Nakoma Golf Club in Madison has begun an ambitious bunker and surrounds renovation led by architect Craig Haltom and Oliphant Golf Management. In this feature, WiscoGolfAddict Contributing Writer Brian Murphy documents the project’s progress and highlights how these updates will elevate one of Wisconsin’s classic private golf clubs.

The second Golden Age of golf architecture has ushered in a new focus on classic design principles applied in a modern setting, steering the game back towards a vision of playability, strategic philosophy and sustainable construction practices.

New course design commands the most attention in this new age renaissance, with top architectural minds such as Coore/Crenshaw, Doak, Hanse, Kidd and King/Collins leading the charge to breathe fresh energy into the game at destinations across the country.

There’s another key cog of this revolution well under way, though, and it’s one that’s equally important – restorations, renovations and outright redesigns of original Golden Age classics from the early 20th century.

Over time, many of these treasured properties have succumbed to age, erosion of playing surfaces, foliage overgrowth and course changes that weren’t aligned with original architectural intentions.

The foremost architects in the game have come to the rescue, pumping their wisdom into these properties and restoring sound design practices to bring back the magic that made them so cherished from the beginning.

This movement has long since arrived in Wisconsin, as we’ve seen the state’s elite classic layouts undergo significant recent changes to restore their charm and appeal, including Milwaukee Country Club (Tom Doak), Pine Hills (Drew Rogers), Blue Mound (Bruce Hepner), Oneida (Hills Forrest) and Kenosha (Drew Rogers).

The next tier of Wisconsin’s private clubs is now on the docket, with many going under the knife to elevate the member experience – Big Foot, North Hills and Maple Bluff to name a few. Sparing no expense, these properties know they need significant investment to keep up with the times and have enlisted some of the most prominent rising architects to realize their vision.

One of these current projects just got off the ground this fall, and it hits close to my heart – Nakoma Golf Club.

This is the golf property I’ve called home for most of my life, going back to middle school and now as an adult member. It’s a great everyday course, as I explored extensively in my 2022 article, and now it’s getting a significant upgrade focused on bunkers, fairway surrounds and water feature enhancements.

The lead architect in Nakoma’s transformation is one of the most active figures in Wisconsin’s classic course renaissance – golf visionary Craig Haltom.

After famously finding the site that would become Sand Valley, Craig has made his mark transforming many of the state’s Golden Age stalwarts, including his brilliant work at The Club at Lac La Belle, Lawsonia Links and Stevens Point Country Club.

Haltom’s company, Oliphant Golf Management, has become one of the most well-respected golf management and construction firms in Wisconsin and beyond, driven by an innovative, classic-inspired design philosophy, best-in-class club management and industry-leading course construction capabilities.

Reimagining Nakoma

Oliphant Golf Management’s relationship with Nakoma dates back to the early 2000’s, around the same time Mike Oliphant enlisted newcomer Craig Haltom to join his construction team.

Mike and Craig worked extensively with Nakoma in those early years to improve maintenance practices and complete small renovation projects.

Only a few years removed from an exemplary Arthur Hills-led redesign that ushered Nakoma into the modern age, Oliphant and Haltom gave the course the TLC it deserved, quickly establishing Nakoma’s reputation as one of the best-conditioned layouts in the state.

Hills’ greens are so good that their designs have been mostly untouched over the years, though, with focus areas channeled into other elements of the golf course.

The bunkering at Nakoma was state-of-the-art when Arthur Hills completed the last comprehensive renovation of the course in the 1990’s. I’ll never forget playing the redesigned course for the first time and being blown away by the exceptional craftsmanship and attention to detail that went into the bunkers, with razor-sharp edging and runoffs that were challenging to contend with while presenting a pristine aesthetic.

