Jason Kauflin Interview - Golf Packager for Ireland. Scotland. Wisconsin

There is something brewing in Wisconsin and it has nothing to do with the beers that put Milwaukee, the state's biggest city, on the map.

A barrel full of men's and women's major golf championships - three PGA Championships, four U.S. Opens (three women's and one men's) and a successful Ryder Cup in 2021 - within a span of just 27 years has given the Badgerland a reputation as a top-end national golf destination. By many accounts, it is growing as an international destination, too, mentioned among powerhouses Ireland and Scotland.

As many as 11 public-access courses in Wisconsin have been listed among the top 100 in the United States in different rankings. Major venues Blackwolf Run and Whistling Straits (part of the American Club Resort in Kohler) and Erin Hills join the newest hot spot, Sand Valley, as must plays for many avid golf travelers.

Nobody knows this better than Jason Kauflin. As the owner and operator of Wisconsin Golf Trips he has seen his business not only grow, but also potentially transform into something he never could have envisioned three short years ago when he began his venture.


"Here's the thing about Wisconsin - we're a bucket-list destination," said Kauflin, who was born and raised in Dayton, Ohio. "We're not really that kind of place where big-ticket groups come five years in a row. Now if you're a regional group that drives around somewhere, you might find Lake Geneva or Wisconsin Dells and say 'Hey, let's come back here again.' I have some repeat customers that do smaller trips every year. But the big ones - the groups trying to combine Kohler, Erin Hills and Sand Valley all into one trip - they're generally not going to be coming back to Wisconsin every year. What they are looking for are the top experiences, pretty much anywhere in the world, and Wisconsin is now in that mix for sure."

Whether it be the "major" sites, which Kauflin gets the majority of his inquiries about, or some of the hidden treasures of golf in Wisconsin, Wisconsin Golf Trips (www.wisconsingolftrips.com) prides itself on customization and personalization. Kauflin, who has lived in Wisconsin for the past two decades, has met several of his groups in person. He sets up tee times and transportation needs but can also suggest prime dinner spots and smaller-scale tourist attractions for local flavor. "We get to know each other on somewhat of a personal level," said Kauflin of communicating with the golf group leaders.

Kauflin is not directly affiliated with any of the golf courses in Wisconsin but has close, personal contacts with many of them. He has a growing reputation where word-of-mouth and even staff at various golf courses have suggested him to set up golf trips of all kinds. As opposed to other golf package companies or tour operators that might be part of a bigger corporation, Kauflin calls himself a "boutique operator" and a "niche guy."

"Helping somebody put together all the pieces is my strong suit," he said. "People hire me for two things - my time and my knowledge. A lot of the groups have one or the other, but some groups don't have either one to handle a golf trip. So a lot of people have the knowledge of the courses they want to play but don't have the time to piece it together. Or the opposite where they have the time but they just don't have all the information they need.

"To try to coordinate seven days of four different locations for any group leader would be a challenge - especially if you didn't know the area at all... There are groups out there looking for me. There are groups out there that use a tour operator on all their big trips. The fact that we have one in Wisconsin is just another feather in our cap."

Last year a group of golfers from Washington D.C. were so insistent on having one person handle all of their golf trip needs and questions that they cancelled their previously arranged reservations upon hearing about Wisconsin Golf Trips. And a group from Canada, wanting to combine two bucket-list items in 2025, have taken their planning to a whole different level. Obsessed with seeing a Green Bay Packers game at Lambeau Field, they did not want to wait to book their Wisconsin golf trip until spring (when the NFL schedule normally comes out) to risk any of their preferred tee times. So what did they do? They used Wisconsin Golf Trips to book three separate week-long trips - each with separate deposits - to make it happen for their agenda. "They're going to wait for the schedule to come out and cancel the days they don't need and plan their trip around it," said Kauflin.

Those types of situations are rare but made much easier through using Wisconsin Golf Trips versus each individual golf spot or hotel. The challenge for Kauflin will be to maintain that personal touch when or if his volume increases even more. He booked 34 groups in 2018, more than tripling his first-year total from 2016. And for 2019, he has booked his biggest group ever - 40 players - for a trip outside of Wisconsin.

The prospect of Wisconsin banding together as an international destination both intrigues and carries some uncertainty for Kauflin and his Wisconsin Golf Trips business model. For now, he is just happy to be part of the conversation for what has already been a boon for golf in the heart of the Midwest.

"If you ask me where I might be a year from now or two years from now, boy, I tell you what, I don't even think I could go down that road," he said.


But one thing he does know?

"We are a world-class destination for golf."