NMGC History

The Nagawaukee Mens’ Club was formed!
The year was 1967. The 500th U. S. jet plane was shot down in North Vietnam as American protests heated up; Eddie Mathews hit his 500th career home run; Mickey Mantle hit his 500th career home run; Muhammad Ali was sentenced to 5 years in prison for refusing to go into the army; Boston Strangler Albert De Salvo was convicted; Jack Nicklaus won the U. S. Open; Jimmy Hoffa was sentenced to 8 years in prison; the Bell System installed its 100-millionth telephone; and Jim Ryan ran a 3:51:1 mile, a new world record. It was quite a year. Though maybe not as epic, it was also the year that the Nagawaukee Mens’ Club was formed.

Hey guys, this new course needs a mens’club!
The Nagawaukee Golf Course opened in 1966 and it wasn’t long thereafter that eventual multiple club champion Darryl Kaufmann and three others decided to start the club. Kaufmann said about 34 players formed the first 9-hole club. After the first year, it went to 18 holes but new members off the waiting list had to be 9-hole players first. Jim Hall was the first president. Harlan Schultz was the first vice-president. After 2 years, the club expanded to 64 members, then to 96, and up to 128. There was always a waiting list. Kaufmann, who won his first championship in 1967, said the championship was decided by 36 holes, as opposed to 18 today.

The Nagawaukee Golf Course has had some memorable club pros.
The first was Frank Desantis, who cooperated with the Mens’ Club during the club’s early years. He was replaced by Lyman Duchert, who was followed by Pete Schlicht, and then Tom Halla. Duchert, known as "Duke", was very diplomatic and kind. He could handle any situation, especially when golfers became irate over one thing or another. By the time Duke calmly explained "the way things were going to be", the issue was over and no more questions were asked. Tom Halla is the present club pro. An accomplished competitive golfer, his game is a role model for the other members (Tom is a member of the club).

Back in the 1960’s and 1970’s, the Mens’ Club held season opening meetings at the Lakeview Lanes on Highway SS in Pewaukee. The club bought the beer and the meetings were lively, to say the least. Even back then, the main topic was slow play. Nothing new today. Monthly events took a little more effort in the earlier days. Waukesha County did not grant the club tee times, so, just like the rest of the public, the club members had to camp at the clubhouse front door the week before an event and sign up for tee times. One member could sign up for two tee times, so depending upon the number of players for the next week, 15-20 players would show up at the door at about 3 or 4 AM and sit and tell stories until the door opened at about 5. I remember one morning the door was opened by a young man who I’m sure never drove up to the clubhouse that morning. I guess he spent the night in the back room.

The old clubhouse has got to go!
When Nagawaukee Golf Course opened in 1966, the clubhouse was an old farmhouse on the east side of Maple Avenue, across the street from the course. The speed limit on Maple was 45 miles per hour and it was just a matter of time before a golf cart was smashed by a car coming around the corner. Tom Hartnett, who joined the club in 1976 said "we were sitting at an accident waiting to happen spot," referring to Maple Avenue. So he did something about it. Representing the Mens’ Club and as taxpayers, Hartnett, Skip Burnside, and Duke met with the Waukesha County Park and Recreation Department in the Spring of 1981 and things began to happen. Even before that, Hartnett, Burnside, and member Fred Reich went to other courses to observe their clubhouses. It would cost about $535,000 to build the Nagawaukee clubhouse based on plans that were then devised, still more than the county wanted to pay. The present clubhouse was finally built in 1991 for about $475,000, thanks in part to members of the Nagawaukee Mens’ Club. Hartnett remembers that before the new building, Nagawaukee had one "bathroom" on the course, an outhouse.

We had some characters!
How can any longtime member forget Don Turek, Dan Gibb, Lee "Longball" Lambrecht, Fred Reich, Fred Spytek, and Jerry Kronsnoble? Don Turek was the director of the War Memorial Center in Milwaukee. He was an excellent speaker and writer, and wrote an entertaining newsletter for the club. He played a lot of golf and once said that he drove his convertible so his employees thought his tan came from riding in the car, when it really came from the golf course. He was Dan Gibb’s 2-man partner, and would just grin when accused of being a sandbagger, thinking it was a psychological advantage and knowing, of course, it could not have possibly been true. Dan Gibb, who died when 60 years old, was one of the low-handicap players in the club who could hit a 3 iron further than most of the members could hit a driver, including himself; just an excellent iron player. He had a deep laugh and was great fun at parties. Lee "Longball " Lambrecht also died too soon. He was nearly a scratch player at Brown Deer before he got married and, due to failing health, lost his game on the scorecard, but never in his mind. Nobody knows where the name "Longball" came from, but he had tees with "Longball" printed on them, and when called at home, his wife Jo would shout, "Longball, it’s for you!" The trap in front of the 14th green is named "Longball’s Trap" because he went into it on every round. Longball would negotiate for strokes on the first hole with Fred Reich and get him as upset as he could, and then look away at someone and wink. What could be funnier than that! Fred Reich was truly a "Steady Freddie" on the course…very straight hitter. He talked a lot, played hard, and knew everyone. Reich was a former President of the club, and was involved with club matches against Brown Deer, Yahara Hills, Lake Windsor, and other clubs. At the end of his career (he died in the late 1990’s), Reich was hired by Duke to ranger the course. He loved the job. He hated rule-breakers. The number one violation in all the world in his mind was to play with no shirt on. He gave warnings, spied from the hills for repeat violators, and even once had to politely tell singer Willie Nelson and his people to put their shirts on. He particularly disliked players hitching a ride on the back of a cart on #15, or drinking alcohol on the course. When he caught drinkers, he gave them a warning. After the second or third time, he would wait until they got out of their cart to hit, quickly drive up and yank the keys out of their car. Whatever it took, right? The only thing that was missing on his ranger cart was a flashing red light and a siren. But, he was fair and passionate.

He loved the Mens’ Club and Nagawaukee.
Fred Spytek was legendary for his length off the tee. Fred was a tall power hitter on the University of Wisconsin baseball team not too many years earlier, and loved to aim over the pond on number 4 and hit a high slow draw that nearly made the green. His swing was effortless, but the ball sounded differently than anything the club members had ever heard before. Fred took his score casually and was known for being as good-natured as talented. Who was more good-natured, though, than "The Kronz"? The late Jerry Kronsnoble was not only a very good player, but was a joke-master. Sort of like Morey Amsterdam on the Dick Van Dyke Show, you could name a topic and The Kronz had a joke. The Kronz was a good name for him, too, because he was very cool. He had a deep radio voice, laughed a lot, and was the club’s version of "The Fonz".

Now the Nagawaukee Mens’ Club is in its sixth decade. Just a guess, but the club has probably had over 500 members over the years. The friendships and memories are endless. I’m sure the club will one day celebrate its 100th anniversary and this little summary of the first 50+ years will be rewritten over and over again.