Wisconsin Aerial Photographs - 1937 to 1940

[Sven Nilsen]

Fox River CC l/k/a Green Bay Public GC (Green Bay)

1938 Aerial -



Work on the Fox River CC started in 1915 with the design done by Tom Bendelow and Peter Jans supervising the work.  With the formation of the Oneida Golf and Riding Club, the course transitioned to a daily fee arrangement.

Dec. 15, 1916 Green Bay Press-Gazette -





July 18, 1934 The Post-Crescent -







Photo -

[Sven Nilsen]

George Williams College GC a/k/a Kish-Wau-Ke-Toc GC a/k/a YMCA GC (Williams Bay/Lake Geneva)

1937 Aerial -



In 1897 the Yerkes Observatory, dubbed the "birthplace of modern astrophysics," was established in Williams Bay on the shores of Lake Geneva.  Right next door was a YMCA training academy that would come to be know as George Williams College.

There are reports that this club started with a one hole course in 1900 with six holes later being laid out by James Naismith, a full 9 holes by 1906 and 18 holes by 1918.  None of this jives with the historical record.

I can find no indication of a course near the Yerkes Observatory before 1904, when Tom Bendelow was noted as laying out a 9 holes for a new club which would be named the Kish-Wau-Ke-Toc GC (not to be confused with the Kish-Wau-Ke-Toe CC that would be founded on the other end of the lake a number of years later).  Whether only 6 holes were built or 3 holes disappeared is unclear, but in 1925 9 additional holes opened adding to the existing 6 holes to make a 15 hole course (an erroneous advertisement of 18 holes total would be corrected the next month). 

If Naismith was ever involved with the course, I can find no record of it.  I'm not ruling it out as he was part of the committee that established the University of Kansas' first course a few years earlier, but the record seems pretty clear that golf started in 1904 with Bendelow.

Oct. 19, 1904 Chicago Tribune -



June 6, 1907 Lake Geneva Regional News -



July 23, 1925 Lake Geneva Regional News -



June 24, 1926 Lake Geneva Regional News -



July 29, 1926 Lake Geneva Regional News -



Excerpts from Picturesque Lake Geneva, 1926 -





Postcard -

[Sven Nilsen]

Gitchinadji CC a/k/a Gitchinadji GC a/k/a Gitchinadji Town and Country Club (Superior)

1938 Aerial -



Opened in 1900, the club hung on to its St. Louis River location until the clubhouse burned down in 1955.

1901 Harpers Guide -

[Sven Nilsen]

Glenway GC a/k/a Madison Municipal GC (Madison)

1937 Aerial -



Like many of the larger towns in the state (and around the country), the push for a municipal golf course in Madison occurred during the mid-1920's. 

April 22, 1926 Wisconsin State Journal -



Feb. 28, 1927 The Capital Times -

[Sven Nilsen]

Grant Park Municipal GC (Milwaukee)

1937 Aerial  -



Its a bit hard to research Grant Park, as most of the news articles back then focused on the plans for the new auditorium in Chicago's Grant Park, which we know as Soldier Field.  Even the Wisconsin papers reported heavily on its development.

The golf course here opened in 1920 with 9 holes and was quickly expanded to 18.  It is credited to George Hansen, who was its first professional.

[Sven Nilsen]

Greenfield Park Municipal GC (Milwaukee)

1937 Aerial -



Another George Hansen course for the Milwaukee Parks Department.

Jan. 6, 1924 Miami Herald -



1931 Plan -

[Sven Nilsen]

Hartel's Resort GC (Lost Land Lake)

1939 Aerial -



A classic Wisconsin lake resort course.

Postcard -

[Sven Nilsen]

Hartford GC (Hartford)

1937 Aerial -



Home to the Kissel Motor Car Company, the golf course in Hartford opened in 1928.

June 5, 1928 Green Bay Press-Gazette -

[Matthew Rose]

Enjoying this very much. Looking forward to the Janesville courses.

[Sven Nilsen]

Hi-Dale Golf Links a/k/a Rice Lake CC n/k/a Turtleback GC (Rice Lake)

1939 Aerial -



Built in 1926 with 9 holes, the Rice Lake course is still alive today as an 18 holer.

May 5, 1926 Leader-Telegram -



May 20, 1926 Marshfield News-Herald -

[Sven Nilsen]

Hillcrest GC (Eau Claire)

1939 Aerial -



Hillcrest started with plans for a course south of downtown, then started construction on a course at Lake Hallie closer to Chippewa Falls (which would become Lake Hallie GC) before finally settling on a site on Otter Creek east of the city.  The course at this new site was constructed by Ray Hunt.  In 1929, William Langford came down from Green Lake where he was building Lawsonia to make suggestions on improvements to the course.  It is unclear whether these suggestions were ever adopted.

Dec. 6, 1925 Leader-Telegram -



April 14, 1926 Leader-Telegram -



April 7, 1927 Leader-Telegram -





April 22, 1927 Chippewa Herald-Telegram -



April 30, 1927 Leader-Telegram -



May 3, 1929 Leader-Telegram -

[Jeff_Brauer]

Sven,


Wonder if you found anything on Nippersink in Genoa City, WI?  Said to be a Foulis, and it looked pretty well preserved when I last visited a few years ago, although I could see some greens had been rebuilt.  The earliest aerial on Historic Aerials.com is 1955.

[Sven Nilsen]

Sven,


Wonder if you found anything on Nippersink in Genoa City, WI?  Said to be a Foulis, and it looked pretty well preserved when I last visited a few years ago, although I could see some greens had been rebuilt.  The earliest aerial on Historic Aerials.com is 1955.

Jeff:

As I indicated in the first post, we'll get to the N's after everything else before it in the alphabet.

