by Steve Ottman
Beacon Correspondent
JON DUNFEE (left) and Randy Groth (right) of Cedarburg are the new owners of the Bull at Pinehurst Farms in Sheboygan Falls. – Falls News photo by Steve Ottman
After their recent purchase of The Bull at Pinehurst Farms golf course, new owners Jon Dunfee and Randy Groth are excited to get down to business to get The Bull reopened by the third or fourth week in July.
“We are very pleased to be here,” said Dunfee. “I’ve been an avid golfer at this golf course in the past years and I’ve brought groups of people here that have also enjoyed golfing here.”
Dunfee stated that the Bachmann’s built a beautiful course and that they intend to work hard at bringing the public back to The Bull.
Former owners, the Bachmann family of Pinehurst Dairy Farms, built The Bull in 2003 on 418 acres of land encompassing thick forests, wetlands and a stretch of the Onion River.
The Bull is the first Jack Nicklaus Signature Golf Course in Wisconsin and has been rated 4½ stars by Golf Digest.
It was recently ranked as the No. 3 course in Wisconsin behind the Straits Course and Whistling Straits and the River Course at Blackwolf Run.
“This is a beautiful golf course and facility,” Dunfee added. “We intend to keep the full maintenance crew and intend on doing a lot of hiring.”
The course has been well maintained while being inactive since last year.
Dunfee is still working out the details on a marketing plan to get the message out that The Bull will be open for business. He noted that with the COVID-19 pandemic, bringing the people back quickly could be a challenge.
“We want to offer a variety of outings,” Dunfee remarked. “We want to offer discounted memberships to the locals, a price break for yearly memberships and we want to attract people from outside the state.”
Dunfee and Groth of the LaBudde group in Cedarburg closed on the purchase of The Bull June 30 and immediately went to work, hiring staff for the bar and restaurant.
All banquet hall deposits will be honored and new reservations are being accepted.
“We will be actively pursuing events as soon as possible,” related Dunfee. “Sheboygan County has a lot to offer. We’re looking forward to seeing the local golfers return and enjoy themselves.”
Besides being an avid golfer, Dunfee said that he loves to fish Lake Michigan and is excited about trying out the port of Sheboygan also.
Dunfee has fished out of Port Washington and looks forward to expanding to Sheboygan.
The Bull is located three miles west of Interstate 43 on the southeast corner of State 28 and State 32 west of Sheboygan Falls, one hour north of Milwaukee and an hour south of Green Bay.
It offers a state-of-the-art practice facility and full service golf shop.
In addition, The Bull is home to Champions Restaurant featuring seasonal outdoor dining with unlimited views of the golf course.
The Heritage House Event Center is a 300-plus seating banquet hall. It hosts larger events like golf tournaments, business meetings, receptions and reunions.
Golf Week magazine ranked The Bull as America’s Best Course you can play in 2005-2015, the “Best new Daily-Fee Course in America in 2005.
The Onion River runs through the course’s 18-hole par 72 with five sets of tee boxes, measures 7,345 yards from the back tees, a back slope of 147 and a back rating of 76.3.
The Bull has previously hosted many tournaments, including the 2010 Wisconsin State Amateur Championships, 2014 Wisconsin Badger Open, 2016 USGA Junior Boys Open and the 2016 US Open local qualifying. The Bull has also hosted the Green Bay Packer Hall of Fame outings and the Sheboygan Falls High School golf team for conference and WIAA playoff invitationals.
