Uncle Henry's Backyard Opens at The Club at Lac La Belle By Brian Weis

Uncle Henry's Backyard Opens at The Club at Lac La Belle

By Brian Weis

After two years of construction and even more time in the planning stages, The Club at Lac La Belle is ready to introduce something a little different. Uncle Henry's Backyard, a new 9-hole par-3 course, officially opens for play on May 22, 2026.

The grand opening is not just a ribbon-cutting moment. From May 22 through May 28, the course will be dedicated entirely to local charitable causes, giving golfers a chance to walk the new layout while supporting the community. Details on the featured charities can be found at mailchi.mp/clubatlaclabelle.com/grand-opening-uncle-henrys-backyard.

Behind the Name

The name goes back further than you might expect. Henry Shufeldt was a Chicago distiller who built a considerable fortune after marrying Emeline Egan in 1859. His distillery was good enough to earn a gold medal at the 1878 Paris World's Fair, and he brought his brothers-in-law into the business while establishing family homes in both Chicago and Oconomowoc.

In 1895, Shufeldt built the first golf course in Oconomowoc, right in his own backyard, and in doing so, accidentally launched two careers that would shape American amateur golf. His young nephews, Chandler and Walter Egan, picked up the game on that backyard layout and never looked back.

Beginning in 1902, the Egan brothers became champions in every sense. Between them, they collected college titles at Harvard, Olympic gold medals, Western Amateur championships, USGA Amateur titles, and even an Oconomowoc Open for good measure. All of it traces back to a backyard course their uncle built 130 years ago.

That is a story worth naming a golf course after.

About The Club at Lac La Belle

The Club at Lac La Belle is located in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin. For more information or to plan a visit, go to clubatlaclabelle.com.

Revised: 04/28/2026 - Article Viewed 45 Times - View Course Profile

About: Brian Weis

Brian Weis is the mastermind behind GolfTrips.com, a vast network of golf travel and directory sites covering everything from the rolling fairways of Wisconsin to the sunbaked desert layouts of Arizona. If there’s a golf destination worth visiting, chances are, Brian has written about it, played it, or at the very least, found a way to justify a "business trip" there.

As a card-carrying member of the Golf Writers Association of America (GWAA), International Network of Golf (ING), Golf Travel Writers of America (GTWA), International Golf Travel Writers Association (IGTWA), and The Society of Hickory Golfers (SoHG), Brian has the credentials to prove that talking about golf is his full-time job. In 2016, his peers even handed him The Shaheen Cup, a prestigious award in golf travel writing—essentially the Masters green jacket for guys who don’t hit the range but still know where the best 19th holes are.

Brian’s love for golf goes way back. As a kid, he competed in junior and high school golf, only to realize that his dreams of a college golf scholarship had about the same odds as a 30-handicap making a hole-in-one. Instead, he took the more practical route—working on the West Bend Country Club grounds crew to fund his University of Wisconsin education. Little did he know that mowing greens and fixing divots would one day lead to a career writing about the best courses on the planet.

In 2004, Brian turned his golf passion into a business, launching GolfWisconsin.com. Three years later, he expanded his vision, and GolfTrips.com was born—a one-stop shop for golf travel junkies looking for their next tee time. Today, his empire spans all 50 states, and 20+ international destinations.

On the course, Brian is a weekend warrior who oscillates between a 5 and 9 handicap, depending on how much he's been traveling (or how generous he’s feeling with his scorecard). His signature move" A high, soft fade that his playing partners affectionately (or not-so-affectionately) call "The Weis Slice." But when he catches one clean, his 300+ yard drives remind everyone that while he may write about golf for a living, he can still send a ball into the next zip code with the best of them.

Whether he’s hunting down the best public courses, digging up hidden gems, or simply outdriving his buddies, Brian Weis is living proof that golf is more than a game—it’s a way of life.