Pasatiempo Golf Club Reborn: Greens, Bunkers & Bold Vision By Brian Weis

Pasatiempo Golf Club Reborn: Greens, Bunkers & Bold Vision

By Brian Weis

Pasatiempo Golf Club has fully reopened after a comprehensive renovation that restored Alister MacKenzie's 1929 design. Builders Jim Urbina, Earth Sculptures, Brett Hochstein, and course superintendent Justin Mandon began work in April2023 and wrapped up in December2024. Every detail-from green complexes to bunker faces, now reflects MacKenzie's original intent.

Why Redesigned Greens Matter
The new greens offer more than just aesthetics, they're built for high performance. Upgraded with Pure Distinction bentgrass and constructed to modern USGA specifications, the putting surfaces now deliver firmness, speed, and consistency. Improved drainage and turf health reduce maintenance demands and chemical use, keeping conditions steady throughout the day and season.

Jim Urbina emphasized that restoring the greens was the most important step to bring back MacKenzie's original design philosophy. Shot-making, angle strategy, and contour management now take center stage-just as they did nearly a century ago.

Aesthetics and Strategy: Bunkers & Contours
Every bunker was rebuilt to match historic profiles. The dramatic "whale tail" on the 16th, along with ladder-back and deep hook bunkers, now define the course's visual and strategic identity. The shaping ensures that each hazard demands precision and thoughtful play.

Player Reaction
Feedback from early rounds has been overwhelmingly positive. Golfers praise the smooth, fast greens and bold bunker work. The course now challenges every part of your game, rewarding creativity, precision, and course management.

Tournament Spotlight: Western Intercollegiate 2025

The 78th Western Intercollegiate will showcase the course to a national audience. The broadcast will highlight restored green complexes, redesigned pinnable areas, and newly sculpted par-3 challenges. Expect tougher setups and faster greens-perfect conditions for elite collegiate competition.

Why Play Pasatiempo Now?

* Play a fully restored Alister MacKenzie original. Same golf course architect as Augusta National.

* Experience tour-level greens and bold bunkering

* Walk the same fairways where MacKenzie himself lived. Heck see the house he lived in just off the 6th fairway.

* Challenge yourself with redefined bunkers and strategic contours

* Walk a course rated among the top public MacKenzie designs in the world

Ready to Tee It Up?

Pasatiempo is open to public play and offers a rare blend of history, architecture, and playability. This is the best version of the course in decades-and it's ready for your game.

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Revised: 04/02/2025 - Article Viewed 18 Times - View Course Profile

About: Brian Weis

Brian Weis is the mastermind behind GolfTrips.com, a vast network of golf travel and directory sites covering everything from the rolling fairways of Wisconsin to the sunbaked desert layouts of Arizona. If there’s a golf destination worth visiting, chances are, Brian has written about it, played it, or at the very least, found a way to justify a "business trip" there.

As a card-carrying member of the Golf Writers Association of America (GWAA), International Network of Golf (ING), Golf Travel Writers of America (GTWA), International Golf Travel Writers Association (IGTWA), and The Society of Hickory Golfers (SoHG), Brian has the credentials to prove that talking about golf is his full-time job. In 2016, his peers even handed him The Shaheen Cup, a prestigious award in golf travel writing—essentially the Masters green jacket for guys who don’t hit the range but still know where the best 19th holes are.

Brian’s love for golf goes way back. As a kid, he competed in junior and high school golf, only to realize that his dreams of a college golf scholarship had about the same odds as a 30-handicap making a hole-in-one. Instead, he took the more practical route—working on the West Bend Country Club grounds crew to fund his University of Wisconsin education. Little did he know that mowing greens and fixing divots would one day lead to a career writing about the best courses on the planet.

In 2004, Brian turned his golf passion into a business, launching GolfWisconsin.com. Three years later, he expanded his vision, and GolfTrips.com was born—a one-stop shop for golf travel junkies looking for their next tee time. Today, his empire spans all 50 states, and 20+ international destinations.

On the course, Brian is a weekend warrior who oscillates between a 5 and 9 handicap, depending on how much he's been traveling (or how generous he’s feeling with his scorecard). His signature move" A high, soft fade that his playing partners affectionately (or not-so-affectionately) call "The Weis Slice." But when he catches one clean, his 300+ yard drives remind everyone that while he may write about golf for a living, he can still send a ball into the next zip code with the best of them.

Whether he’s hunting down the best public courses, digging up hidden gems, or simply outdriving his buddies, Brian Weis is living proof that golf is more than a game—it’s a way of life.