COVID-19 impacts area courses
By Greg Seubert
This was shaping up to be a big year at Glen Cairn Golf Course.
Its owners have plans to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the 18-hole course north of Ogdensburg and open a new, expanded clubhouse.
Thanks to COVID-19, however, those plans are now on hold.
“We are closed and we cannot open,” clubhouse manager Christy Berkholtz said. “My in-laws built the course in 1990 and we were planning to have a grand opening and anniversary party in the spring. The grand opening will be the first weekend that we’re open, so we’ve pushed that back to May 2 hoping the COVID orders are lifted.”
Glen Cairn isn’t the only golf course affected by Wisconsin’s Safer at Home order, which is in effect until at least Friday, April 24. The order prevents several businesses, including golf courses, from opening their doors to the public.
Cory Kluge, superintendent and owner of Shamrock Heights Golf Course just north of New London, is in the same boat at Glen Cairn.
“All 18 holes would be open already,” he said. “We are going to lose a good month of revenue. Being in Wisconsin, you don’t get that many months to actually golf anyway. The weather looked like it was turning around compared to 2018, when we had that snowstorm and we didn’t open until May. Last year was kind of a wet year. It was looking like a good year, but all of a sudden, it’s not.”
“Typically, we would open up as soon as the snow is clear and the course is ready to go,” Berkholtz said. “I would say the course would be ready to go, but we will wait until the COVID-19 orders are taken off.”
The break gives Berkholtz and her husband, Christian, a chance to finish the clubhouse.
“The new clubhouse is going to feature more food than we’ve had in the past,” she said. “We’ll be able to sit 100 people comfortably inside with all the comforts that we didn’t have before.”
Rob Hernandez covers golf for wisconsin.golf.
“With the governor’s order, they’re out of luck until April 24 as far as the golf operation goes,” he said. “A lot of them have told me that the same thing happened last year when we were having snow into April. You could make the argument that this is kind of like a governmental snowstorm that’s simply delaying the start of the golf season until a time when a lot of previous seasons have started.
“They can handle the Mother Nature-made delays two or three times out of a five- or 10-year span, but when we have an opportunity like this year to get that early season started and get that revenue coming in, they know how much it hurts,” he said. “When they tell you that they’re hurting, I honestly believe they’re going to be hurting.”
“I don’t think it’s disappointing as much as it’s frustrating,” Berkholtz said. “You don’t know day to day what to plan for the business. It’s disappointing because we have so much excitement built up from our 30th year of golf and opening our new clubhouse, but at the same time, we understand that everybody’s health is a priority.”
Golfing destinations
Glen Cairn is located at N9254 Campbell Lake Road, between Ogdensburg, Iola and Big Falls.
“Our course layout has many elevation changes,” Berkholtz said. “You get away from the city, but you feel like you’re golfing on your own course, even when the course us full.”
The course draws golfers from central and eastern Wisconsin.
“We pull from Wausau, Plover, (Stevens) Point, Oshkosh, Appleton, Green Bay,” Berkholtz said. “Our local community supports us as well. We like to think that it’s a hidden gem.”
Shamrock Heights is located at N5525 Old Highway 45, New London.
“As soon as we open, it’s going to be a mad rush,” Kluge said. “Everybody’s been cooped up for month and a half. When this warm weather hits, people are going to want to get out. People are already getting to that point.”
Berkholtz and Kluge are hearing from golfers asking when their courses will open.
“I’ve had quite a few people call and ask if they can come golfing,” she said. “I had one guy out there and I had to talk to them and tell them they had to leave. The thing with COVID-19 is everybody thinks golfing is an outdoor activity. They’re telling us we fall under entertainment instead.”
“We haven’t had someone sneak onto the course, but we had someone out on the range the other day hitting balls,” Kluge said. “They left before we could go talk to them. They’re going to try anything they can.”
Hernandez lives in California, but grew up in central Wisconsin.
“We had all sorts of things going on,” he said. “Palm Springs, because they have such a heavy over-55 population, shut things down much quickly than Los Angeles. San Diego shut down its county courses like Torrey Pines, but kept everything else open. A lot of courses didn’t want to put their employees in the uncomfortable position of having to come to work and deal with the public. At the same time, we were allowed to walk through our neighborhoods.”
Closed courses
Some Wisconsin golfers are questioning the closure of courses.
“What really rubbed golfers the wrong way was they were seeing pictures of four people in a boat on Lake Michigan or in a river doing some fishing,” Hernandez said. “I’ve seen more people on walks through my neighborhood than I ever see on a golf course. A lot of people believe (Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers) was a little tone-deaf to the realities of what golf looks like, especially if you don’t play it in a cart and you space out the tee times. There are a lot of opportunities to not see anybody when you’re out on a golf course. As the number of (COVID-19) cases and deaths continue to climb, more government leaders are realizing that opening golf courses just isn’t worth the risk.”
“A lot of people think the course should be open,” Kluge said. “If you can walk in a park, you should be able to walk on a golf course, which has more acres and you’re farther away from people than going to the store. We have to follow what the government says.”
Berkholtz understands golfers’ frustration.
“People are ready to be outside after winter in Wisconsin,” she said. “We are at that point where we’re ready. We’ve had our 50-degree days, the snow has melted and people are ready to go. Spring is the time when people want to golf right away. You have your dedicated golfers in the fall that golf right up until the end, but spring is the biggest push for golf courses.”
“We’re basically taking it one day at a time,” Kluge said. “I’m still getting the course ready so when we do open, we’ll be completely ready. There’s really not a lot we can do. We have to follow the order, so we’re doing maintenance on the golf course.
“We get a lot of phone calls, a lot of texts, a lot of emails about if the governor’s going to lift the order,” he said. “We get a lot of those questions, but we can’t control it.”
Hernandez expects Wisconsin’s Safer at Home order will take a toll on smaller courses.
“Associated with golf courses across Wisconsin, especially in the smaller areas, are restaurants and sports bars,” he said. “Those have been shut town or curtained to curbside-only service. You can’t replace that business and that business is there every year.”
Shamrock Heights also includes a restaurant that has offered carry-out and curbside pickup.
“The other thing that folks that run these golf courses don’t know is how long this is going to last,” Hernandez said. “If we see the same kind of issues that we’re seeing in New York State, Washington State or San Francisco, that’ll be a real contentious time when we get closer to April 24. How does the governor see what’s going on and is it working in Wisconsin? Is this current Safer at Home thing making a difference and if it is, is that enough to reopen things?”