University Ridge Golf Course

University Ridge Golf Course is a public course owned by the University of Wisconsin, on the southwestern edge of Madison, Wisconsin, in the countryside near Verona. Its address is 9002 County Road PD, and the course’s own documents name the Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System as owner. It opened in 1991, was designed by Robert Trent Jones Jr., and is the home course of the university’s men’s and women’s golf teams, the Wisconsin Badgers. Anyone can book a tee time.

The course is a par 72 with an unusual balance: five par 3s, five par 5s and only eight par 4s. On the course’s own scorecard, dated 2020, it measures 7,286 yards from the Black tees, with a course rating of 75.8 and a slope of 142. The Blue tees play 6,718 yards (73.4 and 139), the Green tees 6,245 yards (70.4 and 134 for men, 76.7 and 139 for women), the White tees 5,752 yards (68.6 and 129 for men, 73.8 and 134 for women) and the Red tees 5,005 yards (65.3 and 116 for men, 69.5 and 124 for women). A Junior set of 3,813 yards completes the card.

Other sources give other figures. Encyclopedic entries list 7,259 yards from the Black tees, with a rating of 74.9 and a slope of 144, and a booking platform still carries 6,888 yards, rated 73.2 with a slope of 142, which was the length of the back tees before the 2008 renovation. This page follows the course’s scorecard.

A university course on glacial ground

The site lies in the glacial landscape of southern Wisconsin, and the course uses it. According to the course, the front nine plays through open ground with views toward Verona and around features left by the glaciers, drumlins and kettles, while the back nine runs through hardwood forest. The two nines are laid out as separate loops that both return to the clubhouse, and their names on the scorecard describe the ground: Floodplain, Kettle Pond, Drumlin, Hedgerow on the front, Elm Valley, Ridgeline, Hickory Hill and Capitol Climb on the back.

A specialist ranking site reports that the course was renovated in 2008: new tees were built on 14 holes, extending the course from 6,888 to 7,289 yards, the driving range was upgraded and a short-game practice area was added. Encyclopedic entries give bentgrass greens and fairways of bentgrass and Poa annua. The property also includes the Thomas Zimmer Championship Cross Country Course, and the 5th hole overlooks the university’s O. J. Noer Turfgrass facility.

What it asks of you

A slope of 142 from the back tees and of 139 from the Blue tees marks a demanding course, and independent reviewers agree that it tests every part of the game. The first test is length on the long holes: all five par 5s measure more than 550 yards from the Black tees, and the 6th, at 623 yards, is a true three-shot hole. The second is the long par 3s: the 3rd plays 242 yards and the 17th 250 yards from the back.

The third test is the green complexes. Reviewers describe big, bold bunkering, elevated greens with pronounced slopes and deep bunkers, and warn that a poor approach leaves an awkward recovery or a long putt with three-putt risk. The fourth is the change of setting between the nines: the front nine, open and exposed, is the one where the wind matters most, according to reviews, while the back nine asks for straighter driving between the trees.

On the scorecard’s stroke index, the 4th is the hardest hole, followed by the 18th and the 6th; the 12th is the easiest.

The front nine

The 1st, “Verona”, is a straight par 4 of 396 yards from the Black tees that starts from the highest point of the property, toward a two-tiered green with a hidden creek behind it. The 2nd, a par 5 of 555 yards, has a split fairway divided by a large oak, and a shallow green on the edge of a wooded ravine. The 3rd, “Floodplain”, is a long downhill par 3 of 242 yards to a wide, shallow green.

The 4th, “Morse Pond”, is the hardest hole: a par 4 of 467 yards that climbs uphill with the pond on the right and a hedgerow on the left, to a green perched above deep bunkers; from the back tees, the drive crosses the water. The 5th, a par 3 of 198 yards, plays across a deep ravine. The 6th, “Kettle Pond”, is the longest hole, a par 5 of 623 yards that bends gently from right to left to a well-guarded green on a point, with a narrowing of the fairway that shapes the second shot.

The 7th, “Drumlin”, a par 4 of 429 yards, works from right to left at the foot of a large glacial drumlin, with a partly blind approach to a green lined by five bunkers on the right. The 8th, a downhill par 3 of 207 yards, crosses a rocky creek to a green that slopes sharply from back to front. The 9th, a par 5 of 587 yards, is a dogleg left through a narrow chute of trees that climbs to a green set into a wooded hillside, for a front nine of 3,704 yards.

The back nine

The 10th, “Elm Valley”, a par 4 of 483 yards, is the longest par 4 on the course and enters the forest, turning gently left to a deep, two-tiered green. The 11th, a par 5 of 569 yards, sweeps from left to right past two deep fairway bunkers to a narrow, deep green. The 12th, “Dropshot”, a downhill par 3 of 200 yards to a skinny green between bunkers, is the easiest hole on the stroke index. The 13th, a short par 4 of 336 yards, climbs a tree-lined valley, and the 14th, 398 yards, rises over a gentle crest between three bunkers.

The 15th, “Lone Elm”, is a par 4 of 352 yards that the course calls drivable, moving downhill from left to right with a large elm guarding the right side. The 16th, “Bunkered”, is the signature hole: a reachable par 5 of 554 yards with a downhill drive through the woods to a fairway split by large cottonwoods, then a second shot among a series of central bunkers. The 17th, “Reflections”, is a par 3 of 250 yards over a pond to a deep, narrow green. The 18th, “Capitol Climb”, a par 4 of 440 yards and the second-hardest hole, is a dogleg left that climbs sharply to the highest point of the course, with a large roll in the middle of the green, for a back nine of 3,582 yards.

