With a new golf professional and Executive Chef on staff, the 255-member, 18-hole facility is updating its offerings, including adding a new pro shop called Joe Hatch’s Golf Shop. Oliphant Golf will work on landscaping and a golf course redesign over the next few years, portions of the clubhouse have been renovated, and the dining menu has been overhauled.
While another round of snowfall this week might keep the idea of golf far from some people’s minds, Stevens Point (Wis.) Country Club staff members are feverishly working to unveil an updated club, the Stephens Point Journal reported.
The club has been a fixture in the Stevens Point community since the original 9-hole course was built in 1927. Today, the club has about 255 members, as well as 18 holes, a pro shop, a clubhouse for dining and meetings, a pool and tennis courts, the Journal reported.
In the last two years, the club also has added new staff members who are changing the experience people have both on and off the course. The most recent hire is Joe Hatch, the new club professional. Hatch, 26, was hired in February to replace Greg Pezl, who left the club after nearly 23 years. Hatch had most recently served as first assistant golf professional at Chenequa Country Club in Hartland, the Journal reported.
Hatch spent his first month on the job getting to know his surroundings and the membership of the club. He’s also working on getting his new pro shop, Joe Hatch’s Golf Shop, ready to open. The business will have golf equipment and apparel, and Hatch said he was fortunate to have previous relationships with vendors in the state in order to get products into the shop on time, the Journal reported.
“If I didn’t have those relationships, it would have been tough,” Hatch said. “I’m fortunate, because I get the opportunity to build something here that’s new.”
Course Superintendent John Femal said the course itself will begin to see changes as a result of a new partnership with Oliphant Golf, a nationally recognized golf course development, construction and management company. Oliphant will help with some smaller changes such as landscaping and later with some redesign of the course itself during the next several years, Femal said.
Hatch pointed out that dining areas in the clubhouse already have been renovated with new lighting and designs for the walls, and the club’s pool will have some work done once the snow melts, the Journal reported.
The dining menu in the club also has been overhauled in the past year. Executive Chef Zack Zeihen was brought on board in May 2013. Today, the menu includes Maryland blue crab cakes, hazelnut stuffed apple salad, southwest grilled chicken hoagie and braised Angus short ribs. The menu changes once a month during the summer and every few weeks during the winter, Zeihen said, and there are a number of specials each day. Zeihen also does public banquets and events, the Journal reported.
“It was a different experience for me, learning how to cook quality food for banquets while at the same time developing this new menu,” said Zeihen. “I think we have something that appeals to people who have been coming for a long time, and also for our younger members.”
Tell Us What You Think!
You must be logged in to post a comment.