A special golf course bunker renovation - Landscapes Unlimited founder Bill Kubly led a meaningful project at Monroe Golf Club.

The Lincoln, Neb.-based company’s résumé is extensive and includes work on several major-championship golf courses, including the construction of Erin Hills Golf Course, the public venue in Erin, Wis., that hosted the 2017 U.S. Open. But for Kubly, who turned 75 in July, no project hit closer to home and his heart than the recent bunker renovation he led at Monroe Golf Club in Monroe, Wis., where Kubly grew up.

Monroe GC celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2023 with new hope after three local businessmen stepped in to buy the struggling course.

The club, which opened in the summer of 1923 and was private for decades, opened its tee sheets to the public three years ago in an effort to offset mounting debt, but didn’t see much of a bump in rounds played despite record participation nationwide.

There haven’t been nearly as many 18-hole golf courses built in Wisconsin over the last decade or so compared with the late 1990s and early 2000s, but The Sweet Spot would like to offer a standing ovation for the emphasis on the most recent construction boom: The 19th hole!

We were reminded of that last week when the Fat Badger Pub & Grill opened inside the clubhouse at Monroe Golf Club. Like the golf course, the restaurant – being described on social media as a gastropub – is open to the public.