Fairways of Woodside Golf Course 4.4

Sussex – Waukesha County boasts more golf courses than any other county in the state – some would say the area is overbuilt – so it might be considered risky to build another one, even amid the multiplying subdivisions.

RATING (1 to 10 scale, with 10 being the highest score in each category and 70 the highest possible total.)

Overall course conditions: 7.5
Quality of greens: 8
Aesthetics: 8
Playability: 8.5
Variety of holes: 8.5
Service: 8.5
Value: 9
Overall: 58.5
But if the course is challenging, well-maintained and fun to play and the service measures up to that at private clubs, then the competition has to worry about you.

Such is the case with Fairways of Woodside, a sporty 1-year-old course located just north of Sussex and west of Menomonee Falls.

“What I’m building is customer service,” said Darrell Rup now, the general manager. “It’s been my experience that if you can serve people, they remember that. We want to be able to touch golfers with an experience, because that’s where your repeat business comes from.”

The service at Fairways of Woodside includes hustling bag attendants in the parking lot, beverage carts every day and a fully staffed golf shop and restaurant (when the clubhouse opens next month).

There’s little repeat business if the course is boring in design or poorly maintained, but neither is a concern at Fairways of Woodside.

From the first hole, a wide-open 295-yard par-4 that gives you a chance to start with a birdie, to a series of score-busting long holes on the back nine, Fairways of Woodside tempts you to try the heroic shot.

Pull it off and you are rewarded. Flail and fail.

The front nine, at just 3,031 yards from the back tees, is probably five shots easier than the back (3,521). You can spray your driver a bit and get away with it on the front, which has five par-4s shorter than 350 yards.

The back nine, on the other hand, forces you to hit the ball long and straight.

No. 10 is a 404-yard par-4 with a pond that comes into play on the approach. No. 13 is a thread-the-needle, 479-yard par-5 with water left and right off the tee and a marsh that comes into play on the second shot.

Ready for a breather? Sorry, but No. 14 is a 467-yard par-4, No. 15 is the No. 1 handicap hole (a 573-yard par-5) and No. 17 probably is the toughest par-4 on the course, a 456-yarder with water lining the right side of the fairway.

Fairways of Woodside was designed by Jim Frutchey, the general manager at Morningstar Golfers Club, another Waukesha County gem. A PGA professional with impressive credentials, Frutchey helped course architect Rick Jacobson design Morningstar and knows what works and what doesn’t.

Except for No. 1, the short par-4s require some strategy and precision. The par-3s range from 166 to 229 yards. The shortest par-5 is 479 yards but the green is difficult to reach in two because a marsh crosses the fairway about 240 yards off the tee, leaving another 240-yarder uphill.

Some areas of the rough are still growing in so you’ll see some occasional bare spots, but the bent-grass fairways already have healthy root systems and the greens roll very well.

There is a real estate development but nowhere do the houses encroach on the course.

A practice range is under construction, as is a handsome brick clubhouse. The matching brick maintenance building is as attractive as the clubhouses at many other courses.