Hartford Country Club - #17

Hartford Golf Club

Overview and Photos

By Brian Weis

Tucked on the outskirts of Hartford lies a semi private Washington County gem. Public can play the 6529 yard course anytime except Thursday afternoons. Since being built in 1928, the course has been host to the WSGA Amateur Qualifier and a State Match play Championship.

Bill Rabuck, Director of golf explains the signature hole, number 12. "The 570 yard hole is long. You need three quality shots to hit the green. For most golfers, it is all they can handle."

From the tee, big hitters can cut the dog leg left. Gamblers will need to hit it high to avoid the tall trees. Do not try to sneak it under as the old farmstead rock wall will ricochet balls out of bounds. Your approach shot will need to climb to an oval elevated green protected by two bunkers, one on each side.

"A par on twelve is a great score," concluded Rabuck.

The 17th hole is one of the more unusual par-3's in the state. The short par-3 has a wall of two maple trees guarding the front of the green. With leaves on the trees the green is an oasis in the desert. A well struck short iron should climb over the branches.

2012 Membership Deal
For new members, if you pay in full for next year (2012) you will get the remainder of 2011 free. Memberships start at $1455 for a single and $1840 for a family.

3 Hole Practice Facility
The property features a 3 hole practice facility - 160, 290 and 350 yards. The practice course is ideal for tuning up your game or to play with beginners.

The Skinny
3 Tees: 6529, 6281, 5555 yards
Slope/Rating: 121/70.7
Par: 72

Phot Slide Show

Article Tags: Hartford Golf Club

Revised: 09/06/2011 - Article Viewed 27,625 Times

About: Brian Weis

Brian Weis is the mastermind behind GolfTrips.com, a vast network of golf travel and directory sites covering everything from the rolling fairways of Wisconsin to the sunbaked desert layouts of Arizona. If there’s a golf destination worth visiting, chances are, Brian has written about it, played it, or at the very least, found a way to justify a "business trip" there.

As a card-carrying member of the Golf Writers Association of America (GWAA), International Network of Golf (ING), Golf Travel Writers of America (GTWA), International Golf Travel Writers Association (IGTWA), and The Society of Hickory Golfers (SoHG), Brian has the credentials to prove that talking about golf is his full-time job. In 2016, his peers even handed him The Shaheen Cup, a prestigious award in golf travel writing—essentially the Masters green jacket for guys who don’t hit the range but still know where the best 19th holes are.

Brian’s love for golf goes way back. As a kid, he competed in junior and high school golf, only to realize that his dreams of a college golf scholarship had about the same odds as a 30-handicap making a hole-in-one. Instead, he took the more practical route—working on the West Bend Country Club grounds crew to fund his University of Wisconsin education. Little did he know that mowing greens and fixing divots would one day lead to a career writing about the best courses on the planet.

In 2004, Brian turned his golf passion into a business, launching GolfWisconsin.com. Three years later, he expanded his vision, and GolfTrips.com was born—a one-stop shop for golf travel junkies looking for their next tee time. Today, his empire spans all 50 states, and 20+ international destinations.

On the course, Brian is a weekend warrior who oscillates between a 5 and 9 handicap, depending on how much he's been traveling (or how generous he’s feeling with his scorecard). His signature move" A high, soft fade that his playing partners affectionately (or not-so-affectionately) call "The Weis Slice." But when he catches one clean, his 300+ yard drives remind everyone that while he may write about golf for a living, he can still send a ball into the next zip code with the best of them.

Whether he’s hunting down the best public courses, digging up hidden gems, or simply outdriving his buddies, Brian Weis is living proof that golf is more than a game—it’s a way of life.