MOORHEAD — Evidence continues to mount on the benefits of the pandemic to the golf industry, and look no farther than the Moorhead Country Club. What once was a definite third fiddle in local country clubs is now part of the chart-topping three-piece band.
The clubhouse has been renovated with new siding, windows and roof on the exterior and new flooring on the inside. The adjacent swimming pool had a total makeover, which came after a parking lot facelift.
Most important, membership that was once lagging now has a waiting list. With an influx of younger members and families, it’s made for a vibrancy at the facility, with a large junior program, that wasn’t evident over a decade ago.
Breakout Info
Red River Amateur
The Red River Am at Moorhead Country Club begins Friday. Live coverage on WDAY Xtra.
“The changes, very dramatic,” said Michelle Horan, the club’s operations manager who has been at Moorhead CC since 1998. “We have a very dedicated board management team, a very consistent management team, and we’re all kind of riding the wave of seeing where it can go.”
This weekend, the wave will make for better television. For the fifth straight year, WDAY will bring three days of live coverage of the Red River Amateur with 11 cameras, three on-course reporters and hosts Dom Izzo and Greg McCullough.
“I think the biggest thing is with the aesthetics of everything out here right now, it’s the biggest thing to sell to the Amateur,” said Chris Howell, the head professional at Moorhead CC. “Everything is new.”
It’s been a new exercise in pushing the TV technological buttons for the Fargo station, with reviews seemingly better with each year.
“Logistically challenging just to cover such a big space,” said WDAY’s Mike Kapel, who will produce the broadcast. “We’re good at doing stadiums, arenas or fields so the first challenge was covering as much of the course as we could.”
Ben Welle is all smiles as he heads to the final two holes during the Red River Amateur Golf Tournament at the Moorhead Country Club on Sunday, June 23, 2024.
David Samson/The Forum
A course that perhaps traces its rejuvenation roots to a 2014 renovation that addressed flood issues that changed No. 7 on the front side and most of the back nine holes. At the time, it was the only private course that didn’t have to fight a flood until Oxbow Country Club went through its flood-proof construction.
At Moorhead, membership once around 250 to 300 is now capped at 430. Howell remembers coming in on a morning to open the course when he would be the only one there.
“You would pull all the golf carts, you would set up the driving range and before noon you would maybe see 10 golfers,” he said. “You didn’t have to worry about help of any sort because you could handle it as a single person. And now with the usage patterns, because of the pandemic and the boom of golf, you need at least two people to open the shop.”
Horan said income credits from COVID-19 along with the board that found ways for financing were crucial to the improvements.
“It’s easier to secure that financing when you’re seeing your balance sheet continue to move in the right direction and that comes with a full membership,” she said. “Many years ago we would staff one team member on a Saturday, but we can’t do that now.”
The Red River Am starts Friday with a full men’s field of 140 golfers and a women’s division of 40, with the tourney starting a waiting list two months ago. The men will cut to 100 players after the first day with a second day cut of 60 and ties for the men and 20 for the women.
“It’s what we wanted to do, a full field, a better player, growing the ladies division in not only size but quality,” Howell said.
WDAY, on its Xtra channel, will air noon-4 p.m. on Friday and noon-5 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. The alley is back, a tailgating extravaganza between No. 11 green and Nos. 12 and 14 tee boxes, complete with food and beverage and Jumbotron screen airing the WDAY production. Another Jumbotron is being added near the clubhouse.
“Our membership has really jumped on board with it because they’re starting to see us having the value of that three-day event, a three-day advertisement for Moorhead Country Club,” Howell said. “The membership has bought in to the point where they’re now volunteering to spot balls, scoring or shuttle players.”
The island green on the par-3 No. 16 at Moorhead Country Club.
David Samson / The Forum
Moorhead Country Club updated its clubhouse as part of an overall golf course overhaul.
Forum photo
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.
