A Century on the Green: Women's Golf History at the Stevens Point Country Club
- Cheyenne Antell
- Aug 30
- 9 min read
From the original planning of the Stevens Point Country Club all the way to 2025, women have had a strong role in forming SPCC into the destination course it is today. Read on to learn just a few of the many stories of influential women in this community.
Table of contents:
The Land That Formed the Stevens Point Country Club
The First Women's Golf Championship Cup Winners
Women's Golf Association
Northeastern Women's Golf Association
Sponsored Tournament Cups
News Channel 7 Ladies Golf Tournament
Title IX and High School Girls' Golf Teams
Wisconsin Women's State Golf Association
The Land That Formed the Stevens Point Country Club
Mary was born in Poland in 1852, emigrating to America with her family when she was young. She lived in Milwaukee until she married William Laskowski and moved to Hull. Later they purchased property along the Plover River just east of Stevens Point. After William passed away in 1921, Mary spent her twilight years visiting with friends and family. She sold her land to the planning committee for the future Stevens Point Country Club before passing away on February 7, 1927, just a few months before the course opened. It was her land, and the Denelski land next door, that gave the planning committee enough property to build the course.
The First Women's Golf Championship Cup Winners
Olive Kenkel
Olive won the first Women's Golf Championship tournament at SPCC in 1929. Olive competed against 15 other women and narrowly beat Dorothy Harwood; after 15 holes Dorothy had scored 104 and Olive scored 102.
Ella Jacobs
In 1931 the Women's Golf Championship finally had a physical cup to be won. Ella Jacobs, wife of Carl Jacobs, was the first to have her name engraved on the cup. She beat Alice McCarthy over 36 holes. Alice scored 181 and Ella scored 158.
Ferol Gullikson
Club Championship rules stated that whoever won the cup 3 years in a row could take the cup. In 1936 Ferol Gullikson was the first woman to take home the cup. She had strong competition against Ella Jacobs; over the first 6 years of Championships the winners had been Ella, Ferol, Ella, Ferol, Ferol, Ferol.
Olive Kenkel is buried in Valhalla Memorial Park in Milwaukee. Ella Jacobs is buried in Saint Stephen's Cemetery in Stevens Point. Ferol Gullikson is buried in Forest Cemetery in Stevens Point. Photos courtesy of findagrave.com and newspapers.com
Women's Golf Association
In June of 1930 women at the Whiting Country Club (now the Stevens Point Country Club) came together to form a Women's Golf Association. The goal was to increase interest in the sport and attract new members, but also expand social circles. The WGA held weekly card tournaments in the golf clubhouse or at WGA member homes, held parties for members, scheduled fun golf days for their weekly group golf, and later held rummage sales to fundraise for clubhouse construction, renovation, and to provide new furnishings and decorations throughout the building.
The first officers were Camille Oberweiser (President), Fern Glennon (Vice-President), Cora Atwell (Secretary), and Ida Boston (Treasurer).
Some of the other women involved in the first year were Lily Marrs, Cora Fisher, Rose Joy, Ida Atwell, Louise Joerns, Anna Kingston, Frances Baebenroth, and Ellen McIntosh.
Ida Boston is buried in Forest Cemetery in Stevens Point. Fern Glennon and Cora Atwell are buried in Saint Stephen's Cemetery in Stevens Point. Camille Oberweiser is buried in Saint Francis Catholic Cemetery in Phoenix. Photos courtesy of findagrave.com
The Women's Golf Association strived to keep golf fun for the members! By holding different scoring events each week, guest golf days, fun tournaments, and sponsoring women golfers to visit other courses for more advanced play, they kept the game social and fun for members. Costume golf days were occasionally advertised. The photos below are from some time between 1936-1951, and the women participating are unidentified. If you recognize any of the women here, please reach out to our curator at collections@pchswi.org
In 1953 the WGA sent this letter to SPCC golf members to let them know about fundraising efforts and outcomes from their rummage sales the year prior.
