One of the things I’ve enjoyed most about working with the Wisconsin Golf Course Superintendents Association is gaining a better understanding of what actually goes into making Wisconsin’s great golf courses great.

A world-class design only goes so far – it still takes talented people, strong leadership, long hours and an incredible amount of knowledge and problem-solving to bring that design to life every day.

And what I’ve found again and again is that these are really good people doing exceptional work within very different types of operations. That can mean managing one of Wisconsin’s major destination properties with large staffs and extensive infrastructure, or, in the case of Mark Deutschmann at Eagle Springs Golf Resort, working closely with owners Matt and Anne Krug to lead a smaller, more hands-on operation where knowledge, creativity, versatility and attention to detail become especially important.

The Fall 2026 issue of The Grass Roots provided an opportunity to tell one of my favorite stories yet.

My cover feature, “Mark Deutschmann: Keeping Eagle Springs, Eagle Springs,” focuses on Mark and the work he and his team are doing at Wisconsin’s oldest golf property – and, in my opinion, one of its most soulful.

Dating back to 1893, Eagle Springs is a wonderfully unconventional nine-hole course filled with bold architecture, generations of family history and a sense of place that would be impossible to recreate today. It is also consistently recognized among the best nine-hole courses in the world.

That makes Mark’s job especially interesting.

Since taking over the golf course, he has continued improving its conditioning, infrastructure and day-to-day operations while being extremely careful not to polish away the quirks and character that make Eagle Springs special.

As Mark told me for the article, “Preserving our history and keeping the course original is more important than trying to improve any aspect.”

That idea became the heart of the story: How do you make a historic golf course better without making it something different?

It’s also the kind of story I’ve been fortunate to tell more often through my growing partnership with the WGCSA.

Over the past three years, I’ve contributed two features annually to The Grass Roots, and that relationship has expanded into video and social media content designed to introduce a much larger golf audience to Wisconsin’s superintendents and turf teams. This year, that also includes collaborative posts highlighting WGCSA members and the work happening behind the scenes at courses throughout the state. WGCSA Executive Director and The Grass Roots Editor Jake Schneider shares more about the association’s goals for our partnership in his “Editor’s Musings” column on page 6 of this issue.

One example is our Turf Science 101 series, which uses photography and storytelling to dig into the science, decision-making and people behind great golf-course conditions.

Golf enthusiasts see beautiful fairways, smooth greens and thoughtfully presented golf courses. What we don’t always see is the agronomy, problem-solving, long hours, difficult decisions and talented people responsible for making those experiences possible.

That’s what I love about this partnership. It gives me an opportunity to combine photography and storytelling to help shine a brighter light on the people who make Wisconsin golf what it is – from some of our most recognizable championship and destination courses to special places like Eagle Springs.

And there may not be a better example than Mark and his team, whose goal is not to reinvent a remarkable 133-year-old golf course.

It’s to make sure Eagle Springs continues getting better while still feeling unmistakably like Eagle Springs.

Read the Fall 2026 Issue of The Grass Roots

You can read the complete Fall 2026 issue of The Grass Roots below. My feature, “Mark Deutschmann: Keeping Eagle Springs, Eagle Springs,” begins on page 14, and Jake Schneider’s “Editor’s Musings” on page 6 provides more background on the growing partnership between the WGCSA and WiscoGolfAddict.

View the full issue below