The Glen Golf Park
Growing up, the Glenway Golf Course was the spot. I’ve walked those nine, undulating holes more times than I can remember.
In fact, our high school golf team practiced at Glenway. On one notable occasion, our coach, dear old Barbara S. came barreling around a hedge in her golf cart, drove over my foot, crashed into my shin, gave an unconvincing “Whoops!” and kept right on hauling down the 5th fairway. Side-note: she also happened to be my Algebra I teacher. Perhaps my mediocre performance on the course and in the classroom led her to the golf cart hit-and-run.
Fast forward to modern times, Glenway underwent a massive transformation thanks to the generosity and vision of the Keiser family, the geniuses and wizards behind Sand Valley, Bandon Dunes, et al. Much has already been written by better writers about the backstory and history of Glenway, now The Glen Golf Park so I’ll just say this: as a born and bred Madisonian, to have this course right off the bike path, nearly in our backyard, is a most remarkable gift.
The course is inclusive and family friendly with events on the docket including movie nights, food-trucks and concerts. The greens are soft and rolling. Native grasses have been hand-planted and prairies restored. Adirondack chairs flank the ninth-green echoing the aesthetic and atmosphere at Sand Valley (also perfect for a new Glen Golf Park Session IPA). I’m also glad the redesign kept some quirk such as the original golf-traffic lights; a signature vestige of Glenway.
As soon as I got home from playing, Rocky stood by the doorway bummed that I had golfed without him. We grabbed his putter and mine, hopped on our bikes and played the free 9-hole putting course at The Glen until the local pool called our names.
