Butternut Hills

Sarona sits in the heart of Wisconsin's Northwoods, a region defined by glacial lakes, mixed hardwood and pine forests, and the kind of unhurried pace that draws people up from the Twin Cities and Milwaukee corridors all summer long. Golf courses in this part of Washburn County tend to grow organically out of the land rather than being engineered onto it, and the terrain — gently rolling glacial moraines, mature tree lines, natural wetlands — does most of the design work for them.

Butternut Hills fits that mold. The name itself points to the wooded, hilly character of the property, and a par of 70 suggests a layout that trades some length for shot-making interest, likely leaning on doglegs, elevation shifts, and tree corridors to supply its challenge rather than pure yardage.

For visitors staying at one of the countless lake cabins in the area, this is the kind of course that rewards a morning tee time, a walk through genuinely pretty Northwoods scenery, and no particular hurry to be anywhere afterward.