My First Ever Golf Road Trip: Wisconsin and Michigan

When was the last time you said “someday I’ll do that?”

Go skydiving? Someday.

Start a business? Someday.

Play all of the Top 100 Golf Courses? Man, that’d be cool, maybe someday.

Screw someday.

Let’s start doing things today.

Introducing the 2013 Breaking Eighty Top 100 Road Trip.

As you may know by now I’ve set a goal to play all of the Top 100 and Top 100 Public Golf Courses as created by Golf Digest by the time I’m 35 (I’m 28 now).

Update December 2022: I’m now 37. Let’s just say, we didn’t hit that goal. And well, the goal also shifted. I’m currently sitting at about half of both the top 100 in America and Top 100 in the World

Since I started this in March I’ve been puttering along, played half a dozen courses and generally felt pretty good about the whole thing.  But half a dozen courses isn’t going to get me anywhere close to my goal.

So I instead of saying “someday” I started saying “what would it look like if?”

And thus, the 2013 Breaking Eighty Top 100 Road Trip was formed.

What is the Golf Road Trip?

2(ish) Weeks, 15+ courses in the midwest, and a hell of a lot of fun.

Starting on September 30th, I’ll be flying into Milwaukee, Wisconsin renting a car, and working my way all over the Lake Michigan area playing every Top 100 Golf Course I can find.

I was originally going to drive from Portland, but it was going to add an extra week to the trip, be more expensive, and only get me another 2 courses.

A big part of the goal is to inspire others to take big action with their lives, and actually do the things they’ve said they want to do “someday”.  I’ll be doing a daily video blog and writing in-depth course reviews with detailed photographs of every single course.

Don’t get me wrong, this isn’t going to be easy, in fact it’s going to be a lot of work.  But who wouldn’t jump at the chance to play so many of the best courses in such a short period of time.  More importantly this will give me the kickstart needed to make significant progress on my goal over the coming years.

The Schedule

UPDATED 9/10/2013.  As I get more things finalized the schedule is evolving:

• September 30th: Fly into Milwaukee, drive to Kohler, Wisconsin
• October 1st: The Bull at Pinehurst Farms (#77 Public) and Blackwolf Run Meadows Course (#62 Public)
• October 2nd: Blackwolf Run – River Course (#14 Public and #63 Overall)
• October 3rd: Whistling Straits – Straits Course (#2 Public and #16 Overall), hopefully Irish Course as well (#39 Public).
• October 4th: Erin Hills (#10 Public)
• October 5-7th: Drive to Chicago, hopefully find a way to play Chicago Golf Club (#18), Butler National (#50), or Olympia Fields (#62)
• October 8th: Medinah – Course #3 – Pending Confirmation from member (#31 Overall)
• October 9th: Arcadia Bluffs (#13 Public and #57 Overall)
• October 10th: Crystal Downs? (#12 Overall) and/or Grand Traverse Resort – Bear Course (#72 Public)
• October 11th: Bay Harbor – Links/Quarry Course (#65 Public) and Threetops Par 3 (#1 Par 3 in the US)
• October 12th: Boyne Highlands – Heather Course – (#73 Public)
• October 13th:  Elk Ridge (NOW CLOSED) (#95 Public) and Black Lake (#69 Public)
• October 14th: Forest Dunes (#23 Public)
• October 15th: Oakland Hills (#20 Overall)
• October 16th: Fly to San Francisco
• October 20th: Olympic Club – Lake Course (#26 overall)
• October 22nd: Back to Portland

How Am I Paying for This?

As I’ve been slowly telling people about my plans a lot of people have asked how I’m paying for this all.

Luckily I’m in a situation with my business where I can work from the road and don’t need to take much time off during this process.  While I won’t be building the business much during this time, luckily it’s relatively low maintenance and so I should be able to keep everything going while I’m on the road.

I’m also taking advantage of lower shoulder season rates, and working with courses whenever possible to get discounted or complimentary greens fees in exchange for the detailed course writeup, video and course promotion.

What About the Weather?

Yes I know, October is getting to be a little late in the season to play golf so far north.  There’s a chance I may cut out some of the most northernly destinations if you know, it’s snowing or something, but otherwise the show must go on!

With such a busy summer this was the time that it fit into my schedule – if it were easy, then everyone would do it 🙂

How Can I Follow Along?

There are a few really good ways to follow along:

• You Tube Channel – We have a new Breaking Eighty You Tube Channel! This is where I’ll post all of my golf related videos, so check it out and subscribe.
• Facebook Page – Here you can expect quick notes about the courses, beautiful photos, and all of the other great golf content we put out each and every day.
• This Site and Email List – Hop on our email list for all the updates.

Questions and Feedback

What questions do you have? What do you want to make sure we cover? What do you want to see? This is just as much about making it entertaining for you as it is about accomplishing my goals.  So leave a comment and tell me what you think!