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Caddy Shack Golf Center, and Gopher's Bar and Grill - Milton, Wisconsin - A multi-faceted joint
This entry was posted on 8/27/2010 1:43 AM and is filed under Golfing with Dadio, Saturday Night Pizza, Bars NeoWisconsin esque, Taverns Wisconsin, Tavern Burgers and Fries, Cheap beer, Friday Night Fish Fry.
This write-up regarding a business establishment is a bit unique on several fronts. For one thing, the place is multi-faceted and segueing off that aspect, I had to make several visits to get the whole skinny on the joint.
The Caddy Shack Golf Center on the north side of Milton, Wisconsin has been there in one way or another for almost 30 years. It is a tiny building. There is a driving range out the back. You can get a basket of golf balls from the machine outside the small building. You buy the token for the machine inside the shop. For my poor old bones, there is a couple trees on one end of the driving ranch tee stations so I can practice in the shade.
Back when I lived in Texas for a decade, I got to be a rather good golfer due to the long playing season and cheap green's fees there at the time. I let golfing go when I moved back to the short summer seasons of Wisconsin.
I was nice to knock a few ball around the other day. My golf clubs and pull cart had waited patiently for 18 years. The wheels of my old cart still have good Texas clay stuck in the treads. Of course the humble driving range has an old car you can aim at down range about 200 yards.
The recent owners of the Caddy Shack decided to add a bar and eatery next door. Now this is interesting to me because the old building they refurbished to accomplish this, was once an A&W Root Beer stand back in the 1960s and 1970s. I remember riding my bicycle the seven miles there in the summers before I had a car. They had great beer-battered French fries I can still taste to this day. Recently, I am told the old building was a salon or some such thing.
Be that as it may, they have fixed it up into a neo-Wisconsin-esque bar. Not every tavern and bar in our ever changing culture can be a hundred year old Milwaukee beer joint. Things change, new places emerge. The Caddy Shack people call the bar / eatery Gopher's Bar and Grill. If you have not figured out by now, there is a deference to the movie going on here. I am told one of the owners designed the unique bar-top himself. It has inlaid golf balls under a class top. The many golf ball brand names are carefully facing up.
If you are reading this from way out of town, there are two golf courses just across the street so you can warm up on this range, get a burger and beer in the eatery, and then head over to the links.
They can whip you up a dandy homemade thin crust pizza with a couple toppings, with drink and tip for about 12 Bucks. It was so good I ate the whole 12-inch pizza in one sitting the afternoon I tried it.
On a subsequent visit, I opted for a good old bar cheeseburger. They have a steak fry wedge type French fry they fix up for you. I believe they put a dash of garlic powder on their French fry presentation.
From 7:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m every night you can get bottles of domestic beer for a Buck - a "power hour" so to speak. I popped in on a Sunday night during the Buck-a-beer time and had the whole place to myself.
Finally, Heide and I ducked in Gopher's not long ago to try their Friday fish fry presentation. It was worth swinging (no pun intended) by. They offer fried or baked Alasken Cod. Heide did the fish honors choosing the fried version. You can get either a two or three piece dinner. It will come with those good steak fries and some tasty tarter sauce. I tried a bit of the Cod and it was prepared in that good crispy chunck format I often talk about. The dinner came with a fresh roll and cinnamin honey butter. Wtih her root beer, dinner, and tip, Heide got out of there for around 12 Bucks.
As we speak, the owners are trying to include hard liquor in the presentation. Currently they are licensed to served beer and wine. Their whole endeavor is truly a work in progress. I wish them luck; any one taking on a business in this challenging economy deserves the benefit of the doubt. Caddy Shack Golf Center, and Gopher's Bar and Grill is cool with Cool Dadio.
Find the whole bar / eatery / golf shop / driving range presentation at 233 North Janesville Street (Highway 26) just on the north edge of Milton, Wisconsin. Call (608) 868 - 3210 for more information; or, visit the golf shop Website www.caddyshackmilton.com . Find information about Gopher's Bar and Grill at www.caddyshackmilton.com/menu.html .
