Herbert V. Kohler Jr. often is praised for his vision to bring world-class golf facilities and championships to Wisconsin.
The truth is there was no grand plan when Kohler set out on a journey that turned him from a prosperous businessman who had only a passing interest in golf -- he used his father's hickory-shafted clubs on the rare occasions he played -- into one of the most powerful figures in the game.
Since the mid-1980s, Kohler has:
-- Built four distinctive and highly acclaimed resort courses, two of which are ranked among "America's 100 Greatest Golf Courses" by Golf Digest magazine. Three of the four appear on the magazine's roster of the country's top 100 public courses.
-- Brought several major golf events to Sheboygan County, including the 1998 U.S. Women's Open, the 1999 PGA Club Professional Championship and, this week, the 86th PGA Championship.
-- Served as a trustee of the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America Foundation and PGA of America Properties.
-- Donated large sums of money to The First Tee youth initiative and other golf-related foundations and charities.
-- Been inducted into the Wisconsin State Golf Association Hall of Fame and named an honorary member of the Wisconsin PGA Section.
-- Become an avid player who holds an 18 handicap, travels the world in search of golf adventures and counts former President Bush and actor Kevin Costner among his circle of golf-bum buddies.
"It wasn't until 1988 that we got into the golf business," said Kohler, president and CEO of the Kohler Co. "To get to this point, 16 years later, is remarkable. It really says something about the company and its principles."
Kohler, 65, is quick to point out that his golf empire began not as a vision but almost as an afterthought.
After he persuaded the company's board of directors to turn an old dormitory for workers into a five-star hotel -- The American Club, which opened in 1981 -- Kohler discovered, to his great surprise and consternation, that many people who were inclined to stay at such a hotel also played golf.
For several years, the Kohler Co. transported guests to area public and private courses. For a company with a mission statement to expose every customer to a higher level of "gracious living" in every interaction, this wouldn't do.
Kohler made overtures to buy Pine Hills, a private club in Sheboygan. When his offers were rebuffed, he decided to build his own course on a company-owned 800-acre wildlife sanctuary along the Sheboygan River.
Kohler hired Pete Dye to design the course and nearly fired him early in the process, after Dye cut down and burned trees without Kohler's approval.
The business tycoon and the Indiana dirt sculptor came to trust and respect each other, however, and forged an enduring friendship. They have traveled the world in Kohler's private jet, competing tooth and nail for small stakes on courses from Scotland to the Dominican Republic.
"Pete is such a simple and honest and earthy man," Kohler said. "He loves to tweak anything called pride or ego. You see that in his work. He's constantly after your ego and he's a master at driving you crazy. That's what we enjoy."
Blackwolf Run opened in 1988 to rave reviews and set in motion a series of events that have transformed the landscape of golf in Wisconsin.
Within 10 years, Kohler had built three more courses, including the spectacular 36-hole Whistling Straits complex on an uninterrupted two-mile stretch of Lake Michigan shoreline a few miles north of Sheboygan.
Kohler knew the quickest way to obtain credibility as a golf destination was to land one of the sport's major championships. He began courting officials from the United States Golf Association and the PGA of America, and the Kohler Co. made significant contributions to The First Tee initiative.
The USGA awarded the 1998 U.S. Women's Open to Blackwolf Run. Se Ri Pak won in a memorable playoff against Jenny Chuasiriporn. The Kohler Co.'s efficiency in running the championship, which set attendance records that still stand, was an eye-opener for the USGA and the PGA.
Soon, the organizations were racing to bring bigger championships to Kohler's doorstep. The PGA was so eager to beat the USGA to the punch that it took the 2004 PGA Championship away from Valhalla in Louisville -- which already had been awarded the tournament -- and gave it to Whistling Straits.
Not to be outdone, the USGA announced this year that the 2007 U.S. Senior Open would be contested at Whistling Straits.
Kohler wants a U.S. Open, too, and if things go well with the PGA and the Senior Open, he'll probably get his wish, perhaps as early as 2012.
"It's such a great thing to see Herb enjoy the fruits of his labor and to have people recognize that he built courses worthy of having a major championship," said Alice Edland, the group vice president of hospitality and real estate for the Kohler Co.
"I think he's thoroughly enjoying it and having a ball."
The game of golf, Kohler said, has enriched his life. Sure, he's a savvy businessman who is interested in making a profit, but he has a passion for the game that has nothing to do with the bottom line.
He is a proud member of a diverse group of intrepid golf nuts who compete for an ugly trophy made of driftwood and iron in high-spirited matches from Labor Day to Memorial Day.
"The summertime is too easy, too nice," said Kohler, who has been known to tee it up in horizontal rain. "We only try to play in bad weather."
Kohler has given much to golf, but he would be the first to say he's gotten more back in return.
"I can't imagine what life was like before golf," he said in a story in the January 2000 issue of Golf Magazine. "The experiences it has brought me, the friendships -- the extraordinary places it has taken me. I've never seen anything that can tax the emotions, the mind and the physical the way golf does. It feeds your spirit and draws you close to the land."
Asked if he wished he'd discovered the game earlier in life, Kohler laughed.
"No," he said, "because people would expect me to play better and this old body never will. I'm all right just the way it is."
Source: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (Wisconsin)