Sven

[Sven Nilsen]

Hillmoor CC (Lake Geneva)

1937 Aerial -



Hillmoor started as an offshoot of the Hillcrest CC which was formed in 1916 with a 9 hole course laid out by David Livie.  In 1920 Hillcrest invited Tom Bendelow to visit to examine the golf situation.  Bendelow recommended building a new course.

That course would open around 1925 with 18 holes of public golf that were laid out by Jim Foulis.

Nov. 1919 Golfers Magazine -





Dec. 9, 1920 Lake Geneva Regional News -



Dec. 30, 1920 McHenry Plaindealer -



April 17, 1924 Lake Geneva Regional News -



June 1, 1925 Belvidere Daily Republican -

[Sven Nilsen]

Janesville CC f/k/a Sinnissippi GC (Janesville)

1937 Aerial -



Another course vying for the title of the oldest in the state, the story goes that Andrew Galbraith brought a number of clubs and balls back with him from a trip to Scotland and convinced a few other men to take up the game.  The first course is variously given dates of 1893 or 1894, with a second course being built a year later which became the Sinnissippi GC.

James and David Foulis remodeled the 9 holes in 1905.

In 1916, the club officially adopted the Janesville CC moniker and a little over ten years later 9 additional holes were added.

1900 Harpers -







Aug. 21, 1905 Oshkosh Northwestern -



May 1906 Golfers Magazine -



March 17, 1926 The Capital Times -



Aug. 20, 1927 The Capital Times -

[Sven Nilsen]

Janesville Municipal GC a/k/a Riverside Municipal GC (Janesville)

1937 Aerial -



Starting with a 6 hole course in 1924 that was being played on 2 weeks after construction began, the course was expanded to 9 holes in 1926. 

I've seen reports of Robert Bruce Harris being involved here, but my guess is that this was at a much later date when the course was expanded to 18 holes.

July 30, 1926 The Post-Crescent -



June 8, 1927 The Post-Crescent -



Photo -

[Sven Nilsen]

Johnson Park GC (Racine)

1937 Aerial -



Named for a member of the family that started S. C. Johnson & Son, this was Racine's third municipal course.

The design is credited to Joseph Todd Sloan, but perhaps the most interesting aspect of the development of this course was the effort of Mayor Swoboda to use this project to provide jobs for many of the unemployed workers in the city early on in the Great Depression.

Jan. 9, 1931 Journal Times -



Aug. 4, 1932 The Journal Times -

[PCCraig]

Brown Deer Park Municipal GC (Milwaukee)

1937 Aerial -

A restored Brown Deer Park would really be something!!

[Sven Nilsen]

Kaukauna GC (Kaukauna)

1938 Aerial -



A modest 9 hole course near Appleton.

Nov. 8, 1929 The Post-Crescent -

[Sven Nilsen]

Kenosha CC a/k/a Midway CC a/k/a Pike Creek CC (Kenosha)

1937 Aerial -



Modern Aerial -



Designed by Ross in 1920 and built shortly thereafter the new Kenosha CC course was a successor to a course that dated back to 1895.

Ross Plan -



March 15, 1920 Kenosha Evening News -



Feb. 19, 1921 Kenosha News -



March 21, 1921 Des Moines Register -



Sept. 29, 1922 Kenosha Evening News -

[Sven Nilsen]

Kenosha Municipal GC l/k/a Washington Park Municipal GC (Kenosha)

1937 Aerial -



Modern Aerial -



One of the earlier municipal efforts in the state.  There were a few names thrown out in the local press as being responsible for the layout, including Jimmy Norton and Arthur Clarkson.  There was even one report that suggested the plans had been produced by the designer of the Kenosha CC course, which would have been Ross (which doesn't seem to have been the case).

The popularity of municipal golf in the 1920's lead many candidates for local office to advertise their support for new courses in the newspapers.  Perhaps this is a sign of just how important golf had become in America at that time, as that type of stumping isn't something we see today.

Oct. 13, 1921 Kenosha Evening News -



Feb. 27, 1922 Kenosha Evening News -



May 25, 1922 Kenosha Evening News -



April 4, 1927 The Post-Crescent -

[Mark Mammel]

Great stuff Sven. Great to see the history of courses many of us from the North Country have played! Hope you can do a similar dissertation for Minnesota.

[Sven Nilsen]

Kishwauketoe CC (Lake Geneva)

1937 Aerial -



A massive endeavor on the shores of Lake Geneva with the course designed by Leonard Macumber and irrigation work done by Wendell Miller.  The club would be belly up a few years later with the course being operated on a public basis.

Feb. 8, 1925 Chicago Tribune -



Feb. 12, 1925 Lake Geneva News Tribune -



July 26, 1928 Lake Geneva Regional News -



Wendell Miller Plan -



Photos -

[Sven Nilsen]

La Crosse CC f/k/a Schaghticoke CC n/k/a Forest Hills Public GC (La Crosse)

1938 Aerial -



Golf started here in 1898 with the Schaghitoke CC who had a 9 hole course.  Around 1908 the La Crosse CC name was adopted.  The course was expanded to 18 holes around 1930 with credit given to Merrill Maisick.  In 1984 La Crosse CC moved to a new site outside of town and this course became the Forest Hills Public GC.

June 1898 The Golfer -



1901 Harpers -



April 1905 Golfers Magazine -



Sept. 1908 Golfers Magazine -



April 18, 1930 Escanaba Daily Press -



1930's Photo -

[Sven Nilsen]

La Crosse Public GC (La Crosse)

1938 Aerial -



Built in 1928, the course was constructed by Merrill Maisick.

March 14, 1928 Wausau Daily Herald -



April 2, 1931 Escanaba Daily Press -