Wisconsin Military Service Person Special Mention of the Week
(each week Cooldadiomedia mentions a Wisconsin service person killed in Iraq or Afghanistan)
Army Specialist Shaun Allen Novak, 21, Two Rivers, Wisconsin, died Sunday, August 27, 2006 in Taji, Iraq. An improvised explosive device detonated near the Bradley Vehicle he was in during combat operations. Novak was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 66th Armor Regiment, 1st Brigade, 4th Infantry Division, out of Fort Hood, Texas. He was one of four soldiers killed in the incident. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel noted Shaun loved car racing. He graduated from Two Rivers High School in 2003. Novak was remembered as a quiet, well-liked student. He was the son of Randy Novak, a Manitowoc County sheriff's deputy. Shaun had a 15-year-old brother, Danny. The Journal Sentinel also mentioned Novak had taken three years of accounting at Two Rivers High School and was remembered as a good student who enjoyed tinkering with cars. He enjoyed playing baseball, riding all-terrain vehicles, and fished on Lake Michigan. Novak enlisted in the Army in 2004, a year after graduation; his infantry unit went to Iraq December 2005. Novak had taken some classes at the University of Wisconsin-Manitowoc County Center after high school. The Website iraq.pigstye.net notes Shaun had plans to pursue accounting or marketing after he would return home. He was known as a strong business student. Novak worked at Port Sandy Bay, a restaurant in Two Rivers, for just over two years. He was known as dependable with a strong work ethic. Novak had expected to return from Iraq for good at Thanksgiving, but was supposed to serve another year in the Army at Fort Hood. The Website shaun-novak.memory-of.com set up in memory of Novak, notes Shaun was born in Two Rivers, Wisconsin on February 12, 1985. The site also notes Shaun enjoyed playing basketball in a local recreation league. He had a Dodge Neon he was fond of. He also liked video games and all other types of electronic gadgets. They mention Shaun was inspired to join the Army to follow in the footsteps of grandfather Stanley Mott, a Korean War Veteran. Shaun attended basic training at Fort Benning, Georgia. He was able to come home for a two-week break from Iraq in April of 2006. Service awards Specialist Novak received include the Purple Heart, the Bronze Star, the Good Conduct Medal, the National Defense Service Ribbon, the Iraqi Campaign Medal, the Global War on Terror Service Medal, the Army Service Ribbon, the Overseas Ribbon, the Combat Infantry Badge, and the Expert Qualification Badge. Wisconsin 2007 Senate Joint Resolution 10 noted that at the time of his death Specialist Novak was survived by his parents, Randy and Brenda Novak, of Two Rivers; brother, Danny Novak, of Two Rivers; girlfriend, Jenissa Karbowski; grandparents, Stan and Shirley Mott, of Two Rivers; and grandparents, Richard and Bea Novak, of Manitowoc; and, great−grandmothers, Grace Novak and Molly Opichka, of Manitowoc. Specialist Shaun Novak was the 60th Wisconsin military service member to be killed in Iraq since the spring of 2003.
As of this blog entry's posting date:
97,453 Iraqi civilians have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
9,654 Iraqi Security Forces have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
4,420 Americans have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
1243 Americans have been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
318 Coalition soldiers have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
783 Coalition soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
31,926 U.S. troops have been wounded in action in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
7,644 U.S. troops have been wounded in action in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
102 Wisconsin soldiers have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
19 Wisconsin soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
142 journalists (several nationalities) have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
21 journalists (various nationalities) have been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
Wisconsin military service person special mention of the week, military casualty, and journalist casualty information sources: Committee to Protect Journalists; cnn.com; Milwaukee Journal Sentinel; washingtonpost.com; thehighground.org; Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs; iraqbodycount.org; and, icasualties.org.
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