The fighting Irish: beating par here can be a true struggle.

According to their course and slope ratings from the “mere mortal” tees, Whistling Straits’ two courses, Straits and Irish, bear the same level of difficulty.

In our experience, however, those numbers don’t add up. The Irish course is easily the more challenging one to play on an American Club Kohler golf vacation.

It’s not that the holes are overly long or tricky. Rather, Pete Dye’s fourth creation at this world-class resort simply eats errant golf balls and it’s the forced carries, gnarly rough, ponds, streams and ravines that set the table. The Straits course, while challenging in its own right, provides a wider margin for error.

Along with these obstacles, the Irish Course is laden with tremendous waste bunkers — tremendous in size and number — which are minimally maintained to let the elements shape and reshape them. Roll into one of these monsters and it’s like being slapped with a one-stroke penalty.

Anyplace else, all this would be enough to get the knees knocking, but on the bluffs above Lake Michigan, there is, of course, the added difficulty of the wind, affecting not only tee shots, but putts, too.

All of these elements combine to create one beautiful but brutish course. We suggest you opt for a caddie, who, in addition to lugging your wrenches, will provide you with a much-needed extra pair of eyes.

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