Flood-damaged course in Minot, N.D. rises from the grave with new owners and new name.
When devastating floods destroyed the Minot (N.D.) Country Club—course, clubhouse, swimming pool and all—during the first half of 2011, the members decided to relocate, hiring Jim Engh to design them a new course a few miles northeast of town.
The club’s 82-year-old original course was more or less left for dead after dikes protecting it were breached or torn apart and a layer of silt from the Souris River killed virtually every blade of grass.
In June of 2012, however, a group of local investors and golf enthusiasts purchased the course and set about rebuilding. Now, 13 months later, it is open once again having been totally re-seeded, lengthened and re-named as the Vardon Golf Club.
“The history of the course was one thing that appealed to us,” co-owner John Zimmerman told the Minot Daily News. “It had ties to a lot of the old founders. We kind of look at this as a privilege to put it back together. We think this is going to be a real asset to the community. We are open to the public.”
Todd Lee, long-time club professional who served the old Minot Country Club, played a vital role in the course’s restoration and is impressed with the condition of the ‘new’ course.
“The tee boxes and fairways are better now, no doubt,” Lee told the Daily News. “I haven’t seen grass like this here as long as I can remember. I think we’ve enhanced the layout and it’s going to be a better golf course. Every time I come out here now it is amazing.”
“From the back tees it will play a little over 6,600 yards,” Lee added. “That’s about 300 yards more than what it was before from the championship tees.”
Zimmerman knows there will be a few rough edges at first, but he’s okay with that. “Our focus has always been, first and foremost, on the course,” he told the Daily News. “We’ve worked hard to make sure it was ready to go. We took 550 trees down but the integrity of the old course is still very much there.”
Maybe, Zimmerman jokes, Mother Nature was just carrying out “some extreme pruning” with the 2011 flood. “Really, it gives us a fresh start on the course,” he said. “I think we’ll see a better quality of play, speedier play as well. The chances of getting caught in a pine tree is a lot less now.”
The pro shop building fared better than the old clubhouse and after a major renovation now boasts a bar, grill, and deck.
“That gives us a gathering place for golfers to relax before and after a round of golf,” said Zimmerman. “The restaurant is open to the public as well.”
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