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| Sawmill Golf Club: A splendid Stillwater track that good shot-makers love. |
 Sawmill is a spikeless course. Course markings: embedded fairway markers at 100, 150 and 200 yards; and flag color indicates pin position (red = front, white = middle, blue = back). The best yardage source is your scorecard, which lists distances to the greens from all major features on each hole. Extracurricular activities: Gasthaus Bavarian Hunter, Country Cove Bed & Breakfast and Aamodt's Apple Farm are nearby. Make your tee times on the Web, through Ready Golf.  • Green fees, layout map and course info  • This week's course • More ...  • Golf guide • Golf course finder • Equipment guide • Golf Update newsletter • Driving ranges and domes  • Entertainment menu • Movies • Restaurants • Events • Arts & music • Places to go • Sports & rec • Shopping • Trafficview • Community • Search • Send us feedback  • Golf equipment • Golf instruction |
By Chris Boone, Sidewalk
The course isn't particularly long (from the tips it's a little more than 6,200 yards), so you won't need your Biggest Big Bertha on every tee. It's a course that rewards good iron play over brute force. It's not target golf, by any means – you know, those courses that severely penalize slightly errant shots – but you'll enjoy the course more if you've got your "A" game in your bag. The layout is splendid, and there's garden-like landscaping throughout the course – especially around some of the tee boxes – that's absolutely charming. (We especially like the pond that skirts the 15th tee.) We also like the fact that they have water coolers near every tee box. After the seventh and 15th holes, you'll wander through the woods to the next tee. And in a clearing, you'll find a covered shelter where they fire up the gas grill and sell dogs and brats on busy days. Get lunch there. Here's how to play it, hole by hole (1) You start off with a nice, wide par 5. Best to stay right of the tree, which sits about 200 yards to the green. Bunkers left of the fairway sit 230 yards to the green. Know that there's a little stream about 35 yards from the middle of the green. (2) The center bunker sits at 110 to the green; right of it is a great place to be off the tee. The pair of bunkers sits 50 yards from the green, and it's open to the hole after that.
(4) A straight, narrow, rolling par 4. Left off the tee is no picnic (sixth tee, fifth green), but right is worse (out-of-bounds, electric fence!). There's water to the left, 100 yards from the very deep, elevated green. (5) A through-the-chute, over-the-water par 3. The view is a great one, and the elevated tee helps you land softly. (6) A medium-length par 4. The bunker on the left sits about 140 to the green; just right of that is perfect. The green's elevated, so it's tough to see the putting surface. If you're gonna err, err left toward the flat swale below the hole. Right is higher, but there aren't any good lies over there. (7) A beautiful dogleg-right par 5. The woods on the far side come up rather quickly, so don't try to crush a driver. Find the midpoint between the birches on the left and the oaks on the right and ease it through. It's open the rest of the way. Stop for a snack at the hot-dog shack. (8) Just enjoy the view of this pretty par 3 as you dig into that dog. Between the bunker and those rocks on the right is a little pond, so beware. There's also a bunker short-left, and two bunkers behind the green. (9) A dramatic difference between the back tees and the rest on this par 4. From the blues, it's a long hole – with a tee shot through a narrow chute in the woods. For the other tees, it's a short, open hole. But everyone should watch out for the little gully 100 yards from the pin. (10) A medium-long par 4. Straight off the tee here, onto a rolling fairway. The pond comes into play at about 115 yards to the pin, and a little brook at about 85. The green's deep, so your approach can vary by quite a bit.
(12) The key on this very short par 4 is to get the ball to the right side of the fairway – about 100 yards from the green is perfect. The bunkers on the right are a perfect place to aim. The smallish, flat green is well-bunkered. (13) Another nice par 3 over the water. The bunker left is the only real trouble. The green slopes severely from back to front. (14) The fairway's rolling on this medium-long par 4, but it's a pretty straight hole. Things tighten up around 125 yards to the green, and there's water far to the left. (15) Enjoy the lovely pond and landscaping around the tee of this short par 4, and know that the hole requires an accurate tee shot. You can't see the surface of the green until you're about 110 yards away, but the right side of the fairway offers the best approach. Too far left leaves you with a blind second shot, and you'll have to fly a grove of trees and a very deep bunker. Hot-dog time again. (16) Another par 3, with an elevated green and little room for error. If you have to bail out, go short right; the two pot bunkers short and left are deep and nasty. (17) A great, long, straight par 5. Not much mystery here: The road left and the driving range right are both out-of-bounds. (The mounds on the left are great, because they'll kick you back in if you fade your drive over there.) The two-tiered green's on a shelf, and it has a subtle – but consistent – slope to the left. (18) You can go either right or left of the Eisenhower pine on this medium-length par 4. We like the higher right side, with its better view of the green. (The short grass on the lower, left side ends about 150 yards to the green, and you'll have to approach over rough and a bunker.) Equipment guide: You could leave your titanium behemoth at home and never miss it. Get yourself a good set of irons. Back to the top
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