Minnesota Golfer - Spring 2013 - 21

By Joseph Oberle
L
ife along any river will
bring changes, and no one
knows that better than
Moorhead residents
living
near the Red River.
For years, the river's swollen
spring waters have affected life on
its banks, particularly at the Moorhead
Country Club, where a late start to the
golf season as fl ood waters receded had
become commonplace.
But three years ago, things started
changing along the river near the golf
course. This summer, the club will fi nish
a renovation project on the course
designed to keep the members high and
dry each season.
" It didn't fl ood often when I fi rst
came here, " says club professional Larry
Murphy, who has worked at the club for
40 years. " We'd have a fl ood one out of
every fi ve years. Now we get fl oods that
affect the lower part of our golf course
four out of fi ve years. "
In the worst years, parts of the course
would be unplayable until mid-July. And
with a shorter growing season in northwestern
Minnesota, that was a problem
for the club.
" It was a terrible loss of revenue, "
Murphy says. " It's one of those things
that private equity country clubs go
through, and you end up having to assess
your members for reseeding and everything
that has to be done. Everybody
gets fed up with not being able to play
the entire golf course until almost the
fi rst of August. "
The frequency of fl oods was beginning
to hurt membership, so something had
to be done. But major reconstruction
does not come free, and with the club
already dealing with huge maintenance
costs each spring, money doesn't fl ow
like river water. When the city of Moorhead
came calling, Moorhead Country
Club was ready to listen.
An initial project began in 2009, after
the Red River reached a level of
40.5 feet (normal fl ood stage is 18 feet)
and threatened upwards of 10,000 residents
in North Moorhead-a quarter
of Moorhead's population. The city of
Moorhead, looking to build a new levee
at 44 feet, approached the country club
about an easement onto their property
that would incorporate hole No. 7 as part
of the levee.
The country club complied, moving
the 7th green to the north and raising it
as part of the levee. The city paid the club
$465,000 to make the changes, and the
hole (redesigned by architect Joel Goldstrand)
was improved. So when the city
returned to ask about more levee work
involving the course property, club offi -
cials again listened-but were reluctant
to do anything that would cause a suspension
of play for its members.
Club offi cials got together with Goldstrand,
the city and engineers from
Houston and came up with a plan to
design the levee as part of the course,
complete the city's plan to protect North
Moorhead and fi nish the project over a
two-year period with no disturbance in
play. The city, state and Minnesota Department
of Natural Resources came up
with $1,122,000 for the project, and the
club signed on.
" It wasn't really a tough sell, " says Bob
Mulder, head of Moorhead Country
Club's green committee. " It ended up
being a win-win for the club and the city.
It would have cost the city more to buy
out the residences that were in the fl ood
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Minnesota Golfer - Spring 2013

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