Erin Hills
My favorite travel trick has always been the "margin play"—landing a day early or staying a day late on the fringes of a work trip to find some golf. This time, Milwaukee was the anchor. Rather than hauling my clubs through airports, I simply reserved a rental set at Erin Hills, grabbed a rental car at the airport, and headed toward Wisconsin's Kettle Moraine glacial landscape.
Unlike many modern championship venues, Erin Hills wasn't built around artificial lakes or housing developments. Instead, it sits atop the rolling glacial terrain of the Kettle Moraine, where the architects largely let the land dictate the routing. The result is a walking-only course with a distinctly links-like feel despite being nearly 1,000 miles from the nearest ocean. It has hosted both the U.S. Open and the U.S. Women's Open, yet remains wonderfully accessible as a public course—a rare opportunity to experience a modern championship venue exactly as it was intended to be played.
The real local welcome wagon wasn't a billboard; it was the AM/FM dial. Somewhere past the Milwaukee suburbs, the radio waves resolved into a fascinating local duality: an endless loop of passionate Brewers baseball commentary right next to fiery, soul-cleansing roadside religion. It felt like an audio cross-section of the Midwest. One minute I was listening to a hyper-detailed, pitch-by-pitch breakdown of a seventh-inning at-bat, and when I changed the dial, a booming preacher was asking whether I'd saved my soul today. A quick click of the tuner took me from baseball to religion and back again. It was the perfect surreal soundtrack for a solo road trip.
When you pull up to Erin Hills, the first thing that hits you is the sheer, unapologetic scale of it. This place does not whisper; it echoes. Set across 650 rolling acres of glacial terrain, it feels less like a traditional American golf course carved out of a forest and more like a massive Scottish links that somehow took a wrong turn and landed in America's heartland.
There are virtually no trees to hide behind. The fescue rolls in golden, knee-high waves, blowing wildly in the wind, framing fairways that look absurdly wide from the tee yet somehow shrink the closer you get to the green. Walking it—because everyone walks at Erin Hills—feels like an expedition rather than a round of golf. You can carry your own bag, use a push cart, or hire one of the excellent caddies. I'd strongly recommend the latter if your budget allows. They know every subtle contour, offer invaluable advice on navigating the ever-changing Wisconsin winds and, just as importantly, share stories about the course, the U.S. Open, and the personalities who have walked these fairways before you.
Memorable holes
Hole No. 2 – The Temptation: A beguiling short par 4 that proves length isn't everything at Erin Hills. The ideal drive skirts the left hillside for the best angle into the course's smallest green, while anything offline brings thick fescue and a blind approach into play.
Hole No. 8 – The Panorama: A sweeping dogleg par 4 carved across an exposed hillside, with native fescue framing the broad fairway and expansive views across Wisconsin's glacial landscape. It's one of the course's most photogenic holes—and one that rewards a well-shaped drive.
Hole No. 18 – The Climb: A monumental uphill par 5 that asks one final question of every golfer. Whether played conservatively as a three-shot hole or attacked in two, deep fescue, cavernous bunkers and an elevated green ensure the finish is every bit as memorable as the opening stretch.
By the time I handed the rental clubs back, returned the rental car and headed for the airport terminal, my casual shoes felt entirely too tight, my mind was blissfully free of the meetings that had brought me to Milwaukee just a couple of days earlier, and my legs had happily absorbed several miles of Wisconsin hills.
It was yet another reminder that the best golf trips don't always require a week off or an international flight. Sometimes all you need for a perfect micro golf vacation is a rental car, a rental set of clubs, an entertaining radio dial, and 18 unforgettable holes.
