The Cook County/Grand Marais Economic Development Authority (EDA) appointed four new members to the Superior National at Lutsen Golf Course Advisory Committee on Tuesday, February 16 at the EDA’s monthly meeting.
“We received six excellent candidates but, independently, we chose the same four people to serve on the committee,” said Jim King, president of the advisory committee.
All of the candidates have significant ties to Superior National and the North Shore. No women applied, said Superior National Golf Course Manager Bob Fenwick, but with more than 40 percent of the players in Minnesota being women, they will be strongly advised to do so when there is another vacancy.
Although the advisory committee is without power to vote for improvements to the Superior National or the way it is run, it has played an important role in helping to steer the direction of the operation as it undergoes major changes and upgrades to the course, clubhouse, and promotions for the business.
New members include Scott Berry, William “Bill” Gabler, Chuck Ruhr, and Rob Wight.
Berry is an architect who (with his wife) has had a cabin in Tofte for over 30 years. Berry has designed homes at The Heritage on the Superior National Golf Course and is the current director of the Legacy Land and Golf Corporation, Faribault, Minnesota and directed and designed the construction of the new clubhouse and pavilion.
Berry also serves on the Tofte Design Review Committee and is a consultant for the Cross River Heritage Center. He is also a member of the Tofte Commercial Fishing Museum and is a design consultant to the Tofte Commercial Fishing Museum.
Bill Gabler and his wife, Barbara, have owned a home in The Heritage development at Superior National for eight years. He retired from Wells Fargo in 2009, working first as an investment banker and then the manager for 20 years of the Public Finance Group at Wells Fargo.
“I personally led the tax-exempt revenue bond financing in the late 1980s and early 1990s for the Three Rivers Park District in suburban Hennepin County as they expanded the Baker National Golf Course into what is one of the finest facilities in the metro area,” wrote Gabler in his application.
“I spent my entire 40-plus years of my professional life either working for governments or nonprofits or helping these groups with financing for their important projects. Because of this background, I understand the financial options that you may have available to you at Superior National,” added Gabler.
Chuck Ruhr is the founder and owner of Ruhr Advertising in Minneapolis, which over the past 33 years has become one of the largest and most respected creative agencies in the Midwest. Clients included Target, Toro, Hormel, TCF Bank and Dayton Hudson, just to name a few.
For eight years his agency worked with the State of Minnesota Tourism Association and created all phases of advertising including national and regional radio, TV, magazine and direct mail campaigns. His agency also represented Lutsen Resort and Ski Area for over 20 years.
“Of all the experience and background listed above, perhaps the most important is my longtime passion and love for all things on the North Shore,” wrote Ruhr.
Rob Wight was a certified public accountant for the accounting firm of PricewaterhouseCoopers for over 30 years. He was a partner in charge of the Minneapolis Tax Department, managing a staff of 50 people.
From a golf perspective, Wight was director of the Minnesota Golf Association for nine years. He also served as the Greens Committee Chair when a hole renovation was completed and worked with a designer and oversaw construction of the project. He is also a pretty fair golfer, finishing second three times in the state best ball events and 15th in the state in the State Senior Amateur Tournament.
The EDA voted unanimously to confirm these candidates with one proviso. Fenwick asked the board if Berry could still work for the golf course if he could momentarily step off of the committee if they needed to hire him. After some discu ssion it was decided that because of Berry’s longtime commitment to the North Shore this would be acceptable.
In other matters concerning Superior National, Manager Fenwick said he and Superior National Golf Pro Greg Leland recently attended a one-day PGA golf show in Orlando, Florida.
Fenwick said they had looked at six point-of-service systems and had narrowed the list to two.
An upgraded POS will help keep track of expenditures and income better than the current system, said Fenwick. One new feature allows tokens to be sold in the clubhouse and then be used by players to pay for balls used on the driving range. Another feature includes an app that can be downloaded onto a player’s cell phone and allows the player to order lunch while out on the course, said Fenwick.
Fenwick and Leland looked at golf simulators and Fenwick said, “Never in my wildest imagination did I think I would be impressed with these machines. I thought with the cost of them being upwards of $50,000, it was nuts. But I changed my mind. The technology has come a long way in five years.”
While the cost is (about) $50,000 for a simulator, Fenwick said they can be used year round, and in the winter, leagues can be formed and individuals can also come in and rent the machine for $30 per hour and work on their swing. Or added Fenwick, “They could ‘play’ Torrey Pines.”
Just how to pay for one will have to be figured out, but it is something that will be looked at for the future.
Fenwick also said that golf course designer Jeff Broward had gotten back to him and had proposed three or four hole changes that would not have much impact on current wetlands or need much—if any—new land to expand the golf course.
The proposed changes include playing River 9, 3, 1, and possibly 2 in reverse, with some lengthening of a couple of the holes. If it is decided to go along with these changes, permission for adding some of the new space will have to be gotten from some homeowners adjacent to the course, said Fenwick.
Fenwick also said the views created by the proposed changes are spectacular and because some holes are played uphill, the course will be more of a challenge to play.
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