WELCOME TO SAND VALLEY
Sand Valley sits in the tumbling prehistoric sand dunes of central Wisconsin. With the three courses, the first two courses by Coore & Crenshaw and the third course, Mammoth Dunes, by David McLay Kidd, Sand Valley is a golf destination worth visiting.
LOCATION
Sand Valley is located near a small town named Rome in the heart of Wisconsin, a short drive from Chicago, Milwaukee, Madison and Minneapolis.
GOLF
Sand Valley features 5 distinct and extremely fun golf courses:
Sand Valley, by design team Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw, opened May 2017 and was awarded "Best New Course You Can Play - 2017" by Golf Magazine.
Mammoth Dunes, by David McLay Kidd, opened early summer 2018.
The Sandbox is a 17-hole par-3 course designed by Coore & Crenshaw. Located 100 yards from the clubhouse, the Sandbox opened in spring 2018 and is extremely fun and fast option for resort and day guests both.
Lodging
The rooms at Sand Valley have been designed, inside and out, for the traveling golfer and his or her needs. Each of our room options have a bed with sheets and pillows that you'll melt into at the end of the day, a shower that you’ll love, technology that intuitively meets and exceeds your expectations, and views that help you reconnect with the raw beauty and serenity of the outdoors.
HISTORY OF SAND VALLEY
How it all began...
In the early 2000's Craig Haltom began scouring the state of Wisconsin with his wife, looking for an ideal piece of land to build a golf course. Haltom, a construction executive with Oliphant Golf Construction, came across the land on which Sand Valley now sits and knew he had found what he was looking for. In 2012 Haltom connected with Mike Keiser via golf course architect, Greg Ramsey. One site visit led to another, and another, until Mike Keiser decided, with his sons Michael and Chris, to purchase 1700 acres of land in 2013.
Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw were hired to design the first course, Sand Valley, and began designing a routing through the tumbling sand dunes in 2014. Sand Valley opened in May 2017 and was honored by Golf Magazine as "Best New Course You Can Play - 2017."
Mammoth Dunes, designed by David Kidd (designer of Bandon Dunes) opened May 31, 2018 and is open for play. Routed around a mile long V-shaped sand ridge Mammoth Dunes is a dramatic, fun golf course, routed through the prehistoric sand dunes of central Wisconsin.
The Sandbox, a 17-hole Par-3 course designed by the team of Bill Coore & Ben Crenshaw, opened May 1, 2018 and is a fantastic, fun course for golfers of all ages and skill sets.
Tom Doak of Renaissance Golf (Pacific Dunes, Tara Iti) has been selected to design the resort’s 4th course - a 6,200 yard Par-68 inspired by the likes of Swinley Forest and St. Enodoc overseas.
We look forward to adding truly unique golf and outdoor recreational experiences that make Sand Valley the perfect place for your adventure.
Heathland Golf Heritage - From London to Rome, WI
Sand Valley pays homage to the great heathland courses of London, namely Sunningdale, Swinley Forest, Walton Heath, and St. George's Hill. Why were these courses a model for what the Keisers wanted to build at Sand Valley? Built on inland sites with sandy soil and low lying heathland vegetation (scrubby oaks and pines, heather, bearberry, blueberry, kinnikinnick and more) these great Heathland courses were built to bring the drama and playing conditions of links golf to the inland "heathland" properties close to the bustling London city center.
Similar to the great links courses, these properties feature dramatic sand dunes, windy playing conditions, unusual bounces from firm fairways, and a multitude of strategic playing options. Having played these great heathland courses the Keisers knew how enchanting they can be and hoped to bring the same level of fun and enchantment to the great, sandy, heathland property at Sand Valley.
Sand Valley and the "Ice Age"
The site for the resort currently sits on what was once the lakebed of an ancient glacial lake that covered much of Central Wisconsin. In roughly 16,000 BC the ice dam protecting the glacial lake burst, causing a catastrophic flood event that emptied the entire 150' deep lake in just two days, creating what is now the Wisconsin Dells. The sandy lakebed where our site now sits became exposed and over time blew into the 80' high dunes and valleys now seen today.