Waukewan Golf Club
News
With a touch of sadness and a bit of elation, the time came to close operations for the 2025 golf season at Waukewan. Feelings of sadness welled up inside as we bid a short-term farewell to our long running and newest members alike while elation enveloped the timing of the closure knowing that much needed autumn storms have begun rolling through helping to replenish the surface and sub-surface water resources which will be relied upon during the upcoming season. Following our closing date, someone flipped a switch that sent temperatures tumbling up to 15 degrees below normal with no signs of a reversal to date. The storms so far in November have brought some unwelcome winds that toppled some trees around the property, but Tom and his crew were quick to clean things up and get the greens treated and covered as of the time of this writing. We at Waukewan want to thank you all for your contributions in making this another great year.
We made mention last year regarding the recent sales and closures of golf courses in our area and that we hadn’t yet experienced the full gravity of all this movement. Well, over the course of the 2025 season, our membership grew thirty percent year-over-year and that is a good indicator that golfers are searching for alternatives to their existing situations. As a result, public play was somewhat flat year-over-year with a decline in rounds played of nine percent, while member play during the same period experienced an increase in rounds played of forty-two percent. Some of the decline in public play can be attributed to the month of May, but your membership dollars carried us through.
With that said, we continue to make investments in equipment and personnel. We were successful in hiring on peak season summertime labor that enabled us to have our grounds team focused on the heavy lifting that is necessary to keep the golf course in great condition throughout the summer months. Also, some of our seasonal grounds’ hires also doubled as pro shop assistants during the busiest days of the week to keep tasks running smoothly inside. There were many purchases of machinery that took place over the summer months and into the fall. Some of note were a power topdressing greens brush used to move sand into the aeration holes limiting turf damage throughout this process, an updated used fairway mower as our existing unit is becoming difficult to source parts, two new utility carts for grounds as our existing equipment is aging and performing marginally, and a new aeration unit as our old unit falls under the same category as our aged fairway mower. My favorite though, a commercial meat slicer so that Jill and the ladies can continue to put out some of the best subs possible 😊. Again, we hope to continue to consider these types of purchases and improvements to provide you with better playing conditions and experiences year after year.
Every year our New England weather presents unique challenges for all our departments of the Club and this year was no exception. Can you believe that we started off at the end of April with all the optimism in the world only to have May greet us with over ten inches of rain. We appreciated your patience as we worked hard to get carts around the course when we could and had to pull them occasionally when conditions were warranted. Was this going to be a mirror image of the 2023 season that was probably one of the wettest summers that we had experienced during the last decade? Not a chance. The month of June began to return to normal seasonal rainfall which paved the way for dry conditions and long, long stretches without any precipitation whatsoever. Although dry is generally what we pray for at Waukewan, there were times that we looked toward the sky with outstretched arms begging for some rain to relax for a day or two and give the course a chance to hydrate. Those days were few and far between. Again, the one thing that stood out to our members and the public at large was the season-long health and consistency of our greens. Tom has the education, experience, and local knowledge of our turf to keep them rolling no matter what mother nature brings year to year. We consistently hear members as well as guests comment that they haven’t visited a club that has any better greens than ours.
We are still firming up our Calendar of Events. Some tournament events have been booked, but some have not been committed yet. To date, we have not posted our calendar of events on our website but will be working to firm up dates as we move into the new year. As we move through the winter months, and as more events are scheduled, we will post them on our website, so please remember to check our calendar on-line as additions and changes to scheduled events will be posted. We will also update our calendar and send that along with our springtime welcome letter to the members that have signed on by that mailing date.
We would like to again thank all our members who commit to join early. This is important to all of us at Waukewan as much of the course improvement, maintenance, and planning is done for the year to come in the off season. These early memberships provide us with the capability to follow through and complete many maintenance projects and purchases in the off season. As a reminder, if you do wish to join as a member for the 2026 season, please take note of the discounts available to you for early signup by January 18th and February 16th. After then, the discounts will no longer be available to you and pricing will revert to full list price for the remainder of the year.
If you choose to continue your membership in the coming years, we hope that you observe and enjoy the playing conditions and improvements that are being provided for you. As always, we are committed to making Waukewan Golf Club the best golfing experience possible! Have a Merry Christmas and a safe, Happy New Year to follow. Looking forward to seeing you all next year.
Yours Truly,
Tim and Jill and the entire Waukewan Staff