Peninsula Park Golf: 1958 to 2013

Today we played golf at Peninsula State Park in Ephraim, WI. It was built in 1921 and has gone through many changes over the years. When you play the course, you can clearly see cuts through the thick woods, mounds that once were either greens or tees and one parapet next to the current 8th hole that, until recently, was overgrown with trees. For many years I have been asking questions about all this and haven't always received consistent answers. Today, some of the mystery was cleared up.

The 1958 Course Layout (above, click to enlarge) was posted in the club house and it was very interesting when compared with the current course layout (below, notice that the map has been rotated to the left). 

A few points of comparison:

• The parapet next to the current 8th hole was the tee box for the original 2nd hole.
• The 5th hole used to be across Hwy 42 where the new Peninsula Park Short Course is now located (scheduled to open in 2014). Hwy 42 had very little traffic in 1958, unlike today!
• The 6th, 7th and 8th holes are now the driving range.
• The 8th tee box is now the 9th tee box but the green is the same (into the wind, this is a very difficult hole).
• The 10th hole was moved West and cut through the woods as an up-hill dog-leg left.
• The 4th hole is now the 8th hole (the course's signature but somewhat goofy down-hill par three).
• The 16th hole is the same but the 14th and the 15th have moved (this is still an interesting and confusing part of the course to me with many paths through the trees that were once fairways).
• The dreaded 17th hole is the same, a down-hill par 3 with a severely sloping green that's impossible to putt from anywhere but straight below the hole (this hole is the subject of most suggestion box comments every year--my suggestion: create three, level tiers on the current green similar to the links course greens at Lawsonia).
• The 18th hole is now a par 4 (into the wind it plays like a par 5).

I should also comment that the course is in great shape, particularly the traps have all been meticulously rebuilt and filled with sand (this is a shout-out to my neighbor, Darryl Jaraczwski, who supervised the reconstruction). You can read more of the interesting Peninsula State Park Golf Course history here.