with a bigger crew, obviously that Mammoth suite was incredible, but at right there at Sand Valley, they have a number of different lodges. And I think what the difference is with the lodge is it’s a little bit more out of the way. Again, nothing is that far. Nothing’s more than a threeminut shuttle ride. But when I say that, I mean more of the feel. When you’re if if you’re the some person who wants to be at the center of everything, you want to walk to down to the bar, you want to be able to walk out on the putting green, you know, whatever it may be, Mammoth Suite or, you know, the the the lodging that’s located right around the main clubhouse is the way to go. If you like to have it where you feel a little bit more like you’re getting away from it, the lodges are an incredible option. And there are a number of different lodge I almost want to call them like neighborhoods located throughout. We stayed at the Sedge Village lodges. Um, but when you’re there, it is secluded. Uh, each lodge, as big as they are, are surrounded by trees. You had your own little like beach there, you know. Uh, we even had like there’s a fire pit out back. But we within the lodge that we stayed at, and they are different sizes depending on how many people you were bringing. Again, you had four bedrooms, four suites. Every bedroom had a bathroom. And that really caters to like everybody kind of having their own place but still staying together. And within there you had an incredible uh living room, kitchen again, even an outdoor screened in area where you could sit and hang out at night. And then outside you had your own barbecue. You had your own uh fire pit. And it really felt like truly like having your own house while you were there. I mean that’s what they were. I mean we call them lodges. You know I think lodge I think motel but these were actual houses, cottages, whatever you want to call them. They called them the lodges. But you know, you’re sitting on this what they created this man-made lake, right, where they’re building the Commons, which is their new golf course, which was not open yet when we were there. Gives us a reason to go back. Uh but when you see this from the air, like the the lodging neighborhood, it is incredible. You see, wow, those are the size of those houses. Like we could bring eight to 10 guys on this trip, you know? Yeah. And you’re right. I probably should have called them a cottage. I think they referred to them as cottages. Think of the old ski lodges from back in the day. Would you say lodge? It’s like a motel. I just feel like it’s your own spot. So, it’s a kind of but um but yeah, so you have you have that and and one thing that I can’t speak directly to because we went there for the pure golf, right? The golf and the food. But if you are bringing someone along or a group, maybe it’s a corporate retreat, maybe it’s bringing a significant other who’s not into golf. When you you mentioned that like kind of that beach area and that that lake that’s behind it, it reminded me that there are a ton of other things that you could do. I can’t just speak firsthand to them cuz we didn’t try them, but there’s everything from fishing there to there’s fatwheel tire biking. There’s trails there. Grass tennis courts. Yes. And if you’re into tennis, one, there’s the grass tennis courts. And two, there’s one of only, I think, six of the indoor I don’t remember the exact name of it. If you guys know, drop in the comments, but there’s like this wall tennis. Yeah. Where there’s there’s the walls are inbounds. Like there’s there’s one there, too. So, if you got someone who’s not into golf, is it? No, it’s not. It was It’s a true type of tennis. No, it’s a true type. It’s a true type of tennis, but I forget what type they call it. But regardless, like I said, lots of other things you could do. So, we uh so the next the next day now, we’re staying in the lodge. Incredible. We stayed there for the rest of our trip and we head over to play Mammoth Dunes. And this is it its reputation precedes itself as being the most fun golf course there. And some people have said it’s the most fun golf course they’ve ever played. I can kind of, you know, back that up and and agree with that. But as we’re going out to play Mammoth, we everyone there is so friendly, but we run into like a group and you kind of get that vibe too, that family feel. There was there was a there was a guy and I think it was his brother was playing with like the his brother’s kids and like the and the cool thing five of them there kids play free after kids play free after a certain hour. So it’s very kid-friendly in that regard. But I remember him saying to us, “Guys, this is the most fun golf course you’re going to play.” like he’s I think he said he was like an eight handicap and he shot his best round there or whatever it may be. That’s what you want to hear before you see off. You really do. It’s a confidence builder. And the reason for this is that it has absolutely the biggest fairways we’ve ever played. I mean, if you hit a bad T-OT, you’re ending up you’re just going to play from a different part of the fairway. Yeah. Right. I mean, I say that like you could hit a really bad shot and end up in the sand. Absolutely. But the fairways you could you could land a plane on. They’re so wide. Same with the greens. Greens are massive. So you will, if you don’t shoot your low score ever, you’re going to probably have your most greens and fairways in regulation you’ve ever hit in your life. Now, doesn’t mean you won’t have a 50ft putt, but you’re going to hit your greens. You’re going to and it it just makes it that much more enjoyable, especially walking it when you get to have the experience of having, you know, that long walk with a putter in your hand after your approach shot because you’re going to probably be on the green. That being said, there’s nothing about it that feels like too easy, like a walk in the park. You still have to earn it. And you look at some of the holes and you think, you know, visually they can be very intimidating. They could be stunning in that way