Minnesota Golfer - Summer 2019 - 4

INSIDE
THE MG A
What is MGA
Membership?
Proud History
* BY TOM RYAN *
Minnesota's golf roots run deep and
strong.
M
innesota enjoys
a rich golf history.
Twelve
Minnesotans
have won 14
USGA and major professional
championships. We
have hosted 35 USGA championships-including
four
U.S. Opens and four U.S.
Women's Opens-as well
as fi ve PGA Championships
and one Ryder Cup. Over
the next 10 years, Hazeltine
is slated to host this summer's
KPMG Women's
PGA, the 2020 U.S. Junior,
the 2024 U.S. Amateur and
the Ryder Cup again in
2028-the fi rst time that the
Ryder Cup will visit a U.S.
venue twice.
Starting this
year we also have a regular
PGA Tour stop at the TPC
of Blaine.
Hand in hand with our
championship pedigree,
world-famous golfers have
earned victories here. After
winning the U.S. Open in
2016 at Minikahda, Chick
Evans established the Evans
Scholar Caddie Scholarship
Program. Bobby Jones won
twice here-fi rst the U.S.
Amateur at Minikahda
in 1927 and then the U.S.
Open at Interlachen in
1930, on his way to winning
the original Grand Slam
later that summer. A few of
our own have won majors
4
MINNESOTAGOLFER Summer 2019
as well: Patty Berg, Jerilyn
Britz and Hilary
Lunke
are former U.S. Women's
Open champions, and Tom
Lehman grasped the Claret
Jug at The Open in 1996.
It's not surprising that
the USGA, PGA and professional
tours love to come
to Minnesota: Corporate
support is strong, fans are
knowledgeable and enthusiastic,
and the volunteer
ethos is second to none.
But the bedrock of our
history has to
begin
with the quality of
our golf courses.
Minnesota currently
has 447
facilities,
of
which 90 percent
are open to the public-well
above the national
average (75 percent). Our
courses
Many were
Goldstrand. Ninety of our
courses have either recently
celebrated or will soon celebrate
their century mark.
When the MGA was
founded in 1901, there were
just seven golf courses in the
state. By 1920, there were
26. By 1930, there were 100.
The fi rst course open to the
public was Minneapolis'
Theodore Wirth in 1916,
followed by Columbia in
1919. The fi rst public course
in St.
Paul was Phalen
in 1924.
Courses quickly
sprung up not just
in the metro area,
but all across the
state: Austin, Breezy
Hibbing
Point,
Municipal,
Owatonna,
consistently rank
on the nation's Top 100 and
" best places to play " lists.
designed by
the game's greatest architects,
led by Donald Ross,
with six to his name, and
including Seth Raynor,
A.W.
Tillinghast,
Robert
Trent Jones and Stanley
Thompson. Contemporary
architects with Minnesota
credits include Tom Fazio,
Jack Nicklaus,
Palmer,
Arnold
Rees Jones,
Tom Lehman and Joel
St. Cloud,
Alexandria,
Mankato, Soldiers Field and
Ridgeview golf clubs were all
built during this time. These
and other courses founded
during this " Golden Age " of
golf are lasting tributes to
the era and remain integral
parts of their communities.
You should be proud of
our state's contribution to
the history of golf-as well
as the vision and grassroots
enthusiasm it took to get the
game off the ground more
than 100 years ago.
See you on the course.
It's your
invitation to
play some of
the fi nest golf
courses around, through
participation in MGA
Associate Members' Days or
the MGA Senior Tour. * It's
your USGA Handicap Index,
now updated twice every
month, year-round. * It's your
subscription to Minnesota
Golfer magazine, delivered to
your home. * It's your support
of programs and services
that make the game better.
MGA MEMBER CLUB
CENTENNIAL BENCHMARKS
Austin CC
Columbia GC
1919
1919
Great Life Golf & Fitness 1919
(Worthington CC)
Mankato GC
Midland Hills CC
Owatonna CC
Somerset CC
Southview CC
Breezy Point Resort
Canby GC
St. Cloud CC
The Bridges
Oak Ridge CC
1919
1919
1919
1919
1919
1920
1920
Castlewood Golf-The Rock 1920
Olivia GC
1920
1920
1920
1921
Old Course Sauk Centre 1921
Ridgeview CC
1921
Riverside Town & CC 1921
University of Minnesota,
Les Bolstad GC
Westfi eld GC
Cloquet CC
Crow River GC
Izatys Resort
Minnewaska GC
Redwood Falls GC
1921
1921
1922
1922
1922
1922
1922
Ruttger's Bay Lake Lodge 1922
mngolf.org
http://www.mngolf.org
Minnesota Golfer - Summer 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Minnesota Golfer - Summer 2019