In 1954 the Women's Golf Association held garage sale fundraisers with the goal of getting a new clubhouse piano and drapes. Below is one advertisement from the Stevens Point Journal with them asking for donations for the fundraiser.
In 1969 the WGA led renovation fundraising for the clubhouse, this time looking to add details to give the clubhouse an "Old English" feel. This meant dark wood and new wall trimmings. In 1970 a social club at the SPCC, the Tuesday Afternoon Ladies Bridge Group, purchased a piano, bridge tables, and chairs for the clubhouse. The WGA purchased deck chairs, sconces, and playground equipment. Without these invested women, the clubhouse would not have been as modern and enjoyable for all members and their families.
Click on the photos to view clippings from the monthly SPCC newsletters sent to club members.
The Women's Golf Association also sponsored their own competitions at SPCC. Golf members had the chance to compete against one another throughout the season before the final bouts in fall. Check out this Stevens Point Journal photo from 1985 of the season winners.
Northeastern Women's Golf Association
Founded in 1929, NEWGA holds women's golf events across Wisconsin with the goals of advancing the game of golf, recognizing and developing skilled amateur women golfers, promoting good sportsmanship and friendly rivalry, and fostering the best traditions of the game of golf.
In 1943 the Northeastern Women's Golf Association first held a tournament at the Stevens Point Country Club. By this point the SPCC had a traveling women's golf team that had experience with these events. SPCC would also host NEWGA tournaments in 1969 and 1985.
In 1985 SPCC member Sue Ginter won the NEWGA tournament. While she graduated from Appleton West High School and was then playing for Texas University, she praised SPCC and was proud to call it her home course. Interviewed for the Stevens Point Journal after her victory, she explained;
"I really don't know what it is, (...) but I seem to always do well in this city. Last year I won the AJGA Midwestern Championships at SentryWorld and the state high school meet two years ago. I also won the junior tournament here at the Stevens Point Country Club the same year I won state. I like to play here."
Sponsored Tournament Cups
Local businesses and families encouraged women's golf at SPCC by sponsoring tournament cups and prizes. By 1953 sponsored tournaments included the Club Championship (Stevens Point Beverage Company), Campbell Cup (Campbell's Co. Furniture Store), Nigbor Cup (Nigbor's Fur Coat Company), Korfmann Cup (Mr. Korfmann), Wysocki Plaque (Theodore Wysocki), the business girls warm up (Women's Golf Association) the ringer (Mrs. Mary Frazee).
By 1965 the Delzell Tournament was also a sponsored event for women golfers at SPCC. Pictured below are more tournament winners celebrating in the SPCC clubhouse.
By 1976 another sponsored tournament, the IGA Cup, was offered at the SPCC. Check out the Stevens Point Journal photo below of some tournament winners from that year.
News Channel 7 Ladies Golf Tournament
This central Wisconsin tournament has been held at local courses since 1960. In 1969 the tournament was first held at SPCC. News Channel 7 sponsors several central Wisconsin tournaments including the Golf Classic, Senior Men's Classic, and the Mark Zelich Golf Classic. The most recent News Channel 7 tournament at SPCC was the Mark Zelich Golf Classic in 2024.
Photos courtesy of the Stevens Point Journal and newspapers.com
Title IX and High School Girls' Golf Teams
In 1972 Title IX was passed, which prohibited sex-based discrimination in federally-funded programs. This legislation is best known for breaking down barriers that prevented women from participating in organized sports. After 1972 we began to see local girls and women participating in school and collegiate golf leagues. The Stevens Point Country Club has always had a strong junior golf program but there were no school affiliations available for junior girl golfers. Some SPCC junior golfers who participated in school leagues are Becky Schmidtke and Riley Pechinski.
SPASH is the only Portage County high school to have a girls' golf team. Their team was formed in 2008; before that year girls were able to play with the boys' teams as long as they qualified in tryouts. Their girl's golf team has eight Wisconsin Valley Conference Championships since being formed.
