Grantsburg Golf Course in the Early 1940’s
The Grantsburg Golf Course was established in 1927, making it one of the first small village owned courses in the upper Midwest. The original 14 acres of land were donated by H.A. Anderson, an early banker in the county, whose house abutted the property.
It was originally constructed as six hole, sand green golf course and located east of the current hospital facility. It remained a six hole course until the mid-1960’s when a group of private citizens and the Village of Grantsburg joined together to expand the golf course.
In 1966, a group of citizens led by E.D. Jensen, Walter Jensen, Miles McNally, Jim McNally, Ray Voss, Dick Elg, Ray Wellner, Russ Satterlund, and Lawrence Anderson established a committee to expand and renovate the golf course. The golf course was expanded west to Russell Street to become a nine hole course with grass greens. The clubhouse was also built at the same time.
For several years, an appointed citizen commission comprised of Gene Jensen and Miles McNally oversaw golf course operations. Since 1972, the golf course has been overseen by the Village Board’s Park’s Committee and employed a clubhouse manager and head groundskeeper to manage operations. The Park’s Committee reported to the Village Board.
In November 2006, Burnett Medical Center (BMC) announced an expansion project that would require the golf course to be modified. BMC’s expansion project brought to the public eye a need for the Village Board to examine the golf course operation because the course needed to change to accommodate expansion of the medical center. In September 2006, Village President Mark Dahlberg sent a letter to the village taxpayers and indicated the golf course was in the black from 1988 until 2000 and it began to lose money in 2001. The changing markets for golf course competition, limited promotional activities, a need for more proactive management, and the medical center expansion has forced the Village to address the issue whether they would continue to operate and subsidize the golf course, lease it, or close it.
In late April of 2007, a local group of volunteers stepped up to manage the Grantsburg Golf Course. There has been significant volunteer effort from community members to modify the golf course to accommodate BMC’s building expansion project and make significant repairs and upgrades including building a new number three green, a complete renovation of the irrigation system, a more extensive cart path system, as well as many other improvements. In 2007, the golf course was changed from a par 33 to a par 32 golf course, but has managed to maintain all of its charm, complexity, and playability.
