EAST GULL LAKE — It was a celebration at Cragun’s Legacy Courses Tuesday, July 15.
Tom Lehman spoke at a press conference along with Scott Pritchard of the PGA TOUR Americas and Jamie Tatge of Leisure Resorts to celebrate the opening of all 45 holes designed by Lehman.
Lehman is the 1996 Open Champion and former No. 1 ranked golfer in the world. He started his redesign of Cragun’s Legacy Courses in 2021. The remodel included nine more holes of championship golf.
Cragun’s Legacy Courses hosts the PGA Tour Americas event the CRMC Championship presented by the Northern Pacific Center, which is set for Aug. 28-31.
It is the fourth year the Legacy is hosting the event and this year it will feature the new Dutch Red course, which opened this year.
“We tried to make the Red more difficult,” Lehman said. “There is par 5, No. 8 that we put a back tee in to make it very long. To me the fun part is trying to test the pros. It can be difficult to do because the pros can overpower everything.”
Lehman hit a ceremonial tee shot off a brand new tee box on the Cragun’s Legacy patio. The tee shot is for hole one of the Dutch White course, which will play as the 10th hole for the upcoming CRMC Championship presented by the Northern Pacific Center.
The 10th hole now plays as a 475-yard, par 4 from the patio. Entry to watch the CRMC Championship presented by the Northern Pacific Center is free thanks to Thrivent Financial.
The new Dutch Red course features new bunkering, four new greens and fresh green surrounds. The most noticeable changes include moving the green on No. 3 back 50 yards and making No. 4 a drivable par 4.
“It’s been a gift and a blessing to be a part of this whole renovation,” Lehman said. “It all started when I watched my son play in a junior tournament up here. I had dinner with Dutch (Cragun) and he gave me the blueprint and that led to this — 45 new holes. The project had complete support of the leadership here to do whatever we had to do to make the course the best it could be. I thought the Red Nine was the weakest of the nines here and now I think it is the most fun. Some of the changes we made out there have made it pretty special.”
The Dutch 27 at Cragun’s Legacy Course features a Red, White and Blue course. The Legacy also offers a Lehman 18, which opened in the fall of 2022. Even though Lehman designed all 45 holes for both courses, he said the Lehman and Dutch courses play differently.
“That was very intentional,” Lehman said. “The Dutch 27 need to feel like they have continuity. The Lehman 18 was intended to be totally different. It is a different animal in so many ways. The inspiration was different. The looks are different by design. When someone plays the Lehman 18 and they go play the Dutch 27 they feel like they are playing different courses.
“We wanted to design these courses for the customers of Cragun’s. We created a lot more width. Took a lot of trees down. We created a lot more room for people to play. I think we created a good strategy and that was the goal.”
Started at the Dispatch in June of 2019.