What tournaments have shown

For nine editions, from 2016 to 2024, University Ridge hosted the American Family Insurance Championship on the PGA Tour Champions, the tour for players aged 50 and over, with Steve Stricker as host and then player-host. Kirk Triplett won the first edition in 2016, followed by Fred Couples in 2017, Scott McCarron in 2018, Jerry Kelly in 2019 and 2021, Thongchai Jaidee in 2022, Stricker himself in 2023, with a tournament record of 18 under par over 54 holes, and Ernie Els in 2024 after a playoff. The 2020 edition was canceled because of the pandemic. In 2025 the event moved to TPC Wisconsin and changed to a two-player team format.

The course has also hosted the 1998 NCAA Division I Women’s Golf Championship, won by Arizona State as a team and by Jennifer Rosales of USC as an individual, at 9 under par. Encyclopedic entries record that the state high school championships of the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association, for boys and girls in every division, have been played there since 1994.

What golfers are saying

As a public course with a professional event behind it, University Ridge is well covered by independent review sites, regional golf blogs and booking platforms. The points below summarize what recurs in that material. They are other people’s opinions, not ours; nobody from Panxis has played the course, and we name and quote no one.

What comes up in its favor

• Conditioning is the most frequent compliment: tees, fairways and bunkers are described as pristine and consistent, and the greens as firm.
• Reviewers value the design and the contrast between the open, windy front nine and the wooded back nine, which they describe as two different courses in one round.
• The practice facilities are among the most praised in the state, with range balls included in the green fee, and the carts, with GPS, get warm comments.
• Reviewers cite the 12th, 16th and 17th as highlights, and like the variety of elevation for a Midwest course.
• Reviewers generally consider the price, while higher than the local average, justified by the quality of the course and its tournament history.

What comes up against

• The difficulty is the main reservation: reviewers find it hard for the average amateur, with sloping, elevated greens, deep bunkers and thick rough that punish missed shots.
• Green speed is sometimes described as inconsistent from one hole to the next, and softer and slower in hot spells.
• One reviewer regrets that recent tree removal has reduced the sense of seclusion the course once had, and finds that too many par 3s play downhill.
• Some note a large gap between the Blue and Green tees, and a steep uphill 18th that ends the round on a tiring note.
• Rates are above those of other courses in Dane County.

How to play it

University Ridge is open to the public. Tee times are booked online, with separate reservation pages for guests, University of Wisconsin students and members of the course’s Ridge Club. A credit card is required to hold a booking. According to the course’s policy, cancellations more than 24 hours ahead cost nothing; between 24 and 2 hours before the tee time, the round is charged but a rain check is given; within 2 hours, there is neither refund nor rain check. Groups are limited to four players, each with their own bag and clubs, and outside food and alcohol are not allowed. The course has a dress code published on its site, and it also hosts golf outings.

The facilities

The practice facility covers 33 acres, according to the course, with two hitting areas of 9,000 square feet each on bentgrass, target greens marked with colored flags and a short-game area with a bunker. Artificial turf is used early in the season, through April, and again from early October. The range is open to golfers who are not playing a round, at an hourly rate published by the course. The clubhouse has a golf shop and a restaurant, the W Grill, and a booking platform lists a teaching professional on staff. In winter the property is used for cross-country skiing.

Getting there and when to go

The course is at 9002 County Road PD, on the southwestern edge of Madison, just north of Verona. The golf season in southern Wisconsin is short: a booking platform gives April 1 to November 1, and the course’s range calendar confirms play into the fall on artificial surfaces. Course schedules, frost delays and closures are the course’s call.

Green fees

University Ridge uses dynamic pricing. For the 2026 season, the course says the 18-hole riding rate ranges from $75 to $145 depending on the date, the time, demand and other factors, and includes range balls to warm up in the 45 minutes before the tee time. See the course’s own rates page.

How this page was made

The factual frame comes from public sources: OpenStreetMap for the location; the course’s website for the address, the owner, the opening year, the hole-by-hole descriptions, the booking and cancellation rules, the practice facility and the 2026 rates; the course’s scorecard dated 2020 for the pars, yardages, ratings, slopes, stroke indexes and hole names; encyclopedic entries for the architect, the alternative length, rating and slope, the grasses, the high school championships, the cross-country course and the list of American Family Insurance Championship winners; the NCAA record for the 1998 women’s championship; a specialist ranking site for the 2008 renovation; and a booking platform for the old length and the season dates. Where sources disagree, as they do on the length and the rating, we say so and follow the scorecard.

The opinion section summarizes independent reviews and course guides read in September 2026. We report recurring themes rather than individual voices, and we reproduce no quotations. Nobody from Panxis has played or visited this course, and this page is no substitute for a round.

The course has not paid for this page, has not seen it before publication and has no say over its content. This page contains no commercial link and earns us no commission. If you know the course and something here is wrong or out of date, write to us and we will correct it.

Other courses nearby

Closest to this one in our United States directory:

• Eagle Springs Golf Resort — 56 mi
• Erin Hills — 60 mi
• Blue Mound Golf & Country Club — 76 mi
• Brown Deer Park Golf Course — 81 mi