Thorp Courier, Thorp, WI

October 14, 2009, Page 8

Transcribed by Dolores Kenyon.

Clark County Press, Neillsville, WI

May 20, 2009, Page 19

Transcribed by Dolores Mohr Kenyon

Owen Golf Course celebrates 80 years

From meadow to Meadowview – Owen’s love affair with golf

Golf – that sport where we chase the illusive ball around the course, attempting to land them into the required holes with the fewest number of hits possible. At times, the game can be frustrating, but once hooked you know you will always come back.  From the first sunshiny days until the snow is hitting us in the backs, eager golfers will load up their clubs and hit the course again and again.

This “love affair” with golf is what prompted a group of individuals to band together and bring the first golf course to the Clark County area.  The first meeting was held in the Director’s Room of the State Bank of Owen in August of 1927.  The group selected three locations in the area with the potential to develop a future nine-hole country club and tennis grounds.  All present committed to memberships and planned to make further developments after enough memberships were obtained to maintain the course.

A year later, however, progress had not been made and area resident Lew Bulgrin set out to collect a total of 50 members.

“We believe the time is coming when most every community of any size will have a public golf course,” published the editor of The Owen Enterprise while trying to drum up interest.  “There is no good reason why they should not.  A public course will pay for its own upkeep in the average small community.  If this is true, a golf course would be a good investment for any city.”

By October of 1928, 50 members had pledged their membership, and an organizational meeting was held.  With the assistance of representatives from the Eau Claire Country Club, a grounds committee was formed and the course was laid out.  Bylaws were drawn up from those already established by the Menomonie Country Club, as well as the Marshfield Golf Club, and the membership limit was placed at 100.

In the spring of 1929, work began on land leased from the John S. Owen Lumber Company that had previously been used as a pasture.  “The horse barn (for the John S. Owen Lumber Company) once stood on Hole #3,” explained Meadowview manager Ray Luzinski.

By late April, committees and officers had been appointed to oversee course development and a charter was applied for by 10 individuals. These charter members included: Bill Mahoney, E. W. Kidd, Henry Wollum, Gunder Anderson and Francis Conway.  Temporary officers and committees appointed included: A. R. Owen, chairman; L. E. Bulgrin, secretary/treasurer; M. H. Duncan, A. R. Owen, and E. A. Owen, Grounds Committee; V. F. Shereda, Allen Olson, and Harry L. Palms, Organizational Committee; E. W. Kidd, G. E. Anderson, Rudolph Berger, and mrs. H. L. Palms, Membership Committee.

The country club, previously referred to as the Owen Golf Club, needed to be christened with a name.  It is unclear who came up with the name, but the individual that came up with “Meadowview Country Club” was gifted with a golf club by a local reverend, Father Taylor.

By June, work was completed on the course and Arthur Brown of the Eau Claire Country Club was hired on as the golf professional.  Memberships were set at $10 per year, with only those holding memberships able to use the course.  A renovated railroad boxcar was moved to the grounds to be used as a club house.

The original clubhouse was an old railroad boxcar which was moved to the course grounds and converted into a clubhouse.  Contributed photo!

Several decades later, the descendants of A. R. Owen would turn the property over to the Meadowview Country Club.  “According to the abstract, ownership of the land and property was taken over in the early 1950s,” states Luzinski.  “It operated as a private club until the early 1960s and it has been public since then.”

The golf course later incorporated and expanded its operations.  In 1979, the course completed an extensive addition to the clubhouse doubling it in size.  The addition added a large horseshoe-shaped bar, a spacious dining hall, a pro shop, manager’s office, and a state-of-the-art kitchen.

The original section of the new clubhouse: In 1979, an addition was completed to the east side of the building, doubling the clubhouse in size.  Contributed photo!

Although it became a public course, 80 years later, the course is still run by a board of directors, with Ray and Neal Luzinski sharing the positions of manager and head groundskeeper.  The small town of Owen takes pride and enjoyment in its local course, with its world class service and beautifully manicured fairways and greens that provide quality playing conditions for golfers of all abilities.

“We are City Park,” says Ray.   “We are no different – the only thing that is different is we are self sufficient and pay real estate tax.”

Today, the course is home to 170 to 200 members, two men’s leagues, and one ladies league and high school golf.  The course is also noted for its hospitality towards kids on the course.  “We try to be kid friendly,” explains Ray.  “Those are tomorrow’s golfers.”

In addition to golfing facilities, Meadowview boasts a daily lunch menu and an excellent Friday Fish Fry, as well as accommodations for large group bookings.

Meadowview Golf Course is located one-half mile north of STH 29 on CTH X in the City of Owen.  The course is open to the public seen days a week during the summer months.

The current Meadowview Golf Course is celebrating 80 years in operation this summer. Contributed photo

Story and photos by Kris Leonhardt of the O-W Enterprise