Wildwood Golf Club turns 100 after surviving wars and recession; “We made it,” says GM
The Wildwood Golf Club in Middletown has renovated its clubhouse and pro shop and upgraded its sand traps and cart paths to attract new members. RICK McCRABB/STAFF
The Wildwood Golf Club in Middletown has renovated its clubhouse and pro shop and upgraded its sand traps and cart paths to attract new members. RICK McCRABB/STAFF
Although his board and members have praised Lawson for his leadership, he doesn’t like to take credit. It belongs to the members, some of whom have more brushes and hammers than golf clubs.
The members were instrumental in Wildwood’s renovation of its pro shop, clubhouse, pool and men’s locker room, according to Lawson.
“The members who are here own the club,” he said as he sat in the clubhouse which was recently upgraded with new ceiling tiles and flooring. “When it comes to volunteering, I pit us against anybody.”
Charlie Weidner, 82, a member of Wildwood since 1970, agreed. “It’s our club,” he said of the members. “It’s our home.”
Weidner said that when his son was 8, he would drop him off at Wildwood. Eventually his son would connect with elders who drove him around in their carts.
“People took care of the people who were here,” he said.
The Wildwood Golf Club in Middletown has renovated its clubhouse and pro shop and upgraded its sand traps and cart paths to attract new members. RICK McCRABB/STAFF
The Wildwood Golf Club in Middletown has renovated its clubhouse and pro shop and upgraded its sand traps and cart paths to attract new members. RICK McCRABB/STAFF
Wildwood has remained relevant, Weidner said, because the members are “just friendly and everyone is the same. I wouldn’t have stayed anywhere else. Every day I come here, I see someone I know.
Over the years, Weidner has frequently seen a member of the Morris family at the clubhouse or on the course. Luther and Barbara Morris purchased a family membership for themselves and their children, Mike and Marianne, who played golf professionally. Barbara Morris, 86, has been with Wildwood for 70 years, the longest of any member.
“It was the perfect place to raise kids,” she said. “When they were there, I didn’t have to worry about them.”
When Lawson recruits a new member, he doesn’t pretend Wildwood is something he isn’t. He tells them that Wildwood is exclusively private, but “a family golf club”.
Paul Mosko, member since 1985 and chairman of the board, remembers a time when there was a picture of members’ children playing in one of the bunkers. The course superintendent was questioned about this photo by other course superintendents.
He told them, “We’re not a country club. We are a golf club that parties like a country club.
It didn’t take Lawson long after he was hired to notice that the facilities at Wildwood were “very old-fashioned.” This included the bunkers, cart paths, pool, clubhouse, lockers, parking lot, and front steps.
“He needed a new life,” he said. “It’s lovely to be old, but not when everything’s broken.”
The Wildwood Golf Club opened its doors 100 years ago when it was owned by Armco. The private club has 300 member golfers. RICK McCRABB/STAFF
The Wildwood Golf Club opened its doors 100 years ago when it was owned by Armco. The private club has 300 member golfers. RICK McCRABB/STAFF
Over a three-year period, the course spent $700,000 on capital improvement projects, he said. Right after upgrading sand traps and cart paths, membership increased by 60, according to Lawson.
“We really paid attention to what people wanted,” he said. “It’s about improving the product.”
Lawson, hired as chief professional, now serves as general manager. He soon realized that Wildwood could not survive with volunteer board members working in the kitchen and behind the bar.
“You need someone to steer the ship,” he said.
The bar business went from losing $60,000 a year to $50,000, Lawson said.
Mosko said Wildwood was struggling to pay off his debt, but now, due to increased memberships and volunteer work, he’s in “good financial shape.”
Many of these new members live outside of the Middletown community, Lawson said. Wildwood draws golfers from communities south of Dayton and north of Cincinnati and has one member who drives from northern Kentucky three days a week.
“We’re where the action and the fun are,” said Lawson, who joked that he was like a circus ringleader. “We organize events, take drinks in their hands and have a good time.”