Mammoth Dunes is more fun than Sand Valley and it's not close

[FairwayFrank]

Did the Wisconsin trip in late September, 36 a day for three days, and I keep coming back to the same take: Mammoth Dunes gets treated like the little brother at that resort and it shouldn't be.

Sand Valley is the better course. I'll give you that. Coore and Crenshaw routing, the sandy waste areas, the way the ground moves, all of it is more interesting shot to shot. I shot 91 there and felt like I'd been asked real questions on every hole. Mammoth I shot 84 and honestly could've gone lower with a couple fewer stupid three putts. Kidd just hands you 60 yard wide fairways and says go have fun.

But here's the thing. I played Mammoth second both days and it was the round I was excited about. The 6th, the big par 5 with the volcano green? I hit a 5 iron from 190 that fed down a slope to about 12 feet and I made the putt and I haven't stopped thinking about it. Sand Valley has better architecture and Mammoth has better afternoons. Those aren't the same thing.

Also the price gap is basically nothing. I paid $245 and $235 for the two, twilight rates since we were staying on property. If Mammoth was half the price I'd get the argument. It isn't.

And yeah, the Lido is right there now and I'm not paying a $100k initiation to find out if it's better than either of them, so spare me.

Curious if anyone else who's played both landed on the same side or if I'm just a sucker for a wide fairway and a good time.