Lightning Bolt Gives Stonehedge a Jolt, but Course Is OK

Sue (Olson) Provo of Ellison Bay follows through after a tee shot on the fifth hole at Stonehedge Golf Course. She said she and her husband, Don, enjoy playing golf together on Sundays at the course east of Egg Harbor. Photo by Craig Sterrett.

Remember the Caddyshack scene in which Carl the greenskeeper used explosives while hunting for a troublesome gopher?

New Stonehedge Golf Course owner Kevin Wehrenberg said that scene from the classic golf movie came to mind after he showed up at the course one May morning and had to start digging in several parts of the #8 fairway.

Just a week after he and his wife, Erin, had reopened the executive course east of Egg Harbor, lightning struck and split a tree near the ladies’ tee on the eighth hole. The electrical jolt traveled along the roots and the ground, then melted the solenoids in eight sprinkler-head units.

That same strike blew up a control panel in a shed more than 200 yards away, and sparks scorched a wall next to the panel. The day before the lightning strike, Wehrenberg had removed a paper map of the wiring and had taken it home to retype it. He said if he had left that paper next to the control panel, it could have started a fire.

Kevin and Erin both work by day as television executives. He said returning to work after the lightning strike reminded him of starting his day on a TV set for a show such as Wipeout.

“You show up, and people tell you about what’s wrong, and you deal with it,” he said.

Wehrenberg found another leak on June 4, so that weekend’s customers could still see one small excavation spot.

“The thing is, you don’t know what’s happening underground,” he said.

He hopes that’s the last of the leaks, and he said insurance will help to cover some of the irrigation-system repairs.

For most golfers, the remaining small, dug-up spot near the front tee box doesn’t come into play on #8, and players might notice the greens becoming a bit smoother and more player friendly.

At the clubhouse, the Wehrenbergs have hired two cooks and have plans to start serving food by mid-June. Kevin also built a game room off the bar and dining area, and they’ve refreshed the stock in the golf shop and added new items and souvenirs with a hedgehog-inspired logo/mascot.

On the course, members of the greens crew have improved the way they’re cutting fringe around the edges of Stonehedge’s crowned, small greens, and they’ve stopped mowing grass to greens length along the most severely sloped edges. That has allowed them to cut the greens for a faster and smoother roll than in past years. They’ve also selected some different chemicals for refreshing the course, and they’re trying to control grubs rather than trapping and moving skunks that tear up fairways while searching for grubs.

Sister Bay Lions Revive Weekend Fundraiser

COVID-19 protocols caused the cancellation of the Scandia Village golf outing in 2020 and 2021, and then Scandia’s parent organization, Good Samaritan Society, decided to stop having golf fundraisers this year nationwide.

The Sister Bay Lions Club is stepping up instead to revive the annual weekend fundraiser and will use the proceeds from the July 17 outing to help individuals in the community as well as roughly 30 causes in Northern Door.

Jason Daubner, general manager of Peninsula State Park Golf Course, asked the Lions to take over the four-person scramble fundraiser that often attracts 120 golfers. Sister Bay Lions, including LeRoy “Butch” Schramm, said the Scandia outing was always an “excellent event.” This year’s fundraiser has prizes for men’s, women’s and mixed teams, and participants’ entry fees cover a post-round dinner at The English Inn.

Peninsula and other local golf courses have entry forms. Potential hole and event sponsors, donors and nongolfers who would like to support community causes in this way can pick up information at local courses or call Scott Shanahan at 414.406.6613. 

Just a few of the causes include church-based food pantries, scholarships for students and supplies for people with vision challenges. The Lions regularly provide seeing-eye dogs for the blind, and they recently purchased and donated a custom electric bicycle for a local resident who’s legally blind and could not drive a car to work anymore.