The Bridges Golf Course

The Bridges Golf Course in Madison is the city's most-played municipal championship-length course, sitting on the northeastern side just south of Dane County Regional Airport. Dan Feick designed the 6,867-yard par-72 layout (73.0 rating, 129 slope), which opened in 2000 and has become a mainstay of local league play and public-course rotations across south-central Wisconsin. The routing gives The Bridges a genuinely unique character. The course starts out on low-lying wetlands for the first several holes, forcing water carries, rewarding aerial approach shots, then climbs up a ridge along Anderson Avenue on the back nine for completely different sightlines and wind exposure. Water and wetlands come into play on almost every hole across the 18, making it a shot-maker's test masquerading as a muni. Bent fairways, tree-lined corridors, and conditioning that punches well above the muni-rate price point have earned The Bridges the Star of Madison Award for Best Golf Course from madison.com. For a Madison visitor, the natural pairing is either with University Ridge or Wild Rock.