because you’re still having to carry it over sand. You’re still having and and I think that was the beauty of the architecture that of here that it can look like a more challenging golf course, but then you can get away with a lot of mistakes. Yeah. And that’s what it felt like there. There was also a lot of riskreward holes, drivable par4s, quite a few of them that are out there that you could you could get away with hitting driver if if your driver’s on that day. Otherwise, you know, you could end up in a tough greenside bunker if you miss. But for those who don’t want to play super aggressive, there were plenty of areas where you could play those as two shot holes, big wide fairways that would give you maybe it was a a sixiron off the tea and a little flip wedge in. So, a lot of different ways that you could play it, but still very interesting greens. Nothing flat out there, not a single thing. Which is why still, even being the easiest quote unquote easiest of the courses, still recommend taking the Caddy, Good Reads is going to really help set you up. But, you know, I ended up posting my my low round ever there. uh as an eight handicap. I had never ever shot under par before and it did require dropping a very long saving par putt on 18, but the putt dropped and I finished one under par there. So, if that’s a testament to how scorable the course is, that gives you an idea. Yeah, it was a fun display to watch out there. And to your point, and I played one of the best rounds ever there as well. I’ve had some shots I wanted to get back. Um, I believe I posted an 80 and I’m a 10-4 handicap. So on a par 73, I kind of beat my handicap there. I drove a par4 and I for putted because some of the greens were tough. So that tells you like that place will get you. I know the fairies are big, but there are some holes that there they were tight and they were treelined. You could snap hook into the woods there. You could slice. It’s not a given. It’s not a given. The canyon hole which was like 16 par three where it fell into a cliff. Uh, you know, you couldn’t be long, you couldn’t be short. Be long. You couldn’t be short. you had to be on that day and you and I were both on that day and I don’t know what it was. I don’t know if it was because of the confidence booster we got before we went out, but we were both clicking and it was cool to see you post that round. It kind of was like a like that’s what you want on a golf trip, you know, something like that. I mean, how how much more memorable even does it make it? And that’s why I think again the the beauty of Sand Valley was having that mix, you know, playing the Leo, playing Sedge, I’m saying, playing Sand Valley and having two, you know, a little tougher rounds where we we I shot around about my handicap and then having this feel-good round at Mammoth where you’re able to like kind of really go low and and remember that for the fun. And like we said before, like arriving first and playing the sandbox and having a way to get your feet wet and a feel for the turf and for the sand and the greens and the way they roll before you get out there. It just it really everything kind of works together like hand in hand. So Mammoth just another incredible um round there. That day we only played 18. We probably could have easily squeezed 30 if we wanted to have a second round, but there’s also a certain degree of wanting to take it easy, right? So, we just we enjoyed it. And then after that, we headed over for dinner again to celebrate. There’s plenty of great spots to do it, but you’ve got the gallery there. Uh, and one thing people while we’re there, we’re always asking people like, “What should we try, what food, what what what to get.” And one pe people kept coming back and telling us the pizza at the gallery. Now coming from two guys who coming from New York and New Jersey like we’re going to be a little skeptical about what the pizza’s going to be like in Wisconing the cheese was going to save it. So like I think both of us were a little bit like you know wondering like how true could this be that the pizza’s good but uh pizza and some incredible pasta options there. Yeah, the pizza really was good. Uh they they’ve got the the brick oven style, the smaller pizzas, and I I feel like the brick oven, you know, is is is that’s the comeback. You know what I mean? That’s the comeback. They even did the spicy vodka sauce for us. Brought us right back to our roots, you know, with the Calabrian chilis and stuff. But it was great. It was it was a it was a great pizza and the pasta there. Fantastic. Uh it’s got the nice open kitchen. You you know, it’s got that more, you know, like I said, a culinary treat type of vibe to it, but great food. So, I would say if you, you know, if you’re looking, you know, for something like a nice like Italian food dinner at one point, throw the gallery in that itinerary. So, last round. So, now we’re on the the final day. Um, and speaking of the gallery, right? Yeah. We’re over at that same property. We’re over about that same property. You’ve got the newest course at Sand Valley, which is Sedge Valley, which is another Tom Dope design, and another example of how diverse the golf can be here because it’s a par 68. Um, but I think one thing before I dive into the specifics of the course to say is again kind of with that travel and like trying to get the most you can into just a few days because the travel back is not that bad, that 2-hour drive to Milwaukee and a short flight back to New Jersey, we were able to squeeze a full round of golf in with an early morning tea time that morning. So, we played SGE, of course, we went back to to Craig’s, grabbed tacos, and then got on the road and drove back to the airport. Um, so it’s a way that you can squeeze another round in Sedge. Though, one thing I would forewarn you is to not let the scorec card fool you because when you see that shorter total yardage, you think, “Oh, it’s it’s going to be like a short course. It’s going to feel short or whatever it may be.” What you got to remind yourself is it’s a par 68. There’s only one