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Jessie Lawson ended up passing away 1914, with her husband following in 1925. Soon after, the property was sold by the heirs to the Chicago based H.O Stone Company. It's rumored that the company had strong ties to the mafia, but they spent another three million dollars to develop the property into a luxury gates resort in the late 20s and early 30s. An Inn was constructed for these guests which had exquisite dining room, bar, casino, and outdoor swimming pool. The renovations also included the Scottish links course that you find today.
The development eventually went bust, leaving the mortgage-holding bank to operate it. It did, for roughly ten years, until the Great Depression and WWII gas rationing closed the resort in 1932. The US Government considering buying it as a site for an Air Force Academy, but eventually moved the establishment elsewhere. Even so, portions of the property and barn were used to house 450 German POW during the war who worked in nearby canning factories. During the 10 year span the course was closed, it was used as a primarily as a cow pasture.
In 1943, the property was sold again. This time to the Northern Baptist Assembly for $300,000, who currently remain the owners. They brought back the original links, and expanded in their golf operations by adding additional nines in 1983 and 1991 to become what is now the Woodland Course.
Back to the course. Construction started in 1928 and was completed in 1929, even though it didn't open for play until the following year. It was designed in a Links style, borrowed from a trip the designers (William Langford and Theodore Moreau) took over to Scotland. While there, they sketched and photographed famous golf holes at other links style courses. Bringing that information back to the states, they laid out a course in its traditional style. While it's mentioned that the design is a replica of those courses, it never mentioned which holes or of what holes. Although, I doubt that the buried railway car under the seventh green was something that they would have seen elsewhere. In 2000, through a "reclaiming" effort, architect Ron Forse brought the course back to its original design through removing one hundred and fifty trees. As a result, the course plays as it would back when it was initially built through a windswept plateau above Green Lake. Including raised multi-tiered greens, deep fescue rough, and a predominantly tree-less course.
In 1939, the course was ranked as the seventy-second best golf course in the world, and currently ranks among the Top 100 Classical Course in America by Golf Week. Given the overall quality of the design, it's not overly surprising that Walter Hagen was in the first group to play the course when it opened. And, shortly after was the host Ben Hogan, Sam Snead, and Byron Nelson in the Little Lawsonia Open.
Some people on these boards might remember me talking about my love for Langford and Moreau designs. They were involved with over 250 courses spread throughout America, although operated primarily throughout the Midwest. Considering the two were the first honorary members of the Golf Course Architectural Society of America, their design philosophies are fairly substantial and sound. It's the typical Golden Era mantra of par being protected near the greens. And, as a result, each hole becomes more and more "interesting" from sixty yards and in. An emphasis is definitely placed on strategic position. Langford himself is quoted by Geoff Shackelford in the Golden Age of Golf Design, saying, "Hazards should not be built solely with the idea of penalizing bad play, but with the object of encouraging thoughtful golf and of rewarding the player who possesses the ability to play a variety of strokes with each club."
Due to the nature of the game of golf when these courses were constructed, low and along the ground, Langford and Moreau would often move plenty of dirt around the greens. Not only to build up their green complexes, but giving the golfer direction through grass mounts and/or bunkers. Initially, these items were a real threat to players, and even today create depth perception problems on approach shots. The greens themselves have bold interior contours, causing players who miss the green in regulation to use their imagination to negotiate the best possible route to the hole. And, even then, any putt over five feet is guaranteed to have some break to ensure that nothing is a "gimmie". The greens by no means are overly designed, and instead keep subtle breaks throughout. In fact, it was mentioned in our group several times that if you would look at a putt long enough, it was entirely possible to see a putt break both ways due to the soft lines in the design.
In the end, the 2006 Zagat Repot says it best, "If you have only one course to play in Wisconsin, play Lawsonia." It truly is a course that shouldn't be missed...
USGA course rating/slope:
Blue - 72.8/130
White - (M) 71.5/128; (W) 76.3/131
Gold - (M) 69.1/124; (W) 73.6/124
Red - (M) 65.2/115; (W) 68.9/114
**Note: sorry 'bout some of the pictures. It's was a true links day.. cold, damp due to rain through the previous weekend (3"+), and very cloudy. Trying to get the setting right on the camera during a round was brutal..**
#1 - 418/407/348/348 (par 4; hcp 9)
#2 - 431/422/405/295 (par 4; hcp 7)
#3 - 386/367/360/300 (par 4; hcp 11)
#4 - 203/175/165/158 (par 3; hcp 15)
#5 - 487/475/430/439 (par 5; hcp 1)
#6 - 439/406/328/328 (par 4; hcp 5)
#7 - 161/146/140/109 (par 3; hcp 17)
#8 - 339/322/315/249 (par 4; hcp 13)
#9 - 535/529/520/461 (par 5; hcp 3)
#10 - 239/217/162/162 (par 3; hcp 14)
#11 - 510/482/482/278 (par 5; hcp 4)
#12 - 183/171/165/141 (par 3; hcp 16)
#13 - 568/556/489/489 (par 5; hcp 2)
#14 - 154/139/130/124 (par 3; hcp 18)
#15 - 394/379/370/233 (par 4; hcp 8)
#16 - 443/435/293/293 (par 4; hcp 10)
#17 - 383/363/355/264 (par 4; hcp 12)
#18 - 580/490/470/407 (par 5; hcp 6)
Yardages (front/back/total):
Blue: 3399/3454/6853
White: 3249/3232/6481
Gold: 3011/2916/5927
Red: 2687/2391/5078
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