The 18th hole, appropriately called "Holy Hill" at Erin Hills Golf Course, is a par-5. Not only is the hole demanding, the view is awesome, with the clubhouse and Holy Hill in the background.

The 15th hole at Erin Hills is a 338-yard par-4 from the green tees, but an elevated and two-tiered green makes the approach shot challenging.

With the end of summer in sight, some people decide it’s time to put the golf clubs away until the following spring.

However, if you like golf and don’t mind spending a little money, you might want to rethink your stand on ending your golf season before Labor Day.

That is because Washington County is the home to a new golf course which not only has captured the attention of the state, but also nationally. Erin Hills Golf Course opened Aug. 1 in the Town of Erin, and although the course hasn’t matured completely, it already has caught the eye of the United States Golf Association, which awarded the course the 2008 USGA Women’s Amateur Public Links Championship before a single round was played on it.

"The USGA sees golf courses all the time," Erin Hills pro Kent Instefjord said. "They have been back several times. They can see potential."

Last week, Daily News reporter Mitch Maersch and myself took the risk of exposing our golf games at this gem of a course and both came away impressed at a place formed by glaciers tens of thousands of years ago and remains virtually intact, almost exactly as it was first discovered.

This is unlike The Straits Course at Whistling Straits in Kohler, where dirt had to be moved throughout the whole course to give it the hilly look. This is almost all natural.

The day we played had a feeling of a British Open. It was overcast, windy and the course is a links-style.

Basically every shot had a wind factor (and we’re not talking five miles per hour, more like two- to three-club winds), meaning if your focus wasn’t completely on the shot, you would pay.

Not only did that add to the difficulty, so did our lack of course knowledge. This is not a course you can walk onto and play every shot without much thinking. There are blind shots throughout the course, including the par-3 13th (170 yards from the green tees) in which you hit over a hill to a green 30 feet below.

Not knowing all the shots to play - even with the course packet we were given - we hit shots at times and said, "I don’t know." It’s not often you play a course of this level and of style, so the guesswork we had to do wasn’t much of a hindrance. It was a time to have fun.

Playing the course a second time would change my decision on clubs to hit at times, in addition to just knowing what to expect.

"If you play this course more than once, you’ll play much better," Instefjord said. "You can have blind shots. That’s what Erin Hills is all about.

"It’s going to call on everything a golfer can sum up from strategy and decision making."

If I was asked to tell you what stood out, I would need to write 18 columns, because every hole was unique. The one thing about this course, you’re not bored by a hole.

But here’s what stood out:

- The par-4 ninth hole is 421-yard dogleg left (6,544 yards), but played severely uphill to an elevated green. We played into a strong wind, giving us no chance to reach the green in two. It played like a 500-yard hole. It’s quite a way to end the front nine.

- The 14th is the easiest par-5, measuring 469 yards (slight left to-right hole). Hit a good drive and you have a chance to either reach the green or get around the green in two shots. However, you do have to cross an area of fescue to reach the green, so missing the shot would be damaging.

- The 18th is another par 5 (536 yards), which winds right to left and requires three good shots, and at least when we played it, it was dead into the wind. Plus, the pin was tucked front-left with little room to get at it, even with a sand wedge. Not only is the hole a strong finisher, the site of the clubhouse and Holy Hill in the background is awesome.

A course worker asked me how the day was going as I went to putt on the 18th, and I said, "windy." He said we had the true Erin Hills experience.

- The fairways were young, not yet in mid-season form, but that will come.

- The greens were undulated, and once they reach the desired speed, putting will be a chore.

Also, there are tiered greens, so sometimes approach shots which looked good would land on the ridge of the tier, shooting the ball left or right.

- Unlike most links courses, there are forced carries to greens. You can’t roll the ball to greens like you see in the British Open.

- The 10th green is 78 yards long (yes, 78 yards). From front to back it started at ground level, then dropped to a gully and then sloped up again (just think of a roller coaster). We played to a front-pin position, thankfully.

Instefjord said there will be a back pin position used during the US Women’s Amateur.

Honestly, I could go on about the course, and that is nothing new.

"All 18 holes you remember, I’ve heard that," Instefjord said. "There’s nothing bland out there."

Because the course demands total focus for every shot, you walk off the 18th green thinking what a grind. However, when looking back at the round, the good shots and the impressive layout, you come to the conclusion the course you just played is truly special.

From the view from the 18th fairway to many other places on the course, this is a great place to play a round of golf. To sum up the round in one word: fun.

"I’ve heard that used so many times (by the golfers coming off the course)," Instefjord said.

Fair would be another word.

"It can be tough for the greatest golfers," Instefjord said. "But it also can be fair for the amateurs."

On the day we played, it played tough and fair. A true test of golf on one of the state’s most impressive courses.