There are golf courses you get excited to play because you think you might score well.
Then there are golf courses you get excited to play because they feel bigger than golf itself.
Erin Hills falls firmly into that second category.
On the latest Bogey Ball Society episode, we wrapped up our full Sand Valley and Wisconsin golf trip preview series by breaking down what will be the final round of the trip. And the more we talked through the course, the more it became obvious that Erin Hills is not just another stop on the itinerary.
It feels like an event.
For a lot of golfers, Erin Hills already carries a certain weight because of the 2017 U.S. Open and Brooks Koepka’s win. You have seen the visuals on television. The massive rolling property. The endless fescue. The dramatic elevation changes. The scale of everything.
But once you really start digging into the course, looking at hole flyovers, and hearing stories from people who have played it, you realize television probably still does not fully prepare you for how enormous the property actually feels.
And honestly, that became one of the biggest themes of our conversation.
Erin Hills looks both beautiful and terrifying
One of the first things we talked about during the episode was how natural the course feels.
That is not an accident.
One of the most fascinating facts about Erin Hills is that earth only needed to be moved on four of the eighteen holes during construction. The property itself already had the movement, elevation, and routing needed to create a championship-level golf course.
That detail says a lot about what makes the place so visually striking.
Nothing about Erin Hills feels forced.
The land rolls naturally across the property in a way that creates these massive sweeping golf holes while still making individual shots feel demanding and precise. Fairways can appear wide from the tee while still punishing misses with thick fescue, awkward angles, and brutal recovery situations.
During the podcast, we joked several times about how intimidating some of the flyovers looked online, but there was truth behind the humor.
Every single hole seems capable of producing both incredible moments and complete disasters.
That tension is part of what makes the course so compelling.
The ninth hole already has everyone nervous
If there was one hole that completely dominated our conversation, it was the par-3 ninth.
And the funny thing is, it is not even especially long.
Depending on the tee setup, it can play somewhere around 140 to 165 yards. On paper, that sounds manageable. Most golfers would glance at the number and assume it is one of the easier holes on the course.
Apparently, that assumption would be a mistake.
The green is surrounded by deep bunkers that punish even slight misses. Several people have described it as a hole where players either walk away with a three or completely implode. There is very little middle ground.
During the episode, we referenced a No Laying Up segment where the hole was described as producing either pars or absolute trainwrecks because of how difficult the recovery shots become once you miss the green.
And honestly, that sounds exactly like the kind of hole that becomes unforgettable during a golf trip.
Somebody in the group is going to hit a perfect iron shot and walk away feeling like a hero.
Somebody else is probably going to spend several minutes bouncing from bunker to bunker wondering how things unraveled so quickly.
That unpredictability is part of the charm.
Walking Erin Hills feels like part of the experience
Another big part of the discussion centered around walking the course itself.
At a place like Erin Hills, walking does not just feel like an option. It feels like part of the entire identity of the property.
There is something about walking a course of this scale that changes the experience. You feel the elevation changes. You take in the transitions between holes. You notice how isolated certain greens feel and how enormous some of the fairways look when viewed from ground level instead of from a golf cart path.
The group talked a lot about the physical side of this trip because Erin Hills comes at the very end of multiple days packed with golf. By the time we arrive there, legs are going to be tired, swings are going to feel a little slower, and everybody will probably be carrying at least a little accumulated fatigue.
Which honestly might make the round even more memorable.
There is something special about grinding through a difficult course with friends after several days together on a golf trip. Even the bad shots become part of the story later.
Especially at a place like Erin Hills.
Smart tee selection matters more than ego
One of the more relatable conversations during the episode focused on tee selection.
Because let’s be honest, there is a difference between challenging yourself and completely ruining your day.
Erin Hills can stretch to almost absurd lengths from the back tees. The course is massive already, and trying to overpower it simply because of pride feels like a fast way to make golf miserable.
That became a recurring theme throughout the discussion.
The goal is not proving something to the scorecard.
The goal is actually enjoying the experience.
One of the best pieces of advice we heard while preparing for the trip was simple: whatever tees you think you should play, move up one.
That feels especially smart at Erin Hills.
The course is already going to challenge every aspect of a golfer’s game. There is no need to turn every approach shot into a survival mission just for the sake of ego.
And honestly, more golfers should probably approach bucket-list golf that way in general.
Playing the right tees usually creates better golf, better pace, better memories, and a much more enjoyable round for everybody involved.
The course is intimidating, but the atmosphere sounds incredible
One of the things I loved most about this conversation is that it was not entirely focused on fear and difficulty.
Because while Erin Hills absolutely sounds intimidating, it also sounds like an unbelievable place to spend time with friends.
The group talked about the putting course on property, the atmosphere around the clubhouse, staying onsite, walking rounds together, and just soaking in the environment after the golf itself ends.
That is really the heart of golf trips in the first place.
Yes, the courses matter.
But the shared experiences matter more.
The trash talk on the first tee. The exhausted conversations after 36 holes. The moments where everyone stands around reliving a shot somebody hit three hours earlier. The random side competitions that somehow become more important than the score itself.
Those are the things golfers actually remember years later.
And Erin Hills feels like the kind of place that naturally creates those moments.
Why Erin Hills belongs on so many golfers’ bucket lists
The more we talked through the course, the clearer it became why Erin Hills has built such a strong reputation in modern American golf.
It is visually stunning without feeling artificial.
It is difficult without feeling gimmicky.
It feels massive, strategic, natural, and memorable all at the same time.
And maybe most importantly, it feels like a place that creates stories.
Not every golfer is going to shoot their best score there. Most probably will not.
But I would guess almost everyone leaves with moments they remember.
A recovery shot from the fescue.
A terrifying downhill putt.
A bunker shot that somehow worked out.
A walk up the final hole completely exhausted but grinning anyway.
That is what great golf courses do.
And the more we previewed Erin Hills, the more it sounded like exactly that kind of place.
Watch the full Bogey Ball Society episode
The full Erin Hills preview episode is now live, complete with course flyovers, strategy discussion, plenty of laughs, and honest reactions from all of us as the reality of this trip starts getting closer.
If you have played Erin Hills before, we would genuinely love to hear your thoughts inside the Life At The Turn community.
What hole stuck with you most?
What surprised you about the course?
And did Erin Hills live up to the hype?