Goose island

@iconoclastes

202

This course was beautiful and a lot of fun. With all the land available, I really wish they had made a few par 4s. It’s a park-style course adjacent to some woods, and it looks like some of the holes could easily push into that area. One small thing that should be fixed is the distances in UDisc. The tee signs appear to be accurate, but the listed distances in the app are wrong. Being off by 10 feet isn’t a big deal, but some holes are off by quite a bit, closer to 30-40+ feet. The local crew or course ambassador should clean that up. My biggest critique, however, is the short tee pads. They are all 4x8, which isn’t enough unless it’s a pitch-and-putt, and this course is not that. There are a lot of longer, beautifully shaped par 3s, so if I’m throwing 400 feet, I need a run-up longer than eight feet. This isn’t the end of the world, I get it, but relying on a run-up from behind the tee pads isn’t always an option here, since there’s often a bit of a drop-off behind them. Having a run-up that is uphill before then taking a step up to the tee pad is actually dangerous for some and annoying for others. All that said, I will be back.

@widgtraveler

211

First, it is great to have another 18-hole course in the La Crosse area. Goose island, however, is a steady diet of wide open 350’ shot after wide open 350’ shot. If you cannot throw 350+ feet on a consistent basis this course might become pretty monotonous. Even on my best drives I am consistently left with an 80’ putt or 100’ throw in for any chance of a bird. Although I’m not typically a fan of so many open-ish shots, I was impressed by how well designed some of the holes at Goose island are, especially some of the latter ones. Although the concrete tee pads are a bonus, they are sort of short and I find myself throwing from the side of them more often than I care to. Glad it’s here! Just wish there were more wooded holes.