Last fall, heavy fog ruined an otherwise perfect morning for photography at Old Hickory Golf Club. Even though I was able to get some decent in-round content that day, I still yearned for the photographer’s version of one of golf’s greatest reprieves: a mulligan.

Re-shooting Old Hickory was a high priority for me entering this season, so I sought out the opportunity as soon as I could once courses greened up in Wisconsin this spring.

On a beautiful late May morning I got my chance, arriving on site pre-sunrise to a perfect sky for photography. And to make matters even better, there was no fog!

With WiscoGolfAddict writers and photographers Paul Seifert and Rich Bauer joining me that day, we branched out across the property, capturing a breathtaking sunrise filled with oranges, reds and yellows, cast brilliantly over Old Hickory’s beautiful tree-lined corridors.

Freshly endowed with a treasure trove of high-quality drone photography, I’ve updated my course review from last season to include a complete set of hole-by-hole descriptions with a multitude of images from various angles.

If you’re planning to visit Old Hickory, be sure to check this out in advance for some in-depth info on this challenging and engaging property.

The round that followed photography was equally memorable, as we enjoyed a perfect day for golf on a classic public gem. I picked a good day to bring my best iron play, too, since Old Hickory’s tiny and well-protected greens demand great precision on approach.

My “A” game yielded an 83, going to show the high degree of difficulty of the layout (as an 8-handicap I can usually break 80 on a good day).

How in the world is Old Hickory’s slope rating from the middle tees only 125, by the way?

Wisconsin isn’t well-known for its classic public golf properties, but I’ve found that many of the state’s hidden gems fall into this category. Indeed, I have had some sneaky good experiences at these historic places. With Lawsonia Links a clear #1 classic public course in the state, in my opinion, it begs the question which other properties would rank highly on this list?

Believe it or not, there are many public courses in Wisconsin that were built before 1945, a generally accepted cutoff point between classic and modern architecture. In fact, after a bit of research, I found that Wisconsin is home to roughly 86 classic public layouts!

With several rounds at Old Hickory under my belt in the past few seasons, I believe a strong case could be made that it is a top ten classic public Wisconsin course. Tom Bendelow established a terrific foundation routing the initial version of this track, and with a cohesive 1960’s expansion to 18 holes and excellent stewardship by Old Hickory’s ownership over the years, this is a well-crafted throwback experience that all golf enthusiasts in Wisconsin should visit.

What’s your favorite classic public course in Wisconsin, other than Lawsonia Links? We’d love to hear your opinion in the poll below! Note that I’ve only included a fraction of the state’s courses that fall into this category for brevity purposes, so please share your favorites in the Comments section, especially if they aren’t included in the list below.

All original photography by Paul Seifert, Brian Murphy and Rich Bauer for WiscoGolfAddict.

Old Hickory Golf Club Website