Blue Mound Golf & Country Club

Seth Raynor never shied away from bold. A visit to any of his golf courses will confirm that in one way or another. But when it comes to his green complexes, you’d be hard-pressed to find a set more dramatic than Blue Mound Golf & Country Club. The first club in the state of Wisconsin to host a major championship (1933 PGA Championship), the course is a stunning piece of golf course architecture.

A few miles west of downtown Milwaukee, Blue Mound finds itself tucked in the back of a neighborhood and shopping center. The understated club has been around for more than a century and originally opened in what is referred to as the Golden Age of golf course architecture. Like Raynor’s work at Chicago Golf Club, Blue Mound occupies a very flat property with little elevation change. The only holes with much vertical change are Nos. 7-8, a short par 3 that dives down a hill in the property’s northeast corner, and a par 4 that climbs back up said hill at a diagonal. Otherwise, you could very easily look across Blue Mound’s property and see nearly every hole.

To overcome the lack of intrigue in the makeup of the property, Raynor went big with his template hole designs. Really big. From the Double Plateau second hole to the Road fifth hole to the Punchbowl eighth hole, golfers will find some of the most prominent slopes of any Raynor design, especially when compared to the land. The Double Plateau is an especially stark example as its back-right and front-left tiers sit way above the flat front-right section.

While Blue Mound is a tremendous experience in the modern day, it took some work in recent years to get it up to snuff. Bruce Hepner has worked with the club for more than 20 years to bring back much of the Raynor charm that was lost over time. Current superintendent Alex Beson-Crone and predecessor Tim Venes deserve a lot of credit for helping to not only implement Hepner’s changes but also oversee tremendous improvements on their own accord.

Take Note…

Raynorman – Left of the first tee at Blue Mound you will find a bronze statue of Seth Raynor, a reminder of the architect who built the magical experience in front of you.

‍One way – When visiting Blue Mound, keep your eyes peeled for the entry off North Avenue and don’t be surprised if you need to make a U-turn. The entry is located between two homes and is only accessible by traveling westbound.

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