History
The history of the Plum Lake Golf Club—One of the most storied courses in all of Wisconsin.
It was the Summer of 1909, two years before the town of Plum Lake was established, that Fred James, one of the first summer residents on Plum Lake, persuaded Herb Warner that a golf course would be good for the local economy. Warner at the time was developing a summer resort on the North shore and a dairy farm across the lake. He donated the land from his South shore acreage, as well as the necessary labor to clear the designated area. The stumps left by the logging were as large as six feet across and not easy to remove. The holes kept sinking and had to be filled and topped many times. Narrow gauge logging train tracks had to be removed and healing those scars was a momentous job taking nearly two years.
Tom Bennet was then hired to lay out the golf course and once done to maintain it. Horses were used to mow fairways and hand mowers to mow greens. Water and sand were provided for teeing off, which was done by placing the ball on a mound of damp sand. Mr. Bennet initially wanted to fill in the “pot hole” (hole number four), a par three that sits approximately twenty feet below the fairway. Mr. Warner insisted that this was a unique feature not to be changed and it hasn’t been to this day. Finally in 1912, after a meeting with lake residents and assurances of the success of the course by Mr. Warner, articles of incorporation were filed with the Register of Deeds of Vilas County.
Mr. Warner moved his farm house to the lake to serve as a club house and Pete Jans was hired as the club’s Head Professional. Immediately, the Club became the hub of social life in the area. Many tournaments, the annual Regatta, dance parties, and bridge clubs made the construction of a new bigger clubhouse necessary. In 1923, construction of the current clubhouse began. Besides a few additions over the years, it remains relatively the same as it was back then.
Tom Bennet was then hired to lay out the golf course and once done to maintain it. Horses were used to mow fairways and hand mowers to mow greens. Water and sand were provided for teeing off, which was done by placing the ball on a mound of damp sand. Mr. Bennet initially wanted to fill in the “pot hole” (hole number four), a par three that sits approximately twenty feet below the fairway. Mr. Warner insisted that this was a unique feature not to be changed and it hasn’t been to this day. Finally in 1912, after a meeting with lake residents and assurances of the success of the course by Mr. Warner, articles of incorporation were filed with the Register of Deeds of Vilas County.
Mr. Warner moved his farm house to the lake to serve as a club house and Pete Jans was hired as the club’s Head Professional. Immediately, the Club became the hub of social life in the area. Many tournaments, the annual Regatta, dance parties, and bridge clubs made the construction of a new bigger clubhouse necessary. In 1923, construction of the current clubhouse began. Besides a few additions over the years, it remains relatively the same as it was back then.