Volume IV, Issue 2, August 2016

And then there were three...

Every year our courses host a number of golf outings,

dinner theaters, banquets and other special events to help

raise much needed funds for special causes. Just last season,

we helped over 25 groups, ranging from Churches to School

Groups, to Private Individuals helping those with special

needs, to Civic Organizations and Student Groups. There are

few limits to what we can do to assist you in making your

event a success. On average, our courses helps earn over

$300,000 a year for charity.

With your enthusiasm and your group’s support, we

have the expertise at each course to show you exactly what it

takes to make your event a success. We have the experience

and can even arrange to do multiple course events if your

group is large enough to need additional facilities. Just con

tact one of our experts and get the ball rolling!

“Did you Know how

easy it is to raise money

for your charity?”

On The Inside:

Page 1: Fund Raising

Page 2: WBL’s Continues to Improve

Page 2: What’s a “Pokémon”

Page 3: Horicon Hills Finishes Irrigation

Page 3: Don’t Forget To Vote

Page 4: Camelot Continues Grooming

Page 4: GCOW Scholarship Outing

Page 5: Stars & Stripes Outing Unfurled

Page 6: Tri-Course Event A Success

Page 7. Tri-Course Results

Page 7: MS Outing Really Growing

Page 8: Proshop Specials

Page 9: Remember These Dates

Page 10: Golf Tip From The Pro

Page 10: The Lighter Side of Golf

Horicon Hills, 920.643.2000

Contact: Jim Merkel

hhjimmerkel@gmail.com

West Bend Lakes, 262.675.9922

Contact: Chris Merkel

wblchrismerkel@gmail.com

The Golf Club at Camelot, 920.269.4949

Contact: Laura Beaudoin laura@golfcamelot.com

Page 2

As the season cont inues ,

“Superintendent, Tom Merkel and his crew

are working hard to make improvements to

the course and facilities. Probably the first

thing you will notice at “The Lakes” is the

paving of the entrance to the course. We

have been attempting to pave the entire lot

but bids have been as high as $175,000

and it would be impossible to do that with-

out raising prices. We have decided instead

to try to do smaller sections and make the

payments more manageable. The front

lawn of the building also has been changed

with the addition of another wall and flow-

ers. We will also be lighting up the front of

the building to make it stand out better.

Most of you are aware of the prob-

lems we have had with the emerald ash bor-

er and the destruction it caused to the ash

trees. We recently completed phase one of

the removal of the diseased trees. The next

step was to remove stumps and to create

berms and grassy areas where we removed

the dead trees. Earlier this summer, we

planted some 40 trees of various types to

replenish the lost trees. Just recently, we

purchased an additional 75 trees to further

our replacement program. Thus far, we

have invested in over $5500 worth of trees

and bushes to enhance the course. Now we

will be working on making sure that all

these trees take hold before winter sets in.

As many of you know, Tom also has

been using the roller and is pleased with

the outcome. He will continue the every 3

week use and monitor it’s success. Tom

and the crew still have extensive plans to

“Pokémon

Invades WBL’s”

Japan’s latest craze, “Pokémon” has

poked up his fuzzy head at West Bend

Lakes Golf Club. Due to some unknown

power, our road sign was picked as a way

to gain balls to play the game.

At first, this only meant an influx

of cars turning around and stopping in

the driveway. But we now have had peo-

ple out on the course wandering around

with their phones in pursuit of some

magical connection. Several people were

stumbling around the pond on hole #9.

Please if you find someone on the

course with only their cell phone, either

explain to them that they can’t safely

continue or simply call the pro shop and

we will send someone out to escort them

off the course.

Improve the course, including: Putting

maintenance free siding on the pump

house, mulching flower beds, finishing

the front of the club house, de-rocking

sand traps, painting and repairing course

signage, repainting all the yellow-blue-

white yardage bricks in the fairways and

increased lighting on the outside of the

building. This fall we will be aerifying

the tee boxes and virta cutting the fair-

ways.