par five out there. So, the reality of playing SGE was that you never felt like you were playing a short course. There was a great mix of mid-length par fours and par threes out there. So, plenty of par 3s where you’re hitting a lot more than a wedge, plenty of par fours where you can rip driver and you even get one par five out there. Um, but it was really kind of a throwback to kind of what inspired it and some of the old English courses that were a little bit shorter. They don’t need to be 7,200 yards to make a great golf course. The Greens had I think some of the most character out of all of the courses there at Sand Valley. So, you’re you’re still going to be presented with plenty of challenge while you’re out there. Um, and it’s just it’s an enjoyable course to play. Um, it’s it’s feels every course has a little bit of its own feel even though they’re right next to each other. The it felt more wild to me. Yeah, you felt more you had more of the natural um kind of the the fescue grasses. There’s more danger there for sure. There’s there’s danger, but like like as far as the vibe of it goes, the the the natural foliage like around the greens allowing the some of that fescue grass to I’m sorry, not the greens, around the the uh the sand traps, you had more of that fescue grass growing in. And it just it felt a little bit more like for as being the newest golf course there, it felt more like a course that had been there for a hundred years. And I think that was the beauty of that design. Yeah, I absolutely love Sedge and it was a great way to close out this trip. I mean, it felt like the baby brother of Sand Valley, Sedge Valley. Um, you know, in a way, um, it was a little bit shorter. I mean, they had the unique meat pie for pie. Pan pie, uh, which was like a sausage and pepper like felo crusted thing for a buck. Yes. Everything had a dollar. We didn’t mention it, but at atam mammoth had a either dollar hot dogs or brz. You could have picked one or the other. They know how to golfer man, right? Yeah. But here it was. And you got to try it. It was called the hand pie. And uh, think about like a fancy hot pocket. It’s the best way to to kind of explain it. And you said it was kind of like a sausage and pepper vibe in size, but it was great for the golf course because you could eat it in your hand. You know, it was a self-contained meal. And then I drove a green on a par4 right after it. That you did. Yep. That you did. So, we could attribute that to the hand pie, baby. Always. But, um, really interesting course, really fun course to play. And like I said, I think the main takeaway for me is even though it’s a par 68, it’s not going to feel like one. Um, it’s just, you know, you’re just playing a lot of, like I said, mid-length and and mid uh par threes and par fours. Great course. Tom Do. Has to be on your list. Must play. And the the trip itself is a must do because we had so much fun. I mean, even we weren’t we don’t we didn’t talk about it, but off course. I mean, I can’t even tell you how many times we laughed on this trip. I mean, we had Zack, our drone guy with us who been with us for a while. And, you know, just to the offcourse stuff, the banter, the the beer, just to sit down, decompress the rounds to celebrate the breaking par. I mean, it was a trip for the ages. And I’m telling you, if you guys book this trip, you’re going to have an incredible time. And you said it before, but I hear it’s crazy booking up. And this is And I know why now. I definitely know why. Yeah. And and it’s one of those spots, too, where you don’t ever ever have to leave. And I think I think so many of these new uh upand cominging resorts become destinations in and of themselves rather than being a resort that’s plopped down, an already existing destination. You know, it’s not like it’s in the middle of Miami and you’re going out at night in Miami. You’re you’re in the middle of nowhere and there’s no real reason to ever leave that property because everything you need is there. All of the food, all the bars, everything we covered is right there. You can park your car when you get there and leave it for the rest of the time because the shuttles will take you everywhere you need to be. And I I said this, you know, uh, while we were out there, there’s this kind of this moment like where, you know, it settles in that like you may you’ve been planning this trip forever with you and your buddies. I’m sure there’s a there’s a group text that’s been going getting amped up for it and there’s this moment, you know, after a couple of holes where it finally settles in that you’re there and like the stress of of of the real world starts to kind of fall away and you just you’re able to just kind of disconnect and be there with the people you’re there with. Enjoy the golf that’s around you. you know, just slow down. Like I said, sit on the porch at Craig’s porch and just and just absorb it because way too soon you’re back on that flight home and you’re back to reality. You know, the grind of the real world. So, it’s hopefully this itinerary that we’ve kind of put together here helps you guys get the most out of it. But I’d say the way to get the most out of it is when you’re there, just slow down and be there. Enjoy the walk. I love that they’re walking courses. It feels like it makes me slow down, enjoy, and be on the ground rather than driving through it in a cart. And it’s it’s a special experience and it’s one that I hope that everybody gets the opportunity to experience at some point. So, if you’ve had your own Sand Valley experience, you’ve got your own tips, something that we may have missed, we tried to cover every single thing, but drop them in the comments below. Hopefully, it becomes a resource for anybody who is planning their trip. Uh, but if you’ve got that trip on the horizon, all I can say is that I’m excited for you. Enjoy it. It’s a special place and I’m really hoping that we get back we get a chance to get back there soon. So, make sure you guys subscribe wherever you get your podcast. Thanks for listening. We’ll see you in the next one.

