The history of Minnewaska Golf Club from 1920 to present day

By John R. Stone

“In April 1920, two would be golfers, E.E. Kaldahl and J.E.. Griffith, realizing and appreciating the great natural beauty of Glenwood and its environs…decided that lacking only a golf course to make it the Mecca of many thousands of tourists…” read the start of a Glenwood Herald article published May 1, 1930 about the start of what is now the Minnewaska Golf Club.

The two began scouting locations and narrowed their list down to three with the current golf course location being the final one chosen.

Once chosen the two men began removing rocks and stones so that fairways and greens could eventually be placed on the land.

The two were joined by Theodore Aune and Henry P. Peters, proprietor of Sunset Beach Hotel. Aune, on a trip to Minneapolis contacted a Mr. Clark who was known for his knowledge of golf courses and their design and brought him to Glenwood. Peters saw the value of a golf course in the area to provide an additional source of entertainment for hotel guests.

In the spring of 1921 Peters then brought Clark back to Glenwood where he provided a layout of where greens and fairways should be on the property. Both Aune and Peters paid for Clark’s services out of their own pockets, there was no formal golf course organization at the time.

By May of 1922 an organization was formed. First it was called the Glenwood Golf Club but then there proved to be a conflict with another course with the same name near Minneapolis so the Minnewaska Golf Club name came to being.

Articles of incorporation were approved May 12, 1923 and by-laws of the organization were approved August 14 of the same year.

First president of the organization was H.P. Peters with E.E. Kaldahl as secretary.

Up to this point the group didn’t own the 58 acres of land on which it planned to build the course. That was purchased from the Southern Minnesota and Alberta Land Company June 16, 1923 for $3,3231.90 of which $1,031.90 was paid in cash and $2,200 mortgage was taken out for the balance with a due date of June 16, 2025.

The golf club then received permission from what was then the State Game and Fish Commission to use adjoining land for part of the course. That land involves parts of current holes one, two and three of the course for which the club now pays an annual rental fee.

The club also used about 50 feet of land just south of the North Pacific tracks on the north side of the course. The club paid a dollar a year rent for that and later purchased the land.

Sometime in the 1960s or 70s the club bought 100 acres of land west of the course for a future addition.

During the winter of 1923-24 the Glenwood Ski Club donated its chalet building at the Glenwood Ski Hill in what is now Barsness Park in Glenwood to the golf club. That was moved across Lake Minnewaska in the winter and moved up to the golf club. A Mr. Stinson was paid $150 for moving the structure. That was located just north of the location of the current clubhouse.

With a mortgage coming due in 1925, work on the clubhouse to complete, and the need for a watering system, a meeting of the club membership was held at the Glenwood City Hall March 25, 1925 to bond for $6,000 for the land and improvements. That was divided up into 30  bonds of $100 and 60 bonds of $50.

During 1925 a water system was installed and an implement house capable of housing a tractor, a large mowing machine and other tools was built.

At the beginning the course had sand greens, but those were converted to grass greens late in 1925 for use for the 1926 golf season. As the Herald reported the new greens were “in as nearly perfect condition as a golfer could wish.”

The initial length of the course was 2,777 yards with a par of 34. In 1930 the club hired Tom Vardon, a nationally known golfer, to make the course longer. The net result was a course with three par threes, three par fours and three par fives with a length of 3,200 hundred yards and a par of 36.

One of the next large changes at the golf club was the addition of a new clubhouse.

The Pope County Tribune reported in its May 14, 1970 edition that the clubhouse, which had cost $55,000 to build, would have its formal dedication Sunday, May 18, 1970. It had actually opened in 1969.

The clubhouse was financed with a $55,100 government loan through the Farmers’ Home Administration at 3.225 percent interest amortized over 30 years. The project also included a new $5,000 cart and machine shed, 36 by 90 feet, and blacktopping for the parking lot.

The new clubhouse, 32 x 60 feet, featured an “old English” design with lockers and men’s and women’s dressing and shower facilities on the first floor (basement) and a large carpeted dining room, kitchen, bar and lounge on the top floor which overlooks the first tee.

Expansion to 18 holes

In the spring of 1990 Minnewaska Golf Club members decided to expand the course to 18 holes. Joel Goldstrand, a PGA professional who worked with Fairway Architects, was hired to design the new nine holes and integrate them with the existing nine holes.

Cost of the project was estimated to be $300,000 but Fairway Architects said a better number might be $350,000.

A fund drive was started among members with donations, low interest loans and no interest loans from members being accepted. At the time club president Al Lalim said that the $300,000 number didn’t include a watering system for the project.

The plan was that construction would start that year with the course being playable by the summer of 1991. The plan called for the original nine holes to remain playable for the 1990 season.

The new nine holes were to go on the land the club had previously purchased from Ness. But the course layout was to be changed to two nine-hole loops with the original course holes seven, eight and nine becoming part of the second nine numbered 10, 11 and 12.

The plan called for the construction of 11 new greens with the former sixth green and ninth greens becoming practice greens. A new golf driving range was placed where the former sixth fairway had been.

The new design added some new features to the course. Two holes, six and sixteen, have water hazards. The ninth and 18th holes feature ravines in front of the greens. No such hazards had been part of the original course.

The project went well in 1990 but a Labor Day rainstorm of seven inches washed out the newly seeded land for the new nine holes and made gullies that needed to be filled so the opening of the new nine ended up getting pushed back to Aug. 23, 1992.

The expansion west of the original course also required some other work. A bridge to take Dero Drive from the golf course parking lot to land west of that lot that was to be developed for housing was donated by Robert Schroeder of Glenwood Bridge. Howard and Vi Williams donated a bridge that takes golfers over the ravine that fronts the ninth and 18th greens. 

Now part of the course is housing west of the original nine holes. A group of town homes has been constructed between the ninth and eighteenth fairways. Lots were also sold between the 18th and eight fairways and most now contain single family homes. Some lots were sold in the area south of the sixteenth fairway.

Henry P. Peters and his wife Maude started the Sunset Beach Hotel in 1915. Later his grandson Bill Peters started work on a nine-hole course in the 1960 called Pezhekee National that was expanded to 18 holes in the 1990s. Henry’s son, Pierce, was club champion at Minnewaska twice in the 1930s. Bill Peters, was club champion in 1955 and runnerup in 1964.

Over the years Minnewaska Golf Course has become known for its fast greens and beautiful scenery with places where a golfer can view Lake Minnewaska, which is lower than the golf course be roughly 200 feet.