Page 2

Page 3

“Horicon Hills Completes Irrigation”

Superintendent, Gregg Schernicker and his crew have been working full bore on the irri-

gation system at Horicon Hills and are just about done. The team still has some fine tuning to

do, but overall the majority of the project is completed.

Irrigation projects remaining include; adding an irrigation line across the road and add-

ing a loop between holes 7 and 8.

Other projects coming up include sodding a few tee boxes namely #1 red, yellow and

white and #5 red. We will also be addressing several pot holes in fairways by adding sod to

them. We will also have to seed and/or sod trench marks for piping which was done last year.

While working on these projects, we will continue to trim trees to improve play.

When you see Gregg and the crew, let them know what you think of what they are doing

and how much you have noticed the improvements.

HAVE YOU TAKEN THE TIME TO VOTE?

Each year the Golf Course Owners of Wisconsin

Provide you the public player a chance to participate

in the honoring of Courses who excel in key

areas of operation. We hope that we also

excel in these areas and no matter what,

we would like you to vote at:

www.gcow.org (Before September 1st)

(Both Camelot and West Bend Lakes are Past

Winners, of these awards and we hope that

Horicon will soon have that honor too!)

Page 4

Golf Course Owners of Wisconsin

Scholarship Golf Outing

Open to the Public

Monday, September 19th at Door Creek GC, Cottage Grove

Visit: www.gcow.org to sign up

Cost= $100.00 per player (Includes Awards Luncheon, greens fees,

cart, appetizer reception, golf awards and hole prizes)

Golfers compete in a four (4) person scramble format. Two

Divisions: Gross and Net. Teams may win only one division.

Not only does this outing provide scholarships for UW-Stout and Southwest

Technical College, it will provide you with a front row seat when the results of your

votes for the GCOW favorite courses for 2016 are presented.

Many of you may have noticed the new brick treatment on the patio in front of the

main entrance to the Clubhouse. It serves a dual purpose, one is to attract players and

guests to the front door and secondly to provide a relaxing outdoor area for our guests to

enjoy friends, food and even an occasional drink before and after play. We hope you get a

chance to enjoy it.

One of the more important additions to Pat’s maintenance program is the greens

roller. The three courses have been sharing the roller on a 3 week rotation. The main rea-

son for this program was to provide a smoother truer surface and I think we have accom-

plished just that. University research has also shown that rolling can decrease disease

pressure.

As we head towards fall, our main focus will be the tees. We have purchased a used,

but very good aerifier. We will aerifying and heavily topdressing all tees. As time allows,

some of the most uneven tees will be stripped of the sod, leveled and then resodded. I re-

alize that many of our tees have become terribly uneven from frost heaving and settling.

We are committed to keep working on them to bring them back to being level.

Page 5

The Merkel Family of Courses, wanted to thank all those who participated in the 3rd

annual “Stars and Stripes” Golf Outing held at The Golf Club at Camelot on Tuesday, June

14th. This is an effort of love for many individuals and has resulted in many of our deserving

veterans receiving benefits that they would not otherwise be available to them. This year we

raised over $10,000 bringing our 3 year total to $43,600.

The recipients this year were Fisher House Wisconsin, Salute the Troops, Wounded

Warriors—Horicon Marsh and several local American Legion Troops.

Of course it takes dedicated golfers to make this outing a success, but there are a num-

ber of people behind the scenes who truly make this day a success, including:

Marine Corp League Honor Guard from FDL—Presentations of the Colors and Gun Salute

Pastor Jim Schleif—Invocation and Prayer

Emma Sievers—Slinger Graduate—National Anthem

US Navy Reservist Scott Lawrence—Taps Presentation

Angie Christianson—Fisher House Wisconsin

Richard Feustel, Ed Barnes—Salute the Troops

Badger Auction—Live Auction

Elaine & Julie Mueller—Photographers

Our Donors and Sponsors

And all or our volunteers!

The Merkel family wishes to thank Laura and her staff, for all the time and energy she puts

into this event, because without her, this event would be truly difficult.

