Day 4, University Ridge and Ice Cream

Off to Madison we go to play University Ridge, the University of Wisconsin's course (http://www.universityridge.com/). We have the afternoon off to visit the city and the university, look for co-eds, and have ice cream.

Started with stopping in Lodi for breakfast (because it's where Susie the Duck hails -- http://www.lodiwisconsin.com/). I thought the story about Susie would be more interesting, but you can read all about it if you want. Guess they needed something. Breakfast was good -- but thank goodness we weren't in any particular rush, because we were there quite a while. "Leisurely service" might be an appropriate term to use.

Keep on to University Ridge. Get there and you guessed it-- pretty well branded everywhere from the turf to the trashcans with University of Wisconsin or Badger related items. Very red and black. Since I went to Northwestern for year, Dad went to Purdue, Andrew to Ohio State, Allison to Penn State, and Tony is definitely not a Big Ten fan, don't see myself buying much in the proshop at this course. But, looks great. The front nine is a "link-ish" style course. The back nine is more "woodlands." Very true. I play great on the front (carded two birdies that were really close to eagles) and awful on the back. Felt like some of the Michigan courses. Great condition, soft greens. Only thing we didn't like was the sand -- on the front, it was pebbly and on the back, it was so soft that the sand came around my ankles. And, we had lunch provided with our green fees. And, they accepted American Express.

University Ridge opened its doors in 1991 and has received many awards, including in 2009:
#7 in “Golfweek’s Best Courses You Can Play” Wisconsin-Golfweek; Reader’s Choice Awards “Top 50 in country” Public category-GolfWorld; #1 Rated Course in Wisconsin-Golflink.com; #47 Top 100 United States Golf Courses-Golflink.com.

Not bad. After golf, we head downtown to go check out State Street (supposedly "the street" in Madison). Unfortunately, because of a lot of construction, we had to weave our way to State Street. Parked, found ice cream, and then visited the Capitol building (they have a Liberty Bell -- Freeport-McMoRan does need to change the sponsorship from Phelps Dodge to FCX since Phelps Dodge is no longer). State Street didn't seem to be as "wild" as we heard. But then, school hasn't started yet so may be on the quiet side.

Enough of this. Decide to head back to Pete's with a stop at Milty Wilty on the way home. You can tell that we really like Milty Wilty (W7411 State Road 21, #73, Wautoma, WI 54982). They don't have a website that I would say is their website, but you can send them your pictures with you wearing your Milty Wilty tshirt for them to post. Poor waitress was a little overwhelmed with us and managed to have some trouble with our orders. But, we're in no rush.

Another adventure tomorrow!