WISCONSIN GOLFER l SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2011
www.wsga.org 23
&CONTACTS WEBSITES
LA CROSSE AREA, NORTH AND EAST
be tradesmen and laborers, and in 1920 it
was said that the club had as many as 100
unmarried women as members.
Drugan’s Castle Mound CC, Holmen
>> www.drugans.com ____________________________________
Coulee Golf Bowl, Onalaska
>> www.couleegolfbowl.net ____________________________________
Forest Hills GC, La Crosse
>> www.foresthillsgolf.org ____________________________________
Fox Hollow GC, La Crosse
>> www.foxhollowgolfandbanquets.com ____________________________________
Maple Grove GC, West Salem
>> www.maplegrovecc.com ____________________________________
Trempealeau Mountain GC, Trempealeau
>> www.golfthemountain.com ____________________________________
Walsh Golf Center, La Crosse
>> www.walshgolfcenter.com ____________________________________
The Riverbend GC, Melrose
>> www.rbgolfcourse.net ____________________________________
River Run GC, Sparta
>> www.riverrunsparta.com ____________________________________
Arcadia GC, Arcadia
>> www.arcadiacountryclub.com ____________________________________
Whitehall GC, Whitehall
>> www.whitehallpublicgolfcourse.com ____________________________________
La Crosse CC, Onalaska
>> www.lacrossecountryclub.com ____________________________________
Golf Club at Cedar Creek, Onalaska
>> www.cedarcreekonalaska.com
Golf flourished in La Crosse and across
America throughout the 20th century, and
courses of every description grew between
the coulees and the great Mississippi River.
In 1994, La Crosse CC moved east to a
new space in Onalaska. The club’s former
course is now owned by the city, one of
several fine courses that define La Crosse
golf.
Drugan’s Castle Mound GC in Holmen
might offer the finest example of coulee
golf in Wisconsin. The course was built in
the late 1960s and purchased by the
Drugan family a few years later. The
Drugans have worked hard over the years
to upgrade Castle Mound’s facilities – and
that’s facilities plural, as Castle Mound’s
dining and banquet operations are every
bit as busy as its gorgeous 6,600-yard golf
course. Numerous flower beds and a cen-tury-old red barn accent the layout.
The eighth green at Drugan’s Castle Mound CC backs up to the actual Castle
Mound. Below, the pretty par-3 eighth hole at Arcadia CC plays over a creek.
RICK PLEDL PHOTOS
With the word “coulee” right in its name,
and located as it is on Greens Coulee
Road, Coulee Golf Bowl has become ingrained in the La Crosse-area landscape.
And the terrain isn’t bad, either.
The nines were switched at the beginning of the 2011 season, so the actual
Castle Mound now impacts the front nine.
The eighth green backs up to the unusual
geographical feature – a block-shaped
sandstone hill separated from the bluffs –
and No. 9 now doglegs around the mound.
Coulee Golf Bowl is a golf and bowling
facility located just north of Interstate-90
in Onalaska. The course opened in 1962
as Coulee GC, and a few years later longtime owner Dick Mulder added eight
bowling alleys. Golf and bowling leagues
are both popular at the facility, which has
grown into a gathering place for local residents – even if they don’t golf or bowl.
Appropriately, Castle Mound is one of
the La Crosse area’s prime golf tournament venues. Just look for the giant blue
Viking ship sign on Highway 53 north of
La Crosse.
Coulee Golf Bowl is under new management in 2011. The nine-hole golf course
plays at just under 3,100 yards.
THE RUGGED TERRAIN
EAST AND NORTH OF
LA CROSSE HOLDS A
FEW GOLF TREASURES.
