The Wisconsin Hickory Kohler Challenge (May 15-16, 2021), is a two day event played on the Irish and Straits Course at Whistling Straits, Haven, Wisc. As the name suggests, golf at the Straits is a challenge, hickories or no. Still, if you want to have some fun golfing, you bring your hickories.
Event host Ernie Ernst reports that 44 players attended the 2021 Challenge, playing the Irish course Friday and the Straits course on Saturday.
Friday’s perfect warm weather led to low rounds, the best produced by Tanner Taft with a 75. Lake Michigan is not known for its predictable weather, however, and the skies were cloudy, the air chilly and breezy on Saturday. It was a day of knowing when to punch out of trouble and when to turn it loose. Rick Woeckener, a two-time U.S. Hickory Open champion, had the right formula and posted a wonderful 78 but it was not enough to best eventual Champion Peter Flory whose 82 combined with a 79 the day before sealed the deal as the 2021 Champion, his fourth in this ever-strengthening event on the nation’s hickory tour.
After Friday’s round, the group was invited by the Kohler Golf staff to preview the New Par 3 golf course called The Baths, which features 10 challenging Par 3 holes, a two-acre practice putting green and three swimming ponds on the property for those special closest-to-the-pin bets. The Baths officially opens June 4 of this year and the Wisconsin Hickory Group were the first group to see and play the course. Our thanks to Kohler Pro Jim Font for arranging this wonderful experience. Kohler has short sets of rental hickory clubs for the proper Baths experience.
The weekend at the Straits was not the only golf enjoyed by many of the participants, 24 of whom continued on to the Links Course at Lawsonia, home of the Wisconsin Hickory Open (Aug. 26-28). That was the scene of a team match-play event with only pride and a few bucks on the line. Hickory newbie Sam Sinclair blistered the course with a 77. Those familiar with Lawsonia know that first timers are not supposed to take the Links course down. Nobody told Sam. After golf, 12 more golfers carried on to the Sand Valley facility in Central Wisconsin, where they enjoyed a quick Sunday night trip around the par 3 Sand Box course followed by dinner with great expectations of playing the Big Course the next day.
Sand Valley has two tracks in addition to the Par 3, the Sand Valley Course and the Mammoth. The group decided to take on the very fun Mammoth course. The pictures in the gallery (below the results) speak for themselves. The facility is a visual experience with all the dunes and elevation changes. Weather was perfect. Not wanting to give up, a few players then carried on to the Milwaukee area to play Erin Hills, home of the 2017 U.S. Open, Dr. Mike Hurdzan’s baby. In all, many in the group got to play four different Top 100 Public courses to play in the U.S..
We want to thank all the players for coming out and hope the experience was well worth coming. For our part, it was a treat to host you.
2021 Wisconsin Hickory Kohler Challenge Results
Women
Open – Jeanne Swenson
Gross champion – Anna Bengtson
Open
First – Peter Flory
2nd – Tanner Taft
3rd – Rick Woeckener
Gross
First – Jeff Guerard
2nd – Dan Hoffmann
3rd – Giles Guenette
Senior
First – Ernie Ernst
2nd – Dan Moore
3rd – Dave Brown
Gross
First – Chip Cianciola
2nd – Jim McGraw
3rd – Ken Holtz
Legends (Super Senior)
First – Galen Peterson
2nd – David Boyd
3rd – Greg Smith
Gross
First – Dana Niehaus
2nd – Dan Norstedt
3rd – Cal Whitman
Waiting to tee at the 7th on the Straits Course. 
Dan Moore playing No. 14 on the Mammoth Course at Sand Valley. Dan finished second in the Senior Division. 
Dan Hoffmann looks over a putt on the Mammoth Course at Sand Valley. 
Senior Low Net Winner Chip Cianciola teeing off on No. 7 at the Straits Course. Chip is new to hickory golf. 
Fearless Cal Whitman blasts from a bunker where few others dare to tread at Sand Valley. 
A view of the Baths Course at the Straits. 
Open Division champ Peter Flory, left, with Senior Division champ Ernie Ernst. 
Legends Division champ Galen Petersen with Ernie Ernst. 
Ah, the 19th hole. In this case, the bar sat Whistling Straits; the perfect place to get your golfing stories in order.