Bunker construction has come a long way in the past 30 years, though, and trends have shifted in construction techniques, drainage practices, aesthetics and strategic principles. Some recent innovations in this area include:

• Advancement in construction techniques – use of new materials like capillary concrete lining lets water into the ground quickly while keeping the sand in place and reducing contamination by wet soil, making bunkers more resilient to storms.
• Fescue-based faces – this type of sod presents a clean, natural look while reducing maintenance needs. Fescue faces only need to be mowed every 2-3 weeks, unlike traditional rough.
• New types of sand – this development has enhanced the consistency and quality of the playing surface for courses willing to invest in it. Nakoma, like many other courses, has adopted Signature 700 Series white sand.
• Challenging the modern long hitter – bunkers from the 90’s are placed in spots that have been rendered obsolete by equipment, with many players now able to hit the ball over 300 yards. Mid-handicappers are now the ones flummoxed by bunkers positioned in places that long hitters can carry with ease, making strategic adjustments essential to restore a playable golf experience that’s still challenging for the game’s elite.

Bunker work has long been a part of Nakoma’s master plan, and with other projects in good order the time was right this year to tackle the bunkers head-on.

“This was the time to do the bunkers. Five or six years ago, we said it’ll probably be time for them, but we didn’t start seriously thinking about what that bunker plan would look like until it came up in this master plan process, maybe a well over a year ago. And then at that time, you had to decide whether or not you would just do a sand in-sand out type operation, just a maintenance move to improve the bunkers, because the bunker sand was not good and some of the drainage needed to be fixed. And the Greens Committee also weighed whether there be any value to reshaping the bunkers.” – Craig Haltom

This was where Oliphant’s expertise came into play, as they were able to advise the Greens Committee that it would be an expensive project regardless of the scope, and there couldn’t be a better time to reshape the bunkers at marginal extra costs.

The more expansive bunker redesign was ultimately approved, and with a total project cost of around $2 million and modernization funds available to cover part of the expenditure, it only required a modest special assessment from membership.

The new bunkers will leverage capillary concrete lining, fescue faces and a fresh batch of Signature 700 Series white sand to improve drainage and significantly enhance the beauty of the golf course.

In the meantime Craig has been working his magic, reshaping and repositioning the bunkers to fully unlock their aesthetic appeal while meaningfully tweaking strategy to add options and playing lines relevant to mid-to-high handicappers.

In many cases, bunkers are being reduced in size and bentgrass surrounds are filling the gap to allow for better recovery opportunities around the greens.

“I call it a ‘bunker renovation plus.’ The focus is mainly the bunkers, but that extends out into how they connect with the fairways.” – Craig Haltom

One of Haltom’s greatest strengths is his aptitude for creating interesting surrounds that expand strategic principles and make the game more fun for non-elite players.

“Know thyself” – nowhere does this ring truer than how a golfer approaches a shot from just off the green.

Flop shot? Bump and run? Texas wedge? Having these options around the green gives golfers of all calibers the green light to play to their true strengths.

Nakoma’s old design, however, often only left one or two options available for recovery from a missed green. Most of the greens were surrounded by thick rough, and if you missed on the wrong side you’d simply be hoping to keep the ensuing chip shot on the green rather than trying to get up-and-down.

Safety has also been a focus in this effort. Nakoma occupies a small footprint that’s constrained by the UW Arboretum on three sides, which necessitates holes being routed in close proximity. This is especially true on the front nine, where errant tee shots on a few holes can easily put a neighboring group in danger.

Craig has come up with some creative solutions to enhance safety, placing bunkers in spots where balls would otherwise run out towards a neighboring fairway.

The project has been structured to optimize continuous service to members, with at least nine holes available for play at all times. The front nine has been under development this fall and will fully reopen next spring, but even after construction started in September, 13 holes remained open for several weeks to minimize the impact to member play.

The back nine will go under the knife next fall, which will include the most significant strategic changes to bunker positioning and water feature improvements to enhance aesthetics and drainage.

Nakoma, Craig and Oliphant – A Match Made in Heaven

We’ve been extremely lucky at Nakoma to have such a high-profile industry figure in our court for over two decades.

