The Pellucid Perspective - August 2023 - 8

INDUSTRY
PERFORMANCE UPDATE
guished under the Americana Resort name until 1993; when it
was purchased out of foreclosure by the Marcus Corporation of
Milwaukee.
In a visit during the 1980s, it was apparent that Americana
was doomed. " The Brute " , as the Nicklaus/Dye course is known,
was in terrible shape. The lodging was dated and the food was as
bad as the golf course conditions. Two visits in the mid-1990s
after the Marcus acquisition showed marked improvements in
the property; but I hadn't been back since.
Much has changed. Grand Geneva has been a AAA FourDiamond
resort for over 20 years and the golf courses (a second
was added after " The Brute " ) are in very good shape. The Brute
original design has been relatively untouched, but bridges have
been rebuilt, the greens were good and the golf clubhouse has
been redone. Most importantly, the entire staff was fantastic -
it genuinely looked like they were having fun giving us friendly
service. Overall, the Marcus' have done a great job of resuscitating
what was once a groundbreaking resort. As much as I enjoyed
re-visiting The Brute and appreciating the early work of Nicklaus
and Dye; the design is almost " retro " and there is some bunker
work that will be needed in the coming years.
My " Premium, Pristine and Penal " course visit was bittersweet.
My daughter (and now frequent golf companion) knew that I
was involved in the development of Fire Ridge and wanted to
play it. We built the course for a local investment firm, and I
served as the Managing Director from start of construction in
1993 through 1999. Despite some legal sparring with the investment
firm, the course was very successful. The original investors
were paid off early with proceeds from a refinancing made possible
by the excellent financial performance within the first 3 years.
Our contentious contractual relationship came to a head when
8 The Pellucid PersPecTive
we reported some financial irregularities by the investment firm
and they were only too happy when our contract expired at the
end of 1999. By 2003, the investment firm imploded, the course
went into foreclosure and the CEO and EVP of the investment
firm were indicted for fraud.
Acquired by a couple restaurant owners in 2003, aside from a
couple visits to the restaurant; I didn't play the course again until
2019. On that visit, the course was showing obvious signs of age
and poor maintenance - it was sad to see. Deteriorating cartpaths,
washed out bunkers and poor weed control were just a few
of the problems. We also know that the owners put the course on
the market at some point around that time.
What a difference a few years make. The dilapidated entrance
and parking lot have been repaved, the clubhouse repainted and
numerous other aesthetic touches have been added. The greens
were pretty close to perfect. Apparently, people are noticing the
improvement - the earliest tee time we could get was 2:51 on a
Sunday afternoon with a packed course ahead of us and a couple
groups behind us that were going to test the limits of sunset.
Even with the improvements, there is still work to be done.
The cartpaths are still in need of work and the bunkers were basically
unplayable. Weed control and fairway conditioning remain
as problem areas. In spite of that, both my daughter and another
one of her 21 year old friends said they had a great time and
would go back.
The local Municipal has also benefitted from the surge. I have
played Mee-Kwon a few times over the years. I knew the previous
Director of the Ozaukee County Parks pretty well and they've
always tried to put out a good product, but the downturn in golf
put some pressure on them and conditions were not very good in
the 2010s. My daughter and I played it last year and things were
August 2023
The Pellucid Perspective - August 2023

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