What if Superior National at Lutsen could become a 36-hole golf course instead of a 27-hole golf course? Would it attract more golfers and bring in significantly more revenue to the course? Would it draw more tourists to the North Shore? The answers to those questions will remain unknown, at least for now.
On June 14, 2011, consultant Tom Wachholz of ORB Management, overseeing numerous capital improvement projects to be funded from the county’s 1 percent sales and use tax, informed the county board that some recently discovered news could change the direction of the project planned for Superior National.
This spring, the board hired a golf course consulting team to evaluate what could be done at county-owned Superior National to draw users and increase revenue. Sirius Golf Advisors president John Wait and two others visited the course recently and began their assessment. “We feel we had a very productive visit,” Wait wrote in a June 8 letter to the board. “We are very impressed with the aesthetics surrounding SNGC [Superior National Golf Course]. We do feel it has tremendous potential that has not been realized.”
Tom Wachholz told the board that spending an extra $1,620 on the golf course evaluation process would open up new avenues of exploration for the consulting team. He was referring to a letter the county board had in their hands from John Wait saying, “Since returning and my subsequent letter report, we have received additional significant information that completely changes the dynamics of our project.
“[Superior National Director] Bob Fenwick met with [former Lutsen Resort owner] George Nelson after our visit. During this visit, he was informed by Mr. Nelson that there is additional land that he is willing to donate to the county to build an additional nine holes of golf. [Superior National was built on land donated by Nelson for that purpose.] Further, they had already done some preliminary routing for these nine holes. Subsequently, Bob toured the area with Mr. Nelson and discovered, in his opinion, that this land, which lies along the river, would make for a spectacular nine holes and includes a historic bridge. It is unfortunate that we were not informed of this during our meeting with Mr. Nelson.”
The letter goes on to say, “A 36-hole facility, for a resort facility, is far more attractive to tourists/golfers as it provides greater variety.
“…Because of the importance of this additional piece of information, we strongly recommend that we perform a second site visit.” The consulting team asked only for the cost of their travel expenses.
The letter contained some misinformation, however, because Nelson does not own the land that was discussed— it is owned by Lutsen Mountains. In a separate phone conversation, Nelson indicated that he does think it would be a valuable addition to the course. Lutsen Mountains co-owner Tom Rider said over the phone that he has talked with Nelson regarding what this land could do for the course. No substantive discussions have taken place, however, he said.
Commissioners Jan Hall and Bruce Martinson opposed spending money for the consulting team to add the possibility of another nine holes to the evaluation. Martinson suggested allowing an outside investor lease or buy the land and develop it.
Commissioner Sue Hakes said that while she supports the course and using 1 percent tax revenue to improve it, “It’s not on the list of the 1 percent to pay for another nine holes. …I just don’t see that as a reality.”
“This is like a planned monkey wrench to steer this group off our goal,” Commissioner Fritz Sobanja said.
Wachholz reminded the board that Sirius is working for the county. “They’re doing their job by giving you information,” he said.
“I just get fed up with this stuff,” Hall said. She made a motion, seconded by Sobanja, to stick with the course evaluation they had hired Sirius to do. The motion passed unanimously.
At the meeting of the Cook County – Grand Marais Economic Development Authority (EDA) later the same day, Golf Course Director Bob Fenwick mentioned the additional land, however, it was not discussed as something that would take place anytime soon. The EDA owns and operates SNGC.
EDA Board Member Don Davison said the proposal was “the grand scheme at one time.”
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