Nakoma was a key launching pad for Craig Haltom’s career, as he became extensively involved in the club’s maintenance and course improvements in the early 2000’s.

After returning from Scotland where he studied landscape architecture, Craig landed with Mike Oliphant in 2001 to help with his course construction business. The duo paired up on Nakoma’s modernization, initially focusing on drainage improvements and pond renovations over a period of several years, all while Oliphant’s construction business grew rapidly.

Then, the financial crisis and ensuing recession hit, which halted virtually all new course construction for several years. In these hard times, Craig fell back on Nakoma as his primary focus, serving as Head Superintendent.

“In 2008 when everything crashed, our business of building golf courses went to almost zero overnight. I’m not going to call it good timing, but Nakoma was looking for a new superintendent … there was Mike saying, yes, we do golf courses; we don’t really do maintenance, but we could help get you through.” – Craig Haltom

Initially meant to be a short-term bridge to better financial times, Craig’s full-time engagement with Nakoma would last three years. Around this time, Oliphant was also enlisted for all aspects of club management, a relationship that still thrives today.

Craig and his team inherited a property that, while endowed with an excellent set of greens from the Arthur Hills redesign, needed a lot of work to get the drainage and course conditions up to an elite level. After several years of careful planning and execution under Craig’s watch, the full magic of the greens was unlocked and the surfaces rolled fast and true.

“We started with the greens just to get them in really good shape. We changed a few of the practices out there, but I didn’t come into that job with any great amount of experience as being a superintendent. But we did have specific ideas on how you could get things into shape quickly.” – Craig Haltom

Even after Craig passed the torch on Superintendent duties, first to Craig Filley for a brief stint and then to Mike Lemke (who continues to do a phenomenal job with Nakoma’s conditioning), he stayed involved with the club through the Oliphant connection, helping develop the master plan with the Greens Committee and lead efforts to implement smaller-scale changes to the course. Notably, this period saw significant tree removal, expansion of fairway areas, drainage improvements and tee renovations.

“It’s one of the things that we’ve done with a lot of help from the Greens Committee, to get a plan in place where we have a standing list of projects that need to get done. And some are big, some small, and we’ve tried to prioritize what the club would like to spend capital on.” – Craig Haltom

The relationship between Craig, Oliphant and Nakoma has thrived over the years, and it’s certainly exciting to see it culminate in the most substantial renovation effort since Haltom arrived on the scene.

The week before construction was scheduled to start, I spent an entire evening capturing the existing state of the front nine.

While the property was due for a refresh, it was also in the best form I’ve seen in early autumn. Playing conditions have been exceptional thanks to the diligent care of Head Superintendent Mike Lemke and his awesome team, and continuous improvement of the course over the past decade plus has certainly paid dividends, laying the bedrock for this ambitious project.

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I’ve had the pleasure to take aerial photography for the club over the course of the fall, which has included seven on-site shoots and five that were during active construction.

I have always loved the front nine, but to see its new self come to life real-time from the perspective of my drone has been an incredible experience. Needless to say, I’m counting down the days to next spring’s grand reopening.

The New Front Nine – Hole-by-Hole

The front nine at Nakoma has always been unique and memorable, featuring a short setup playing to a par 34 in the interior of the property. While short, this side is no pushover, possessing most of the toughest green complexes on site and tight tree-lined corridors complicating playing lines.

With the outward loop occupying such a tiny plot, safety considerations come heavily into play. Several “danger” spots exist, with tees and greens placed near neighboring fairways and closely in range of errant shots.

The front is also home to some of the most demanding approaches at Nakoma, with miniscule landing zones and surrounding slopes that prompt formidable chip shots. Scratch players can pile up greens in regulation to avoid these tricky spots, but the rest of us will frequently be faced with near-impossible recovery prospects.

The work on the front side is well under way this fall, and I’ve seen some creative solutions implemented with bunkers shifted to locations that enhance safety while also softening the penalty for missed greens.

Commencing the project on the front nine made a lot of sense, since it occupies a small footprint and the changes are more modest compared to those planned for the back nine, allowing for real-time learnings that can be applied to the back side next year.

