Golf-History Buff Chips in Great Research Resource

This aerial photo from the Wisconsin Historic Aerial Imagery Finder shows the Commodore (Leathem Smith) golf course as it appeared in 1938.

Retired Wisconsin golf-course superintendent Scott Schaller loves golf history and shared a treasure trove with us this spring.

After reading part one of our Door County Living magazine feature about the designers of the county’s oldest golf courses, Schaller emailed a link that leads deeper into the rest of the story.

Schaller’s dad, Fritz, designed the old Blue Nine along and atop the bluff when Alpine expanded to 27 holes. Our research did not find the designer of the original nine holes at Alpine, but a contributor to the online Golf Club Atlas succeeded in that endeavor and much more.

“It has a lot of U.S. golf history,” Schaller typed, putting it lightly. 

Sven Nilsen’s massive, alphabetical online post provides information about 180 Wisconsin golf courses that existed between 1937 and 1940. 

“He collected aerial photos and history of each course,” Schaller said.

The aerial photos show Peninsula State Park Golf Course from its pre-WWII state, before the 10th hole was built near the bay, and back when golfers had to cross the highway during their rounds. The aerial 1938 photos of the circa-1921 W.R. “Bim” Lovekin version of Peninsula still show an orchard covering parts of the present-day fifth and sixth holes.

The photos don’t show many trees in play at Peninsula, Alpine, Maxwelton Braes or the former Commodore Hotel/Leathem Smith course. That’s a surprising sight, considering how many mature trees line the fairways today. Nilsen found the photos through the Wisconsin Historic Aerial Imagery Finder at maps.sco.wisc.edu/WHAIFinder/#74/44.750.

A 1938 aerial photo shows a slightly different configuration of the Alpine holes, including a dogleg-right hole heading southward near the southern part of the course. More changes have arrived at the Alpine through the years, and golfers can expect more in the years to come. The new Alpine Resort owner’s team has plenty of work to do with improving 20 holes this year, but it is also dreaming up ways to bring seven fairways and greens back into play on top of the bluff on the other side of Hillside Trail.

Nilsen’s research included an Oct. 30, 1924, Green Bay Press-Gazette article that stated that Walter Carberry – a golf professional from the Shoreacres club north of Chicago – was supervising the layout and construction of the original nine near the Alpine Resort. Nilsen, however, said that James Carberry was the Shoreacres pro at the time.

The 1930s aerial photo shows the Maxwelton Braes fairways configured just the same as they are today, as well as the Commodore Club, the former course at the Leathem Smith lodge.