Geneva National Golf Club

Located an hour south of Milwaukee, Lake Geneva is a bustling border town from Memorial Day through Labor Day. During the off-season, though, it is a near ghost town, leaving world-class courses with tee times to fill. This is great news for those of us who cannot afford to pay $130 per round, and a perfect excuse to make your way toward the Wisconsin/Illinois border to play one of Wisconsin's most prestigious golf resorts.

Geneva National features a trio of 18-hole championship courses designed by three of golf's all-time greatest players and designers: Arnold Palmer, Gary Player, and Lee Trevino. I am utterly infatuated with the designs of the Palmer and Player courses, but have yet to play Trevino. I am told it is more heavily wooded than the other two, though, and it has been open for members only the times I have been on-site.

What kind of deals can you expect at Geneva National this time of year? Until this Sunday, any of the three can be played for just $39, including cart. This is $91 off their regular season rates! After Sunday, the rates will go up to $55 on weekdays, and $60 on weekends, until May 3.

Both the Player and Palmer courses are already in fantastic shape, and each course has a number of extremely memorable individual holes. Hole five on the Player course, for example, is one of my all-time favorite short par fours. Playing to 310 yards from the gold tees (354 from the blacks, 283 from the whites, 257 from the grays, and 255 from the reds), the green is reachable over a large ravine and several greenside bunkers, while a large bailout fairway resides to the right. If you're feeling good about your drive, go for it.

The par four twelfth is one of the pristine fairways visible from the drive in, and is incredibly challenging, while the tenth hole is one of my favorite risk/reward par fives in the state. Breathtaking views are showcased on much of the back nine from highly elevated tee boxes, including on the par three 13th, par five 14th, and the magnificent par five 16th overlooking Lake Como. Featuring five par threes and fives, there are no dull moments on the Player course.

With as impressed as I was with Player, I was even more so with Palmer, which was named the state's tenth best course by GolfWeek for 2012. Arnie's use of the land on this track is fantastic, and creates several very different feels within one round: From a wide-open, strategic feel toward the beginning, to some very challenging forested holes in the middle, and then several difficult water holes interspersed.

No "water hole" is more beautiful, maybe in the entire state (I have to remind you that I have yet to play the Straits Course), than Palmer's signature 17th. Following a long, heavily guarded par three 16th that finishes on the shoreline of Lake Como, the 17th sets up much like the 18th hole at Pebble Beach. The tee boxes are alongside the shoreline, and anything hit left will find the lake. Take it from me, who was putting together a pretty good round until I found that lake three times off the tee. The hole finishes some 530 yards down the shoreline, and the lake guards it all.

Not only does Geneva National offer a fantastic early season rate for some of the area's best golfing, but it is also probably the friendliest course I have ever visited. Every staff member, from the bag drop to the guys who clean your clubs afterwards, has been incredibly welcoming and helpful. This was almost a shock to me, considering how stodgy my impression of Lake Geneva had always been previously.

If you are looking for some outstanding golf courses to check out this early season, take my recommendation and pay a visit to Geneva National. It is a bit of a trek, but one of the best values I have found in a while.