“Some of the bigger decisions we have to make are on the back nine. It’s not necessarily been by design, but we’ve ended up on the front first, which is a smaller scope of work. So it’s good to do it in this order right now, and we’ll learn something next year from playing the course.” – Craig Haltom

#1 – Par 4, 383/375/336 Yards

The opener at Nakoma used to be defined by a massive oak that stood guard on the inner corner of the dogleg left, which discouraged attempts to cut the corner.

A few years ago, the tree was removed and a fairway trap was installed in its place, adding options to cut the dogleg for longer hitters.

The renovation won’t change strategy much with the fairway bunkers remaining in similar locations. However, the number of traps through the corner will be reduced from 3 to 2, granting a little more room for conservative play.

Craig’s plans also call for a shared corridor of bentgrass between the 1st and 18th fairways, which should look great from the clubhouse.

Around the green, two front-right bunkers will be reduced to one larger trap, which should yield more even lies. Additionally, fairway surrounds will be expanded on the back side of the surface, making long misses more manageable (currently, long is a dead zone).

#2 – Par 3, 210/178/155/106 Yards

Little is changing on the second hole, a mid-to-long par three sitting on flat terrain.

One of the bunkers guarding the front-left entrance point will be considerably expanded to help catch hooked shots from tumbling into a natural fescue area. A pond long and left, which closely borders the 16th green, will be expanded and flank the second hole more prominently, which should boost its aesthetics considerably.

#3 – Par 4, 445/393/345/330 Yards

The third has always been one of the stiffest tests at Nakoma, a long, slightly uphill par four with mature trees pinching the corridor.

The approach shot has particularly been my nemesis over the years, requiring a pure mid-to-long iron into a small, well-defended green.

A third greenside bunker has been added on the right side, which might sound like the hole is getting tougher. That’s not actually the case, though, as recovery from the thick rough is far more demanding than a flatter lie from sand where you can produce some spin.

The placement of the new bunker was also intentional to enhance safety from tee shots bounding over the neighboring hill on the sixth. I’ve certainly had several close calls here, so it’s great to see some measures taken to avoid unfortunate incidents in the future.

#3 was the first hole essentially completed, and the fact that it was done by late October speaks to the skill of the construction crew in combination with favorable fall weather. Shooting this hole in its new state on a gorgeous autumn evening was quite the thrill.

#4 – Par 3, 161/154/146 Yards

When I asked Craig which changes on the front nine excited him the most, he immediately brought up the fourth and the fifth holes.

The short par three fourth has always been one of the most memorable holes at Nakoma, playing to a plateau green that’s beautifully framed by tall pines.

The sloping around the green tends to propel misses into terrible recovery positions, especially on the left side. To that end, Craig is installing solutions to offer reasonable chances at recovery and make the experience more fun.

First, a greenside trap has been added on the left side to catch balls that would otherwise careen into oblivion.

Meanwhile, behind the green, bentgrass surrounds are being expanded to function as a backstop, making back pin placements more accessible and recovery from a long miss viable.

“While we started with a base plan, we’ve had some things that became obvious when we started construction that we hadn’t thought about before, and one of them is the surrounds on four green. We’re going to take the bent grass up the hillside a bit and make that a much friendlier proposition to hit to the back of the green so you’ll have friendly slopes on the sides in fairway grass; not so much I think that you’re necessarily playing towards them, but you’ll get a lot away with a lot more and it will make the back pin positions much more playable and usable.” – Craig Haltom

#5 – Par 4, 368/354/340 Yards

The fifth has always been one of the most strategically interesting holes at Nakoma. Big hitters can bomb drives over the trees with ease to cut the dogleg right and setup a short pitch. Meanwhile, a collection of bunkers through the fairway can catch well-struck drives hit towards the corner.

The bunkers predominantly penalize higher handicap players, but Craig has made some interesting moves to level the playing field a bit. The fairway traps have been shifted forward, with the leftmost trap eradicated completely. A new bunker has also been added closer to the green, just left of the typical aiming point for long hitters.