If you’re planning the perfect Sand Valley golf trip, this podcast has you covered. We talk through all the courses, food, and lodging with a full itinerary to make the most of your trip.

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Sand Valley Golf Resort ► https://www.sandvalley.com/

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⏰ Timecodes:
0:00 – Intro: Why Sand Valley?
2:32 – Getting there: Milwaukee/Chicago & drive times
4:59 – Perfect arrival plan: start on The Sandbox
5:13 – The Sandbox: design & vibe
6:36 – Who owns Sand Valley? (Dream Golf)
8:02 – Shovel yardages & hole-in-one shovel
8:36 – Summer daylight tip (squeeze in extra golf)
9:20 – Bill’s Barbecue: favorites & value
10:28 – Check-in flow after Sandbox + lunch
10:47 – Lodging overview
11:30 – Mammoth Suite: location over the clubhouse
12:00 – Mammoth Suite details & amenities
13:27 – Long summer days = easy 36-hole plans
15:07 – Sand Valley course: kickoff & range tip
15:53 – Diversity of golf at SV
16:27 – Pro tip: get a caddie (JD!)
17:12 – Fast & firm conditions
18:35 – Walking-only note (enjoyable walk)
19:05 – Craig’s Porch & the $1 tacos
21:38 – Sand Valley wrap & rankings
22:26 – The Lido (semi-private access details)
23:24 – Lido logistics: shuttle, no parking/range
23:42 – Lido feels totally different
24:08 – Lido history & rebuild story
25:00 – Tom Doak’s role
25:34 – Most different course / links feel
25:40 – Must-have caddie at Lido
26:59 – Wind as the main defense
28:49 – Trip length & planning a 36-hole day
29:26 – Dinner at Aldo’s Farm & Table (go big!)
30:48 – Moving to cottages/lodges
31:35 – Lodge vibe, privacy & amenities
32:41 – Commons lake & lodging neighborhood
33:40 – Non-golf activities (trails, tennis, more)
34:16 – Heading to Mammoth Dunes
34:28 – Why Mammoth is the “most fun” course
35:10 – Massive fairways/greens = scoring chances
37:05 – Breaking par at Mammoth (low rounds)
39:19 – Dinner at The Gallery (pizza & pasta)
40:44 – Sedge Valley overview (par 68)
41:26 – Don’t be fooled by yardage (par-68 nuance)
42:27 – Sedge vibe & greens character
43:20 – Sedge “Hand Pie” (the $1 specialty)
43:33 – Mammoth’s $1 dogs/brats callout
44:21 – Must-play recap
44:26 – Off-course fun & trip vibes
45:16 – Self-contained resort (no need to leave)
46:22 – Trip mindset: slow down & enjoy the walk
47:02 – Final thoughts

In this episode of The Golf Podcast, we take you inside our bucket-list trip to Sand Valley Golf Resort and break down the perfect golf itinerary for anyone planning to go. We played every course on property—Sand Valley, Mammoth Dunes, Sedge Valley, the Lido, and the Sandbox—and share what makes each one special. From short courses with legendary architecture to wide fairways built for scoring, we detail exactly how to structure your rounds to get the most out of your trip. But it’s not just about golf. We also dive into the food, lodging, and off-course experiences that make Sand Valley such a complete destination. From Craig’s Porch and its famous dollar tacos to Bill’s Barbecue and the Gallery’s surprisingly excellent pizza, we cover all the must-eats. You’ll also hear about lodging options from the Mammoth Suite above the clubhouse to the secluded cottages by the new Commons course. Whether you’re a group of buddies, a bachelor party, or just chasing your golf bucket list, this episode lays out the step-by-step playbook for doing Sand Valley right. If you’re planning your first trip—or already booking a return—you won’t want to miss this guide.

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