One of the city's, if not the state's, top golf courses will undergo a multimillion dollar renovation beginning next month.
The Wisconsin Club Board of Directors approved a $3.5 million makeover of its private Country Club, located at at 6200 W. Good Hope Rd., by renowned architect Bruce Hepner.
According to Club General Manager John Constantine, the renovation of the 6,700-yard course will be financed by the club's operating revenue. No additional member assessment will be applied, or was any outside financing sought.
The first phase of the renovation will start Sept. 16, beginning with Hepner adding new bunkers and tee boxes while widening select fairways. Phase two will focus on a new irrigation system and the third and final phase will focus on practice facilities that currently include separate chipping and pitching greens, practice bunkers, two putting greens and a driving range.
"We selected Bruce and his firm for a number of reasons," Constantine said in a statement. "First, Bruce has extensive experience working with Tom Doak as his Vice President for over 17 years before starting his own firm in 2010. Bruce is credited with working on and or consulting with 25 of the top golf courses in the world, according to golf industry sources. Secondly, Bruce takes a hands on approach. He prefers to actually work on the equipment used to reshape and renovate courses."
No completion date was set, and the course will be open during the work.
Jim Owczarski is an award-winning sports journalist and comes to Milwaukee by way of the Chicago Sun-Times Media Network.
A three-year Wisconsin resident who has considered Milwaukee a second home for the better part of seven years, he brings to the market experience covering nearly all major and college sports.
To this point in his career, he has been awarded six national Associated Press Sports Editors awards for investigative reporting, feature writing, breaking news and projects. He is also a four-time nominee for the prestigious Peter J. Lisagor Awards for Exemplary Journalism, presented by the Chicago Headline Club, and is a two-time winner for Best Sports Story. He has also won numerous other Illinois Press Association, Illinois Associated Press and Northern Illinois Newspaper Association awards.
Jim's career started in earnest as a North Central College (Naperville, Ill.) senior in 2002 when he received a Richter Fellowship to cover the Chicago White Sox in spring training. He was hired by the Naperville Sun in 2003 and moved on to the Aurora Beacon News in 2007 before joining OnMilwaukee.com.
In that time, he has covered the events, news and personalities that make up the PGA Tour, LPGA Tour, Major League Baseball, the National Football League, the National Hockey League, NCAA football, baseball and men's and women's basketball as well as boxing, mixed martial arts and various U.S. Olympic teams.
Golf aficionados who venture into Illinois have also read Jim in GOLF Chicago Magazine as well as the Chicago District Golfer and Illinois Golfer magazines.