“We’ve rebuilt all the bunkers basically in place, but the whole bunker complex has shifted forward. And then we’ve added another bunker in a popular spot – if big hitters don’t cut it around the corner, they will likely get caught in it. You might call it a pot bunker, a fairly deep type of bunker you wouldn’t want to get into.” – Craig Haltom

The greenside trap has also been expanded significantly on the short side, creating potential for the most dreaded shot in golf – 40 yards from sand. However, that same shot from deep rough was no picnic, either.

#6 – Par 5, 592/581/490/456 Yards

The front nine’s sole par five has always been a beast, stretching to nearly 600 yards from the back and middle tees and bisecting a large swath of the property’s footprint. It’s also been one of my favorite spots to photograph over the years, with its elevated green positioned perfectly for golden hour lighting.

While the sixth will still be a stout test of ball striking, several targeted changes have been installed around the green and approach area that will improve prospects for scrambling.

A fairway trap that used to sit in lob wedge range up the left side has been replaced by three bunkers that, while increasing the amount of sand, will offer flatter lies and less severe lips to carry. The rough on the left side is notoriously thick, and I’d actually prefer to play that shot from sand.

Further back, the fairway is expanding to adjoin with the seventh hole, making left misses on the second shot significantly more manageable.

Two greenside traps are being combined into one larger bunker that also promises to yield flatter lies and better sand save opportunities.

#7 – Par 3, 224/189/145/137 Yards

Moderate changes to this longer par three will also yield playability gains, which include a reduction in the size of the greenside bunker on the front-left and expansion of the short/left-side fairway to join up with the sixth.

Bentgrass will now border more of the green, and I’m looking forward to using my Texas Wedge more often after lateral misses.

#8 – Par 4, 404/391/355 Yards

This stout par four will largely remain unchanged, with work limited to reshaping and resizing the greenside bunkers.

The front trap, in particular, has been a thorn in my side over the years and I’m surely not alone. Its steep embankment has snagged many well-struck approaches over the years, turning a sure par into bogey (or worse).

This trap has now been split in two, with a small pot bunker sectioned off on the left side. A narrow strip of bentgrass has been added to the left of the sand, as well, slightly opening up more room to run approach shots onto the surface.

#9 – Par 4, 325/322/309 Yards

The tight, short dogleg left 9th will see one key improvement in this project – the addition of fairway bunkers through the corner.

It’s so easy to run a tee shot through this fairway, even after clubbing down significantly (note, this is the only hole at Nakoma where I routinely hit less than driver). A seemingly perfect, low draw is prone to running down a slope and can easily catch the cart path, launching it towards the tennis courts.

Bunkers are being installed in this exact problem area to catch these misses, and while they’ll impose a partial penalty, they’ll be much easier to recover from than a tennis court.

Work on this hole has also just gotten off the ground, so we’ll see what Craig’s cooked up next spring!

Closing Thoughts

When I saw the original project concept earlier this year, I was geeked to see what Craig and his team at Oliphant could do with a substantial budget and a green light from the club to work their craft.

The changes that are coming into fruition on the front nine, while smaller in scale compared to next year’s plans for the back, make me even more thrilled to see the final product.

Nakoma will look and play a little more like The Club at Lac La Belle after this project, continuing to shine with its exceptional greens but now endowed with modern-age bunkering and surrounds to match their excellence, while enhancing playability and options for mid-to-high handicappers that will make the course more fun for all.

I’ll be here to cover the rest of the project, first with the front nine’s re-opening next spring followed by the construction on the back nine next fall – stay tuned for much more to come on the next phases of the renovation!

I certainly can’t wait to see Craig’s vision for Nakoma fully realized, and this project makes me even more proud to call this superb property my home course.

Photography by Brian Murphy (aerial) and Troy Giljohann (ground) for WiscoGolfAddict

Nakoma Golf Club Website