Forest Hills
I never imagined I would play golf in high school, but that’s how things turned out. As a small kid, I envisioned myself as a football and basketball star. It didn’t take too long for those dreams to come crashing to reality. Relatives quickly pointed out my skinny frame, which made football a nonstarter. Then came the knee troubles in middle school, and basketball was out of the picture. I ran cross country and tried soccer, but the knee issues proved too much for those as well.
Tennis came to the rescue, and I even started some varsity matches in high school. However, again with the knees. The issue became so severe that even bouncing around on a tennis court put me at risk. Swimming would have been perfect, but it interfered with band. That left one sport, and one sport alone: golf. So, come Spring of Junior year, I drove out to Forest Hills Golf Course after school for practice.
Forest Hills is the centerpiece of the La Crosse golfing community. It is not high end like the Country Club, with carefully manicured fairways and ornamental grasses acting as the out of bounds. However, it is definitely a step above many of the other course I played growing up, such as Maple Grove, where a can of beans in October got you a free round. Forest Hills is challenging enough and well maintained for the par golfer, and affordable enough for the duffers. In addition, it is in a beautiful setting. The course is walled in by the bluffs, and adjacent to the popular Hixon Forest.
Nine and nine is eighteen
There is a front nine and a back nine. The front nine is generally flat, with views of the bluffs but also close to the neighborhood. There is even a railroad track cutting through the course, and trains are known to delay tee times.
Most of my matches were junior varsity, and we stuck to the front nine. It was here that one of our foursome described us as “a bunch of goobers from Wisconsin”. Indeed, I think he was accurate. We were out there playing a sport for goofballs, which required no serious cardio or strength training. Most holes we prayed for bogeys and enjoyed seeing each other plop one into the drink or smack one off a tree.
There is a place across the street from Forest Hills that is perfect for goobers. It is the Bluffside Tavern, a perfect reward after the easy par 3 that is hole 7. A beer here will also help build up confidence for holes 8 and 9, which are longer par 4s. For us high schoolers, it was off limits. Being in our late teens, we still only dreamt of a world where we could take a break from golfing to hang out in a dive bar.
The back nine goes deeper into the bluffs and plays alongside Hixon Forest. There are more hills and trees. In addition, the holes tend to be longer, with the exception of a beautiful par 3 that tees off from some elevation in the forest. The back nine is overall more challenging and rugged. After a round of 18 (or just 9), we congregated back by the clubhouse. Here, Forest Hills has a putting green and driving range. While other athletes spent the last moments of practice doing another lap, or stretching, we smashed golf balls as far as we could. Some of the big guns could clear 250 yards, even reaching toward 300.
I haven’t played golf in years. Notoriously, I said I would retire if ever got a birdie. While the birdie never happened, it seems the retirement has. However, I have been back to Hixon Forest several times. It stretches up and over the bluff; there are trailheads down in the valley as well as up on the ridge. Some trails go to dense forest groves, while others go to rocky outcroppings with views of the Mississippi River Valley. Many schools take children there for field trips, and during snowy years it has some fun cross country ski trails. Leon Wilson once called golf “a good walk spoiled”, and I finally came around to his point of view.