Don’t forget next year’s date:

Tuesday, June 14th 2017

Page 6

The first annual Tri-Course series was re- cently completed with 18, two person teams competing. That was up from the original 15 teams that started the event at “The Golf Club at

Camelot” in May.

The series was designed to help the members from all three courses get to know each other and the three individual courses better. We tried to keep it simple

and to give players at all levels a chance to win. We want to thank Edgewood Golf Course, Hon-E-Kor, Baraboo Country Club, Beaver Dam Country Club, Quit Qui Oc and Fox Lake Golf Club for donating rounds of golf as prizes. If you play there, be sure to thank them for their generosity.

The second event was held at “The Lakes” where everyone got a chance to play on our original course. WBL members pointed were eager to point out how far we had come over the 22 years and the original 9 holes.

The third and final event was played at “Horicon Hills with 18 teams battling

it out for prizes and most importantly bragging rights. Play was followed up with a beautiful banquet and awards presentation by Jason Roos.

We want to thank the Club Superintendents and Pros for their extra time and

efforts in making sure that everything was ready for play and that the outings ran smoothly. Jason and his staff made sure that the scoring was done consistent and fair and that we were able to hand out the awards quickly.

We hope that next year, more of our members and guests will participate in

this event. We hoped that you all had fun and we encourage everyone to partici-pate. If you have ideas for improving this outing or for new events, please contact me at wblbobmerkel@gmail.com and we will work on them during the off season.

Jeff Werner, a member at WBL’s, commented “that even if you can’t make them all, you can still have fun by entering the single events and you don’t have to be the best golfer to participate and have fun, look who I had for a partner and we still had fun”.

(Final results on page 7)

Page 7

The 4th Annual Golf Fore MS benefit golf outing was held at West Bend Lakes on April

30th

. This outing is a fully sanctioned, “Do It Yourself Fundraiser” for the Wisconsin Chapter of

the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, and kicks off the golf outing season at “The Lakes”.

The outing, in somewhat questionable weather, hosted 123 enthusiastic golfers this year,

and resulted in a check being sent to the MS Society for $9300. A dedicated committee made

up of West Bend Lakes members, Erickson family members and friends and West Bend Lakes

staff have worked hard to make the outing grow from the 25 participants who participated the

first year. This years $9300 donation brings the four year total sent to the MS Society to

$22,400!

The organizing committee would like to thank the staff at West Bend Lakes for their in-

valuable assistance and guidance in helping to make this event a success.

Mark your calendars for next year! The 5th

Golf Fore MS outing will be held on Saturday,

April 29th

, 2017.

Tri Course event***final results

TEAM NAME Event 1 1 Points Event 2 2 Points Event 3 3 Points YTD players

@TMTigerTracker 20 30 20 30 20 30 150 Mark Scharschmidt (full member) Tyler Witkowski (full member)

Par Queens 20 10 20 20 20 30 120 Shari Roos(employee) Natalie Neitzel

The Acushnet's 20 20 20 20 20 10 110 Jack Kiesow(full member) Bimbo Plageman (full member)

Shank-A-Pottamus 20 40 20 5 20 105 Dean Natzke (full member) Nick Wolf(employee)

Hack Attack 20 10 20 20 20 15 105 Kyle Gordon and Aaron Lahr

Team Traul 20 20 20 10 20 10 100 Troy Lund (full member) and Paul Gilster

Super Supers 20 10 20 20 20 90

Lee Merkel(full member), Pat Z.(full member)

Par Wars 20 10 20 10 20 10 90 Laura Beaudoin(full Member) and Gregg Schernecker(full mem)

The Eagles 20 10 20 5 20 10 85 Jim Kiesow (full member) Linda Sigler (full member)

Tired and Retired 20 10 20 0 20 10 80 Bob Merkel (full member) Jeff Werner (full member)

Big Mac's 20 5 20 10 20 75 Dennis Koepsell (full member) Joe McDonald (wkday - member)

Stark's Sharks 20 10 20 0 20 70 Phil Luedkte (full member) Myles Geshke (full member)

Wrong Fairway 20 10 20 0 20 70 Greg Rayome (employee) Mark Hanni

Double Threat 20 0 20 10 20 70 Chad McClanathan and Scott Waehler

Screaming Eagles 20 10 20 0 20 70 Dave Holloway and Steve Langlois

X Rated Fireball 0 0 20 10 20 10 60 Jim Merkel (full member) Lindy Rohlinger(full member)

Mutt and Jeff 0 0 20 5 20 10 55 Jeff Labomascus (Full Member) Rich Moen (full member)

STP 0 0 20 30 50 Scott Trupke and Tony M.

