A plum lakeside location
Plum Lake GC will celebrate its centennial this summer
new history of Plum Lake GC in lovely Sayner has
been published for the club’s 100th birthday, and I
A century ago, even as northern Wisconsin’s logging
era had exhausted one use of the land, the emergence of
tourism and recreation brought new prospects. In “One
Hundred Years of Golf At Plum Lake Golf Club,” Phyllis
Schnettler notes that as early as 1909 local businessman
Herb Warner and summer resident and golf enthusiast
Fred James were driving the effort to bring golf to Plum
Lake. They were eventually joined by 18 other
“founders,” many of whom Schnettler described as “from
wealthy and distinguished families.”
And from all across the country. Some founders were
Wisconsin men who had made their stake in lumbering,
but others included C.C. Bird, a Wausau attorney and
later judge; Thomas W. Goodspeed, a Baptist minister
and education leader from Chicago; and William Hook, a
federal judge from Kansas. Fred James was a wealthy in-
A
surance broker from Chicago; Orrin W. Sayner was a
Plum Lake pioneer, resort owner and namesake of the
nearby community.
The founders were also neighbors, friends and summer
residents of Plum Lake. When Judge Hook died at his
summer home in 1921, Rev. Goodspeed performed a funeral service under the trees on Hook’s property.
Land for the course came from Warner, who had earlier
bought 240 acres of logged over land, including 40 of
lakeshore. Warner also donated the labor to clear
stumps, fill holes and take out the narrow-gauge railroad
track loggers had installed, but not all traces of the land’s
former uses were erased. The deep gash across the ninth
fairway yet today is a remnant of that narrow-gauge train.
Incorporation papers declared intentions “to promote
and encourage outdoor sports, particularly the game of
golf, and to conserve and advance the interests of Plum
Lake.” It also soon became the center of social life on the
lake, of which those same papers had said, “Among the
hundreds of lakes in northern Wisconsin, Plum Lake is
one of the most attractive.” The club soon hosted a boat
regatta that became a summer highlight and dances,
bridge games and other gatherings were held at the
clubhouse, first at the original structure but after 1923 in
the handsome log clubhouse that graces the lakeshore
yet today.
and horse-drawn mowers in its early years. One of the
course’s quirkiest – but also popular – features today is
the “pothole” or “sugar bowl” par- 3 4th hole with its
sunken green, but it almost was eliminated at the start.
Architect Tom Bennett wanted to fill the 20-foot hole
where the green is located but Herb Warner insisted it
was “a unique feature not to be changed.”
It was not always smooth sailing. The course was aban-
doned during World War II and left to grow wild, but in
1944 the Fox twins, Herbert and Stuart, cut the hay that
had taken over and sold it to benefit the course, which
soon reclaimed its pre-war condition and has ever since
stood ready to host members, some who reach back to
course founders, and near-annual visitors like me.
For its centennial, Plum Lake will revive old delights. A
1900s-themed boat regatta and picnic is scheduled on
the lake for July 31, and a throwback golf tournament utilizing hichory-shafted clubs and sand tees will take place
on July 24. Check
www.plumlakegolf.com for event
dates, or stop any time to enjoy this historic track and, of
course, its wonderful screen porch. As 10th holes go, it’s
as good as it gets. ;; ___________________________________________________
