The Edina, Minn. club will close its golf course early in the summer and reopen in 2024. The regrassing is part of a more than $30 million development spanning all aspects of the club, from dining to fitness to golf. “What we’re doing on campus is, frankly, a world-class approach to how we’re building fitness, dining, family activities and golf all in one package,” says General Manager Joel Livingood.
Interlachen Country Club in Edina, Minn. will close its golf course for nearly all the upcoming golf season as the club replaces its grass, the Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal reported. The regrassing is part of a more than $30 million development spanning all aspects of the club, from dining to fitness to golf.
Many courses in the area are regrassing to replace existing Poa annua grass with 007 bent grass, which is more resistant to harsh winters, the Business Journal reported. The new strain of grass also saves clubs money in the way of maintenance, as it requires less water and fertilizer.
Golden Valley Country Club, which is also regrassing and will be closed this summer, estimated it could save around $135,000 in annual costs by switching to the bent grass, the Business Journal reported.
Joel Livingood, Interlachen’s General Manager and CEO, said the course will close early in the summer and reopen in 2024, the Business Journal reported.
Some country clubs have reciprocity deals with other courses that give members a place to play during renovations, the Business Journal reported. Livingood said Interlachen has no such deals but emphasized the club’s other assets.
“What we’re doing on campus is, frankly, a world-class approach to how we’re building fitness, dining, family activities and golf all in one package,” Livingood said about the upgrades at the club.
Interlachen has been around since 1909, and the course was designed by architect William Watson, who was also the architect behind the course at White Bear Yacht Club in White Bear Lake, Minn., the Business Journal reported.
Livingood would not comment on the project’s finances or if members were hit with a second special assessment to pay for the project, the Business Journal reported. In July, the Business Journal reported that the second assessment to members could be as much as $8,000. That is on top of the club’s roughly 340 golf members paying a special assessment of $20,000 and nongolf members paying a $10,000 bill.
Rollie Carlson, Managing Director for the Upper Midwest chapter of the Club Management Association of America, told the Business Journal in July that the Interlachen development is possibly the largest capital expenditure for a Twin Cities country club in history.
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