Sunday Morning 0 0 0 0 20 20 40 Dave Bodden (Full Member) Mark Zehren

Page 8

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2016 Nike Vapor Fairways or Hybrids $125.00

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All Clothing and Gloves 20% off

When you mention this ad

920.643.2000 Through September

Nike Gloves 20% off

Nike Balls 25% off

Specials Available Only at Listed Clubs!

Held At: Event:

August 6th: Adam Hartwig Memorial

August 6th: Thane Schwantes Memorial Golf Outing

August 12th: Campbellsport Cougar Booster Club Scramble Fundraiser

August 12th: WSGA Net Partners Qualifier (www.WSGA.org/:tournaments”)

August 14th: Club Championship (Members Only)

August 18th: Stay The Course (Light House of West Bend SRS.)

August 20th: Horicon Boys Basketball Golf Outing

August 20th-21st: Club Championship 2 day 36 Hole Event (Members Only)

August 27th: Pillars Pub

August 28th: Mike Sheehy Memorial

August 28th: Lomira Booster Club Scramble Fundraiser

September 3rd—5th: Labor Day Weekend Golf Specials

September 16th: Swinging For SRS. (West Bend Senior Center)

September 17th: Campbellsport Fire Department Scramble Fundraiser

September 24th: American Heart Association

September 24th: Horicon Girls Basketball Golf Outing

September 25th: Royal-Tee Golf Outing Scramble

October 1st: Rock River Old Timers Golf Outing & Fund Raiser

October 2nd: West Bend Bombers

October 9th: Tough Pin Competition

October 22nd:-23rd: Disc Golf Tournament

Page 9

don’t Forget these dates! Contact the Corresponding Pro Shops to see if there are still openings and for other events!

Unlimited Golf & Cart Weekdays

Includes Sandwich & Beverage

Only $49.00

Don’t Forget!

All 3 Courses Now Serving

A Fabulous Fish Fry

Camelot: 920.269.4949

Horicon Hills: 920.643.2000

West Bend Lakes: 262.675.9922

Page 10

How To Relieve Tension!

If you have ever watched the golfers on the PGA or LPGA Tours many of us say “it

looks like they are barely swinging!” We try to copy this but the results are rarely good. The

reason why their swings look the same every time and so effortless is because they lack neg-

ative tension.

Many of the players I have worked with over the years had this major fault in com-

mon. It is easy for someone else to tell them to “relax”, but doing it can be a tall order. If

you feel you have too much tension in your golf swing these tips may help you:

1. Instead of placing the sole of the club on the ground at address, try hovering over it to re-

lieve tension in the takeaway.

2. Relax your arms. Many people focus on grip pressure only to forget to relax the muscles

in our arms and shoulders.

3. Make sure you have positive thoughts and visualize the results you want.

4. Breathe! Breathe slowly and steadily. Just before you start to swing, exhale.

Hopefully these simple tips will make your swing more repeatable and tension free. If

all else fails a couple beers can be just what you need.

Simple Tips From Adam Leu, West Bend Lakes Director of Golf

“Nice going Annie, Stacy’s ball would be on

the green if you hadn’t gotten in the way!”

Staff Team Building:

SUNDAY, JULY 30TH, BELIEVE IT OR NOT!!

MARK WINKLEFF WAS ATTACKED BY A LARGE BULL FROG ON HOLE 18 AT WEST BEND LAKES

(After the attack, the frog stayed around and watched him putt out!)