Pacelli Catholic High School in Stevens Point has a co-ed golf team. Girls may compete on the team if they qualify in tryouts. They practice and compete at the Stevens Point Country Club with their coach who is a club member.
Girls in Portage County have competed on the boys' golf teams since the 1980s. Becky Schmidtke played on the Pacelli team in 1987 and Amber Worden played on the Amherst team in 1999. In 2002 Jesse Thompson competed on the SPASH boys' golf team and Jennifer Gladowski was on the Amherst boys' golf team. Jennifer held the number two spot on the Amherst team in 2003. In 2015, Hannah Frane joined the Pacelli boys golf team and played with the group for three years.
Title IX didn't stop schools from giving their female players different standards while on the co-ed teams. In 2001 Jesse Thompson was allowed to try out for the SPASH boys team provided she play from the same tees as the boys. According to Jesse;
"I listened to many insults on the course from other players, and even parents who were not happy with me for taking a possible spot from their son. The thing that I am most proud of is that it helped pave the way for not only more women to try out for the team, but finally the creation of an official girls golf team at SPASH.”
Jesse went on to golf at UW - Eau Claire and placed 11th in the NCAA Division III National Collegiate Championship.
That team creation allowed SPASH student Riley Pechinski to participate on a girls' golf team and helped her win the WIAA Girls' Golf State Championship in 2021. In 2022 she placed 10th in a WIAA state tournament and was the WPGA Junior Tour Par 3 Champion at Sand Valley in 2020, 2021, and 2022. In 2022 she also qualified for the PGA Junior National Championship during the Players Tour at Blackwolf Run, placing 2nd overall.
Photos, in order, are Becky Schmidtke, Jesse Thompson, Jennifer Glodowski, Riley Pechinski, and Hannah Frane. Photos courtesy of the Stevens Point Journal, newspapers.com, and the Portage County Historical Society's book We Just Wanted to Play; The History of Women's Sports in Portage County.
Wisconsin Women's State Golf Association
The WWSGA was formed in 1909 as the Wisconsin Women's Golf Association, changed in 1983 to the Wisconsin Women's State Golf Association. The WWSGA strove to attract more women to the game, provide more opportunities for female golfers, and support young players. In 2019 the WWSGA merged with the Wisconsin State Golf Association. The former Board of Directors for the WWSGA is now a committee within the WSGA, charged with organizing and operating golf tournaments for women.
In 1986 there were 90 clubs in the WWSGA including the Stevens Point Country Club. That year one member of the SPCC, Sue Schmidtke, was elected secretary of the WWSGA.
The SPCC has hosted different WWSGA tournaments over the decades. In 1996 they hosted the mother-daughter championship, in 2006 the state amateur championship, in 2012 the best ball championship, and in 2019 the mid-amateur championship.
SPCC members have done well in WWSGA tournaments at different courses, too. In 1996 Anne and Fritz Schierl won the WWSGA mother-son championship at the Tyanena Golf Course.
Jan Krebs also represented SPCC well; she won a best ball championship in 1999 with partner Katie Falk. In 2002 they again won a best ball championship. In 2002 Jan partnered with Carrie Dykstra to win the Solheim Cup Championship. In 2004 Jan and Katie competed together, winning a best ball championship. Jan also partnered with Judy LaValley in 2007 to win the senior best ball championship.
Jan Krebs was a WWSGA rockstar, and did well in other tournaments too. She tied for 4th for the Channel 7 Golf Tournament in 2003 and won the Channel 7 Golf Invitational Tournament in 2005. All photos courtesy of the Stevens Point Journal and newspapers.com
Other SPCC winners in WWSGA tournaments include Curt and Jessica Thompson winning the father-daughter championship at Rivermoor Country Club in 2002, and Cindy and Erik Rajek winning the mother-son championship at the Fox Valley Golf Course in 2016.
These are just some of the many stories from the Stevens Point Country Club. After 100 years of community involvement and support, this course has become a staple in women's golf for Portage County.