This year, my friends Jeff and Mike both joined Tuckaway Country Club in Franklin, Wisconsin.
I have always heard good things about Tuckaway, and seeing as it was the course that the Greater Milwaukee Open moved to after my home club of North Hills Country Club (before moving to Brown Deer, and then becoming the US Bank Championship), I have been anxious to check it out.
That opportunity came two weekends ago, when Jeff invited me out for my inaugural round at Tuckaway for a 7 am Saturday morning tee time.
I can see why the GMO moved to Tuckaway: The course is beautiful and well set up for a PGA event. The fairways are much more forgiving than those at North Hills, the greens far larger, and there is much more open space for spectators and media needs. It has a “Bigger” feel than my home course, and differs completely from it in most respects other than a couple: Both are magnificently maintained, mature, and have lightning fast greens!
With the Wisconsin State Open on-site the following week, and Tuckaway’s club championship being held the day we were there, the greens were extremely fast. They were probably the fastest greens I have ever played on, in fact. Even though I was hitting my driver really well and far, I three-putted eight times.
The course was wonderful, and we had a great morning at Tuckaway. Here are some of my photos from the course:
The fifth hole at Tuckaway is their signature hole: A gorgeous par three over water with one of the most challenging back-to-front greens I’ve ever seen. After Jeff found the right side of the green, I skipped one over the water to the front right, then proceeded to three-putt. About par for the course on this one!
The finish to the front nine is an incredibly long and difficult par four. At 442 yards from the tournament tees, the approach plays well uphill to a green whose left-side pin location broke about 15 feet on my 15 foot par putt.
Much like at North Hills, the 17th hole at Tuckaway is the longest and toughest par three on the entire course. At 220 yards in to the wind, this was a brutal par three!
Course Wrap-Up:
Location: Franklin, WI
Yardage: Blue-6,941, White-6,584, Silver-6,169, Blended-5,900, Red-5,667
Slope/Rating: Blue-134/73.5, White-129/72.0, Silver-125/69.9, Blended-122/67.0, Red-128/72.9
Par: 72
Weekend Rates: Private
I played Tuckaway for the 1st time around 6 years ago. The greens were quick and there was a stiff breeze out of the south making the uphill 1st hole play very long. A challenging day but fun.
Tuckaway had always been on my bucket list of courses to play after attending the GMO in the late 70's as a kid. I remember seeing Lanny Wadkins, Gary McCord, Fuzzy Zoeler, Lee Trevino, Dave Stockton, Chi Chi Rodriguez and Wisconsin's Andy North. Back then 1st place paid around $30,000.