Like and Follow Golf Oklahoma
Above: LaFortune Park superintendent Keith Callery, South Lakes superintendent Nick Neal, architect Mike Gogel, Tulsa County Parks Director Matt Hancock and JSJ Inc. owner Josh Stewart.
By Ken MacLeod
As a kid in the early 1980s, Mike Gogel and his younger brother Matt would spend their summers getting dropped off by their parents almost daily at LaFortune Park Golf Course, first to play and practice all day. Later they were put to work by pros Jerry Jones and Paul Ridings, moving carts, picking up the driving range, a multitude of tasks.
Both became good golfers in the process. Matt, went on to star at Bishop Kelley, the University of Kansas and later on the PGA Tour. He won the 1990 OGA State Amateur at age 18 at Meadowbrook Country Club, defeating Marc Redman 2 up in the 36-hole final. After years as a broadcaster, this year he joined the PGA Tour Champions and finished 32nd in the Schwab Cup Standings.
Mike, meanwhile, took his passion for the game in another direction, building and later designing golf courses. From his first job digging ditches by hand during the construction of Bailey Ranch while still in college at Northeastern State University to years of working with top building firms like Wadsworth and Landscapes Unlimited he soaked up building and maintenance knowledge. Then on the design side, he started as the first employee hired by Tripp Davis of Norman in 1995.
Gogel eventually moved to Phoenix, working for two years as the project manager at Desert Mountain, overseeing all their capital expenditure projects. His varied background in design, building and maintenance led him to start his own company in 2012.
Now with lots of solid projects under his belt, many of them in Arizona where he still resides, Gogel is returning home as Mike Gogel Golf Design has been selected and contracted by Tulsa County to provide a master plan for improvements at LaFortune Park in Tulsa and South Lakes in Jenks, the two courses owned by Tulsa County.
Gogel was in town Tuesday meeting with Tulsa County Parks Director Matt Hancock, Josh Stewart, owner of JSJ Inc., which manages the two courses, as well as superintendents Keith Callery at LaFortune Park and Nick Neal at South Lakes. The four were intently discussing not only what all the master plan should contain but priorities and time frames.
As most golfers who frequent LaFortune Park would probably say, since the remarkable improvement of the greens dating to the early fall hiring of Callery, the No. 1 priority among both courses is rebuilding the bunkers at LaFortune Park. But this project will include bunkers and irrigation systems at both courses, as well as drainage issues at LaFortune Park which this summer forced the frequent closing of the back nine, costing the course at least 3,000 rounds.
The hiring of Gogel to do the master plan was the first step and that was done with funds from Tulsa County Parks. The actual fulfillment of the projects will require revenue bonds and it’s too early to even speculate on how much the projects will cost as no RFPs have been issued as yet. The good news is the project has begun and golfers should expect to see some construction beginning in late 2026.
One thing Gogel will bring to the project is a passion to improve the course where he learned the game.
“Memories kept flooding back as I went around the course,” Gogel said. “You could call 150 architects around the country and nobody will have more passion for this project than me.”
The other two firms to reach the final stage of consideration were Heckenkemper Golf led by Randy Heckenkemper who oversaw the dramatic redesign of LaFortune Park in 2004 and who designed South Lakes. Heckenkemper is also now in a partnership with Nick Sidorakis to operate the City of Tulsa courses Page Belcher and Mohawk Park. The other finalist was the firm of Smyers-Craig-Coyne led by Colton Craig of Oklahoma City.
There may have been some sentiment on the selection committee that it would have been difficult for Heckenkemper to significantly alter the dramatic landscape he created with the 2004 redesign, when the Country Club for a Day mentality reigned supreme across the country. Hancock said that though the new plans are not complete, the bunkers at both facilities will be more easily maintained than their current counterparts, which at LaFortune Park especially are often large and steep faced, with completely worn out liners and drains that do not function. They hold water for days, are often hard pan when dry and all fairway bunkers were played as ground under repair during most tournaments this summer.
“Randy, Pat McCrate (former owner of JSJ Inc.), Richard Bales (former County Parks Director), they took public golf to another level,” Hancock said. “Now what is the next step? I’m here, Keith and Nick are here and will do an excellent job with both courses. And now Mike is going to do a great job with the new direction we’re going, in which affordable maintenance is paramount.”
After several tours of the course, Gogel has definite ideas for the bunker renovation.
“Looking at LaFortune Park, how do you put the bunkers in the right place to where Mike Gotcher, my old teammate and roommate, has to still hit a golf shot but it won’t affect golfers like my dad trying to come out there and enjoy a round in four hours. We now have a little over 65,000 square feet of bunkers I’ve got a plan to reduce that considerably.
“Making a golf course hard is easy, Making it fun, playable and maintainable, that’s the art. That’s the challenge.”
Gogel said he would look to “deflate” the course and bring it back closer to the natural contours of the land.
Hancock is thrilled with the support he’s receiving from Tulsa County in his mission to elevate the county courses. He was authorized to hire six new full-time and three part-time maintenance workers this summer. All three Tulsa County commissioners have been unwavering in their support for this project.
South Lakes under Neal has been stellar and still attracts more than 50,000 rounds annually, but its bunkers and irrigation system are worn out as well. LaFortune Park had dipped in conditioning the past few years to the point Stewart was hearing a constant litany of complaints.
“We are the first line of contact and we get the hate emails or negative comments,” said Stewart, whose pro shop crew is not responsible for course conditions but bears the brunt of the negativity. “We heard our fair share certainly and now it’s nice to get some praise for what it going on since Keith came on board.”
All five are looking forward to LaFortune Park and South Lakes being back near the summit of public golf in Oklahoma. Gogel’s master plan should be a giant first step.
