Est. 1968 · The Brute by Robert Bruce Harris; The Highlands originally by Pete Dye and Jack Nicklaus ("The Briar Patch"), redesigned by Bob Cupp in 1996
Why we love this place
Why we love this place: Two very different courses, one storied address. The Brute hits back with size and sand while The Highlands leans playful and links-inspired, and the whole property carries a fun slice of golf history. For a getaway with real variety, Grand Geneva is an easy yes for us.
Via Grand Geneva Resort & Spa (official golf courses page)
About Grand Geneva Golf Resort
Grand Geneva's two courses opened in 1968, when the property debuted as the Lake Geneva Playboy Club-Hotel in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. Robert Bruce Harris designed The Brute, a muscular par-72 stretching past 7,000 yards with roughly 68 bunkers and sprawling greens averaging over 8,000 square feet, still rated among the Midwest's stoutest tests. The resort's second course opened as "The Briar Patch," an early collaboration between Jack Nicklaus and Pete Dye. After the Playboy Club closed in 1981, the property reopened in 1994 as the Grand Geneva Resort & Spa, and in 1996 architect Bob Cupp reworked the Briar Patch into The Highlands, a Scottish-inspired, links-style layout of rolling hills and firm, quick greens. The pairing gives the resort two distinct championship experiences.
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