Isn't it great when someone with lots of money spends it on world-class golf courses everyone can play, with no homes crowding the fairways? That's the story of Herb Kohler and the golfers' paradise he created on the shores of Lake Michigan. The plumbing-fixture magnate's "factory town" is a charming village with gardens, a variety of accommodations, fine dining, and specialty shops—and four unique golf courses that host world-class events.

In the early 1900s the American Club

Isn't it great when someone with lots of money spends it on world-class golf courses everyone can play, with no homes crowding the fairways? That's the story of Herb Kohler and the golfers' paradise he created on the shores of Lake Michigan. The plumbing-fixture magnate's "factory town" is a charming village with gardens, a variety of accommodations, fine dining, and specialty shops—and four unique golf courses that host world-class events.

In the early 1900s the American Club was a dormitory where immigrant Kohler employees lived. Today the Tudor brick building is an AAA Five-Diamond hotel with 240 luxury rooms and four restaurants. Club guests can also stay in the Carriage House, which contains the Kohler Waters Spa. Nearby is the Inn on Woodlake, a 121-room hotel catering to meetings.

Given free rein by Kohler, course designer Pete Dye sometimes had topography that played into his hands. Other times he made something out of nothing, as was the case with Whistling Straits, which will again host the PGA Championship in 2010 and 2015, not to mention the 2020 Ryder Cup.

Dye's first project was 36 holes at Blackwolf Run, starting with the River Course, a parkland track following the Sheboygan River. On many holes it's safe to boom your drive, but the closer you get to the green, the tougher the shots become, and the approach must settle near the pin on the rolling greens. Some holes beg the question, "How far—and high—can I hit it?", because the shortest route is over trees. Dye tantalizes with countless temptations to take chances.

Blackwolf's Meadow Valleys is diminished only by comparison to the other three, which have more dramatic views. Dye adds his own drama—fairways pitted with grassy depressions, pot bunkers, and water encounters, plus pedestal greens that you don't dare miss.

The Whistling Straits courses came later—the Straits and then the Irish—both of which are walking only, with caddies available. Dye and Kohler studied classic Scottish tracks such as Cruden Bay and Machrihanish before tackling their blank slate—a featureless former airport. The Straits site had one asset—two miles of Lake Michigan shoreline—so the two men decided on a links-style layout with the lake visible throughout. Dye ordered 800,000 cubic yards of dirt and sand and set to work. There's no hint of contrivance in the result, just a beautiful and incredibly challenging layout with wind, towering dunes, greenside hollows, tall grasses in the rough, and even a mix of fairway fescues found across The Pond. Dye gives higher handicappers a break with large greens, several of which invite run-ups.

The 7,201-yard Irish course hasn't had the tournament traffic of the Straits and only glimpses the lake on a few holes, but it's no less compelling for the discerning golfer. There are giant dunes, lots of sand and waving grasses, and ponds and streams. A combo of run-up and fly-in greens contribute to the shot-making requirements.

For more than 20 years freelancer Dale Leatherman has specialized in golf and adventure travel. Assignments take her all over the world, but she's always happy to be back home playing mountain courses in West Virginia. She is the current president of the Society of American Travel Writers.