The Whitnall Park Golf Course, part of the Milwaukee County chain of municipal courses, had some unwelcome guests over the weekend.
The greens for holes 13 and 14 were seemingly used for some unauthorized off-roading with large tire tracks left in the green. Franklin police said the damage was done between 7 p.m. Oct. 2 and 7:15 a.m. Oct. 3.
Police, who are still investigating, don’t yet have an estimate on the cost to repair the damage.
Both holes are now closed, as temporary greens are being cut into the fairway for golfers, according to Milwaukee County Parks. The front nine greens and the remaining seven back nine were not impacted and are open.
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“Our amazing golf team is hard at work to get the course repaired and ready to go for next season,” Milwaukee County Parks said in a statement on Facebook. “Unfortunately, that means that the greens will not be in good condition for the rest of fall 2020 and potentially into next spring 2021. Our goal is to get them healed for the 2021 summer season.”
Whitnall Park gets the most play of all the courses in the Milwaukee County Parks chain, a 15-course conglomerate that ranks only behind Los Angeles in terms of largest municipal course circuits in the country.
Whitnall Park Golf Course, which opened its doors in 1932, was designed by George Hansen, who also designed nearby Brown Deer Park — the latter is famous for being the host at the first PGA Tour event ever played by Tiger Woods.
Whitnall Park isn’t long by modern standards, but it’s tree-lined and has been a popular spot for Milwaukee-area golfers for decades, offering a number of elevation changes and some difficult greens.
Contact Erik S. Hanley at (262) 875-9467 or erik.hanley@jrn.com. Follow him on Twitter at @ES_Hanley.