Love everything about this except the caddie program. The group of golfers that want to play a 9 hole neighborhood course and the group of golfers that will pay for a caddie look like this OO as a venn diagram.
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Are they taking out-of-state votes into consideration?
I will vote in support for it lol
Honestly, I kind of want to learn more about that program. If it becomes free to use because the Keiserās are going to fund that too, fine. But thereās zero chance I need somebody to carry my Sunday bag for a quick loop before I head up to the Village Bar for a burger and beer after.
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The caddie program was definitely an interesting add. Sounds like it came about very last minute as Keiser was approached by Evans Scholars after they announced the project a week or two ago. It was presented as though the caddie fee would be funded through some combination of Keiser/WGA grant and the player would be encouraged to tip. So without a caddie fee it might get some traction. But I was quite skeptical as wellā¦ its a 9 hole loop and if it takes more than 1.5 hours something has gone wrong. Doesnāt exactly scream for a caddie program. On the flip side if they maintain the existing standards of yardage markings a caddie could be useful so maybe there is a strategic play there.
In general it seemed like kind of a throw-in, not totally thought out at this point. Will be interesting to see if it remains part of the program. Also will be interesting to see if the course gets enough attention to draw in out of town visitors that are flying in/out to hit SV, Lawsonia, Erin Hills, etc and maybe that crowd would be more interested? I think Winter Park 9 hit that point early on but curious how much out of town play they get now that buzz has died down.
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Iām guessing the Evans program wonāt be a full-time deal like you see at the bigger privates. If you book ahead and ask for a caddy the club will call for a caddy. There may be a caddy, there may not be when you show up.
This was the deal at LLB last Fall.
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Agree here. Likely similar to LLB setup as in they are affiliated with a caddie program but do not have an on-site caddie shack.
Iām not surprised Keiser is pushing for a caddie program. From some of the interviews Iāve seen/read, heās a big proponent of using a caddie. Even in his private club, The Dunes Club, as a guest, theyāll let you play but they do ask you to use a caddie, on a 9-hole course too. I believe he thinks itās all for the betterment of the game.
I agree its a great concept but they also need to know their audience. The clientele at Glenway is an entirely new demographic for the Keiser family. I know CommonGround out in Colorado runs something similar but on an 18 hole course. Goat Hill out in CA might also have something similar. Would be very curious to see what their usage rates are. Either way there isnāt really a lot of downside to it and if it gets traction then great.
Thatās Mike Keiser, not his son Michael who is writing the check for this project. Not sure that the apple falls all that far from the tree, but I also see it as a fine thing if they arenāt charging you to use them but asking that you tip. As a younger kid, that was an amazing way for me to get into the game and wish that I would have had more opportunities for it than I did before moving on to just being a cart jockey.
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This looks awesome - my brother lives in Madison, so I am looking forward to it. I glanced through the presentation quickly, so apologies if I missed it, but do they have a timeline on when this will begin/be completed?
The deal was that they were going to start this spring when the snow melted and open for play in 2022.
Anybody who does go to play, stop at the Village Bar after, itās really a Madison staple.
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We may as well schedule the meetup now.
What weekends work in 2022 for everyone? 
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I got something at 11.
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They were definitely pushing to get the work done in 2021. Sounds like they will be leveraging some resources from the Lido development that may not be available if the city doesnāt commit to the timeline.
Unrelated - saw this and had to laugh. Tough to sell golf as a sport with headlines like this.
More potential events for any Golferās Journal subscribersā¦ looks like they are coming to Lac la Belle July 12th after their Sand Valley event the week before. Keep those calendars flexible!
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Greetings from across the crick. Question for anyone with insight into St. Germain up by Minocqua. I played the course around 15 years ago, donāt remember much about it. Taking a 16 man golf trip up there again in June. Question is, is it worth $53/18, $71/w cart??
Decent track but Iād play Timber Ridge instead
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Itās fine, but like @DrK said your probably going to have more fun at Timber. Trout lake is also not a bad option for a larger group like yours.
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Thx. I think I can convince our Commish to play all 3. We did that when we went there years agoā¦
Thanks guys.