too good to be public?

[John_Conley]

Phil, can't beat that!  Thanks for the reviews.  JOHN

[ed_getka]

Phil,
   Thanks for the feedback. I'm still going straight to Lawsonia the next time I'm in the area.

[Mark Arata]

If you go south instead of north from Madison, there is a beautiful 25 dollar to walk course called Glen Erin in Janesville WI, someone on this sight tipped me off to it and I played in in March, great walk, huge greens, fun to play, and dirt cheap, havent heard much from the board about it since, but it was a blast to play.

http://www.gleneringolf.com/

here is the web link in case anyone else wants to check it out.

[Phil McDade]

Mark:

Can you post some details about Glen Erin, to the extent you remember them? It's a course that's gotten widely -- I mean, extremely -- varying views. I know some folks who have played it and really like it; others say it pales to the muni (and RB Harris-designed!) Janesville Riverside. The golf writer for the Madison daily AM paper (conflict alert -- a good friend of mine) really has ripped it a couple of times in print -- once when it opened on conditioning grounds, and once for odd and quirky layouts on some holes that he argues make little sense. I have not played it, but have been meaning to get down there. Pros/cons?

Thanks.

[Mark Arata]

Phil, I played it in March of this year, I was in Madison on business, only had a few hours to get away, so Lawsonia wasnt really practical, and I had already played University Ridge and wanted to try something different.  I found the course to be in good condition, the greens were a lot of fun, very large with a lot of slope and undulation, and there were a couple of excellent holes on the course, I particularly liked the 1st, a slight dogleg left with a skyline green and a very well placed bunker front right.

8 was a fun par 5 that was a dogleg left and if you wanted to hug the left side to cut some distance off the hole was a bit of a blind tee shot, and 9 was a good par 4 with a big green and a tricky bunker guarding any front right pins.

17 was an excellent par 4, downhill tee shot, elevated green approach shot, well bunkered green with a lot of undulation, and 18 was a very good par 5, huge green with a giagantic bunker fronting the green, big slope from back to front.

I enjoyed it very much, it was 25 bucks to walk, there were a bunch of fun tee shots and approaches, and the greens were about as large as I have seen on a public course. I didnt remember any obscenely quirky holes, the par 3's werent world beaters, but they werent bad either.  There were a few holes that were a bit tight, but nothing that bad, and I supposed some people didnt like seeing the little muni airport on some of the holes, 2 , 4 and 5 in particular, but it didnt bother me any at all......

If you live in the area, you should go play it yourself, if you are on this website, I would find it hard to believe you wouldnt like it.










 

[Kevin_Reilly]

Phil,

Would it be possible for you to reference exactly where he said this and it is quoted from?

Thanks

The quote of interest is the last line in this article:

http://www.madison.com/wsj/home/biz/index.php?ntid=111711&ntpid=2

In case the link is bad, here is the story:

UE., DEC 19, 2006 - 9:35 AM
Hawks Landing Golf Club will go private
BILL COONEY
wcooney@madison.com
By making Hawks Landing Golf Club a completely private facility, owner Jeff Haen wiped out a concern he saw potentially hindering the club's financial growth.

"In my crystal ball, I knew it was going to happen. We were someday going to get into a conflict of members and general public play," Haen said Monday in announcing that the semi-private club would go private beginning Jan. 1. The club is near Highway M and Midtown Road.

Haen feared that public players would eventually get frustrated with a lack of preferential tee times, which have increasingly gone to members. Over time, Haen believed, that frustration would drive public golfers to play elsewhere.

"Then we're not hitting the numbers we need to hit from an income standpoint," Haen said. "That's what was worrying me."

For the last few weeks, Haen met with a group of members to discuss the possibility of going private or 100 percent public. Nearly all of the members preferred to go private, he said.

Hawks Landing, which opened for nine-hole play in 2001 (18 holes in 2002) and currently has about 135 members, hopes to add between 75 and 100 members by next year.

"We feel very good that that's going to happen," Haen said.

The club will offer a reduced initiation fee of $1,000 through 2006, before increasing it to $1,500 (single), $2,250 (couple) and $3,000 (family). Yearly memberships are $3,609 (single) and $5,954 (family).

The club includes cart fees in memberships and has no minimums on food and beverage purchases, both unique to private facilities across the state.

Haen said Hawks Landing would still allow some public play in 2007, perhaps a one- hour slot per day, until the membership fills up.

There has been wide speculation that the Madison market is too saturated with golf courses, including private clubs. Hawks Landing will become the Madison area's eighth private facility, joining Bishop's Bay, Blackhawk, Cherokee, Nakoma, Lake Ripley, Maple Bluff and Stoughton.

University Ridge, a nearby public-fee course, could benefit from the move.

"It's hard to say at this point what it means to us," University Ridge general manager Mike Urben said. "But hopefully it has a positive effect. I think it will."

Nakoma general manager Skip Avery said his club has always competed for members with Hawks Landing.

"I think every year members consider other options," Avery said. "We just have to make sure we're providing the very best that we can. . . . It's a challenge to bring people in."

That's a challenge Haen was willing to take.

"I guess in this world, you just try to predict what's going to happen and do the best you can to make sure the trouble doesn't come," he said. "And quite honestly, this golf course is way too good to be public."

[Doug Ralston]

Phil;

Yes.

It really does have a fair number of excellent quality public courses are very good fees, and it is one of the most reasonably priced States to stay and to eat anywhere.

If you come, try the State Park Signature Series first. But there is also Old Silo and the UK courses [Tuesday and Thursday open to public] worth a play. Stonecrest is rather unique [built on reclaimed strip mine to make a links-style course with breathtaking views.

Come and enjoy!

Doug [who is now an Ohio resident, living in Cincy, but still playing most of his golf in Kentucky]

[Phil McDade]

Doug:

Thanks; you posts got me intriqued, and it's not too far from the nation's Dairyland down to the bluegrass. I may have to figure out a way to get there in '07.