FARGO — The snow has melted — although more may be on the way this weekend — and golfing season appears to be right around the corner. Edgewood Golf Course in north Fargo, however, is still without a leader.
The Fargo Park District opened up the position of “golf manager” in the first week of February after the retirement of PGA head professional Greg McCullough in December. Details as to the number of applicants and a timeline for a hire were not known as of Tuesday afternoon.
Tori Benders, the marketing and communications specialist with the Fargo Park District, replied to a message asking about the status of the position with: “We are still working through the next steps in the hiring process but will be happy to provide more information once there are updates to share.”
The Park District, at its monthly meeting Tuesday night, did not address any matters relating to golf.
The Park District changed the scope of the Edgewood position with McCullough’s retirement, going to a golf manager instead of the past requirement that the job be a certified PGA professional. That said, Park District director of golf Rocky Papachek said in early February “the likelihood of the person who is most qualified for the job would probably be a PGA golf professional.”
He said the hope was to attract a broader scope of candidates. The Park District cited gaining the revenue from the golf shop, which was previously under the control of the head pro, as one reason for the change.
That change will affect Rose Creek and Osgood golf courses next year.
The Edgewood move was met with hesitancy from the Edgewood Men’s Club Board of Directors. Club president John Nelson sent an email to the 350 club members saying a golf manager “fails to value the training, expertise and the passion of a PGA professional.”
On the plus side, the annual spring flooding threat from the Red River at Edgewood, for now, appears to be minimal. The river level as of Tuesday was at 15 feet, below the minor flood stage that starts at 18 feet, with no sign of imminently increasing.
Jeff would like to dispel the notion he was around when Johannes Gutenberg invented the printing press, but he is on his third decade of reporting with Forum Communications. The son of a reporter and an English teacher, and the brother of a reporter, Jeff has worked at the Jamestown Sun, Bismarck Tribune and since 1990 The Forum, where he’s covered North Dakota State athletics since 1995.
Jeff has covered all nine of NDSU’s Division I FCS national football titles and has written three books: “Horns Up,” “North Dakota Tough” and “Covid Kids.” He is the radio host of “The Golf Show with Jeff Kolpack” April through August.