Neither the Wisconsin dairylands nor a company town like Kohler, home of the eponymous bathroom and kitchen fixture manufacturer, inspires visions of an inimitable resort vacation. Yet since its inception in the early 1980s, the American Club has quietly emerged as one of the great resorts in all of the Midwest, one made all the more unusual for being a showcase for the Kohler Company that owns it.

The heart of the resort is a stately red-brick National Historic Landmark originally built in 1918 to house immigrant employees and now extensively renovated and expanded to encompass a conference center and 240 rooms and suites, all with opulent bathrooms—including whirlpool tubs—straight out of a Kohler catalog. Hand-crafted oak paneling, Oriental rugs, down comforters, and stained glass further enhance elegant comfort. Pampering is as close as the new Kohler Waters Spa, located right at the American Club. And all of this is just steps from the Kohler Design Center, which exhibits Kohler products past and present.

There is an almost eerie magnificent obsession about the entire resort, as if every brick and fixture had to reflect the Kohler Company's pursuit of polished excellence. That has, however, engendered extraordinary amenities, among them Pete Dye's 72 testing golf holes: two courses at Whistling Straits (the Straits course, which snagged prime real estate bordering Lake Michigan and is ranked No. 5 public course in the U.S. by Golf Digest, and the Irish course) and two courses at Blackwolf Run (the River course, ranked No. 11, and the Meadow Valleys course). Add to that a racquet and fitness facility called the Sports Core (which has a dozen courts, half of them indoors), miles of biking and hiking trails, and even a wilderness preserve. The resort also has nine restaurants, foremost among them the Immigrant, whose menu reflects Wisconsin's cultural heritage with choices as superb as the prices are high.

Tennis Features

Pro Shop: 920-457-4444

Tennis Staff. Art Santos, a Peter Burwash International pro, has been at the resort since 1985.
Tennis Programs. Details to come
Courts & Fees. Sportscore, the 100,000-square-foot recreational facility, has 12 hard courts, half of them indoors. Court fees: $16/hour outdoors, 32/hour indoors (tennis packages include one free hour/day).

Your Call

This is your opportunity to rate and review the resorts and camps you've visited. As material comes in I'll post it here, so you can read what others think.
So far, I haven't received any written feedback on American Club. If you've taken a tennis vacation there, I'd like to hear your reactions.

Other Recreation

Golf Courses. The resort has four notable Pete Dye courses: 36 holes at Blackwolf Run and another 36 at Whistling Straits along Lake Michigan.

See Also

If you like the sound of the American Club, also take a look at:

• The Boulders Resort & Golden Door Spa, Arizona
• Fisher Island Club, Florida
• Four Seasons Resort Hualalai, Hawaii

Travel Essentials

Seasons. The indoor courts allow year-round tennis.

American Club
Highland Dr.
Kohler, WI 53044
920-457-8000
Toll-free: 800-344-2838
Fax: 920-457-5402
Web Link: The American Club

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