Redesign Prioritizes Players and Practicality

Todd Quitno, whose company designed the new first green at Peninsula State Park Golf Course, said he wanted the new green to fit into the natural setting and look like it’s “been there for a long time.” Photo by Craig Sterrett.

A new, smoother, less treacherous and better-built green popped up this month near the entrance to Peninsula State Park Golf Course. After consulting with golf architects, the Peninsula Golf Association’s membership and leaders opted to reconstruct the green on the first hole.

Following more than three weeks of work near the end of the golf season, players approaching a temporary green in the fairway for #1 this month got a great view of the modern-styled putting surface and a small, but intimidating bunker near the front-left apron.

Jason Daubner, general manager of the course, said golf architects, some seasoned players and course superintendent Mike Becker noticed structural, maintenance and playability issues with the starting hole at one of Wisconsin’s finest parkland-style courses. And the problem wasn’t the length – 384-yard par-4s don’t bother many golfers.

It was, instead, the raised green with a tough slope from back to front that proved aggravating for experienced golfers. Shots aimed at the pin often wound up on the back fringe or first cut of rough, leaving a tough downhill chip or pitch. Hackers and high-handicappers often started their day with a triple-bogey or worse after slicing one into the wide, deep bunker guarding the entire front-right portion of the green.

“From a players’ standpoint and a starting-hole standpoint, it was a tough hole,” Daubner said, noting that architects said the first and last holes on a course are important for making a good impression. “If you did a survey out there, you’d see a lot of bogeys and double-bogeys. More than anything, water was always puddling in the front, and the bunker was not draining properly. The green wasn’t draining properly. There were a lot of maintenance aspects that were not good.”

The new green has gentler slopes, yet still provides some challenging breaks and subtleties to read. It’s easier to see the putting surface from the fairway, and “it’s much more inviting to throw a ball up on the green now,” Daubner said.

The expanded and improved green is all resodded and reshaped, but it won’t go back into play until after the grass becomes better established next year.

Quitno Golf Designs led this year’s project. Todd Quitno, company president, has helped on previous projects at Peninsula, including a tree-management study and constructing the Bob Lohmann-designed, award-winning six-hole short course. Quitno said he also hopes to help with “general consulting on future improvements to bunkers and a couple of greens.”

“The hole #1 project came about due to concern that the old green had a very steep slope in the front approach, making it tough for golfers to run a ball onto the green and slowing the pace of play right out of the gate,” Quitno said. “Also, the mounding built behind the green created small pockets where water would sit and impact the health of the turf at the edge of the green.”

The Quitno design made the front less steep and eliminated or altered mounds at the back to ensure better drainage and to make the green appear more natural among the trees and turf near the park entrance.

“The reason we moved the bunker to the left was twofold,” Quitno said. First, the big sand trap at the right front of the green slowed down how quickly and directly golfers walked to and from the green, as they tended to park carts to the right, near the path to the next tee. Also, moving the bunker to the left created “some variety in setup because six of the first seven holes have a bunker on the right side.”

Looking for a Last Hurrah?

Although autumn means hunting, brown-trout fishing or even pumpkin carving for some, it signals golf road-trip time for others. We’re not going to single out or promote any specific sale prices here, but fall rates throughout Door County and at intriguing northeastern Wisconsin tracks may make it worthwhile and economical to venture away from the home course.

Which courses have you longed to play? ’Tis the season to check their websites or give them a call.