Minnesota Golfer - Spring 2015 - 19

" The variety is going to be enjoyable. It's not
all going to look the same. "
-Dan Luther
Hole 2 at Olympic Hills GC
ing water and didn't drain well. And I
wanted to lengthen the course. "
A competitive golfer and member of
several courses throughout the state, Dan
knew what he liked in golf courses and set
out to create a great experience at Olympic
Hills. He had met golf course architect
Ron Pritchard at The Minikahda Club,
where Pritchard recently did its renovation,
and brought him to Olympic Hills.
Pritchard is a noted restoration architect
of famed Donald Ross, Seth Raynor and
A. W. Tillinghast courses, and he signed
on at Olympic because he wanted to rebuild
the greens.
" There are now two greens at 10,000
square feet, " Dan says. " Some are 7,000
and some are 3,500. The variety is going
to be enjoyable. It's not all going to look
the same. That's what captured Ron's
interest. If he could do the greens, he
would do the project. "
Pritchard worked up a master plan
three years ago, and with the help of
Landscape Unlimited and the talented
Olympic Hills grounds crew led by Jake
Schmitz, they started digging dirt in the
fall of 2013 and are scheduled to be ready
in July. They cut down 800 trees and replaced
them-matching their circumference
2-1-with 600 25- to 30-foot
mature trees. They put in a new drainage
system, plus an irrigation system
that will target fairways, tees and greens
(all dominus 007 bentgrass), but not the
rough, which will result in water-usage
savings of millions of gallons per year.
" We have 35 acres of native areas, "
Dan says. " And because water is going
to be an issue, we won't be wall-to-wall
green. We're going to have gold, brown
and green. "
The routing at the course is the same,
but greens have been moved and the angle
from the tees changed on some holes.
Pritchard also found room to expand the
course from 6,600 yards to somewhere
in the neighborhood of 7,200 to 7,400
yards.
" On the par-5 6th hole, it was 580
yards; it's now 630 with a meandering
creek running down the left side, " he
says. " The green has three tiers on it and
we cleared some boxelder trees behind it,
where there were two houses. One day a
homeowner came running out and said,
'We had this privacy when I bought the
house, and I had a house with a view of
the golf course. I now have a house on
the golf course. I just wanted to thank
you. My property value just went up by
six fi gures.' "
Olympic expanded and amplifi ed its
full practice area-including the brandnew
" wedge world " -to really help golfers
focus on their short game. Dan says
his family-oriented course also includes
the creation of an extensive junior program,
lead together by Olympic's longtime
teaching pro Jeff Otto and pro Andrea
Keller, formerly of Interlachen.
The clubhouse also got a facelift with
a new grill, banquet room, ballroom, fi tness
center and yoga studio. Some members
may have trouble recognizing the
club when they come out this summer,
but for Dan it's been a labor of love.
" Golf is not a short-term, moneyHole
16 at Olympic Hills GC
making proposition; this is a long-term
passion, " he says. " I have a vision for
what I want it to be. And if people can
have a great experience and I can promote
the game and even help grow the
game a bit, boy, that would be great. "
The Preserve
Following an update in 2011 to the
Woods and Lakes nines of Grand View
Lodge's Pines course, 2014 marked
the beginning of a renovation for the
Nisswa-based resort's course The
Preserve.
" I am very excited for it, " says the
course's head professional Nate Erickson.
" The Preserve had the round, eggshaped
or circular-shaped tee boxes,
which limited where you could put your
tees. I have lobbied for [enlarging] and
it just made sense to expand the size of
them. "
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