Thank you for enjoying the Keweenaw Mountain Lodge’s golf course during this transitional year of new ownership — from being owned and operated by Keweenaw county for 84 years to being completely privately owned and operated for the first time in its existence.
During the 2019 season, we have enjoyed a wonderful summer of golf with our leagues, members, and guests as we kept the golf operations the same as the last couple of years.
We had solid outings for the women’s golf league, where we had up to 10 or so women playing on Tuesday mornings. It was a good social activity built around weekly rounds of golf and being outdoors. This was wonderful to see, as the participation picked up this year as compared to the last couple of years.
For the men’s golf league, congratulations are in order for Ryan Patrick and Bruce Coppo for winning the season. The championship match on Sept 3rd pitted Patrick / Coppo against Al Semela and Joe Langdon. The match went an extra hole, with Patrick / Coppo coming out on top. The team also dominated the regular season play, and then took that momentum into the playoffs to win the season.
Throughout the season we saw Monday and Friday mornings have a group of seniors play; they come up to the Keweenaw for the summer and stay in Calumet, Mohawk, Eagle River, and Eagle Harbor. It was wonderful to see them compete each week for closest to the hole, skins, and more.
And to top it off, we had a fair share of golfers that were vacationing in the area come out and play the course. All in all, we estimate we had approximately 2,400 nine-hole rounds in June, July, and August.
From a maintenance perspective, we brought on a new greens mower to the team, which helped with keeping the greens in excellent shape. In July and August we saw the fairways brown-up, as we had issues with our two pumps. We have gotten the well pump in good shape, and have the parts to fix the lake pump for next year’s operations. And to help us in September, we saw rain. This lead to the fairways greening up.
Now we are moving into the Fall, and thinking about getting the golf course in good shape. You will see the greens are now top-dressed with sand, and have been aerated again (for a second time this year). [ This is one Bill’s (golf course superintendent) favorite times of the year, as he gets the course ready to be better for the future play ]
A change for the 2020 season: No Golf Memberships
For 2020, we will be making changes to the golf operations that are different from the past. In line with our core values of fun, joyous, and adventuresome, we are choosing to have everyone enjoy the course at any time on any day.
In addition, when looking at the setup of the Lodge from inside the operations this summer, and knowing our strengths and weaknesses, we realized we were making decisions for being both a resort and a country club. Thus, this season we were catering to two different types of very different customers. That is not a very good strategy for the Lodge — as the result will be that we do a poor job addressing the needs of both customer sets. We need to focus on one customer type or the other. The clearer opportunity for the Lodge at this time, based upon our values and our vision, is to focus on being a resort, not on being a country club.
With this in mind, we will not have golf memberships during the 2020 season. All golf play will be paid via green fees or through lodging packages. The staff will focus on running the golf course as a resort facility, and make decisions accordingly. This means we will keep the golf course open to resort guests and visitors at all times outside of special golf tournaments and events (in which the organizers pay for using the golf course accordingly). This decision is aligned with our values, our vision of the Lodge, and being a financially sustainable operation.
Cart Storage for the 2020 Season
As for cart storage, there will be cart storage available in 2020. However, the fees will be increased to be inline with the other golf courses in the area. The 2020 cart storage fee will be $300 (May 15, 2020 – May 14, 2021).
If you have your cart stored at the Lodge currently, your cart storage agreement for the 2019 season runs through May 14, 2020. Thus, you are able to store your cart through this winter / spring at the Lodge; after which time, you will need to renew your cart storage at the 2020 season fee. If you decide not to keep your cart at the Lodge for the 2020 season, we will kindly ask you to remove your cart from the cart barn by May 14, 2020.
Thank you for your understanding as we transition the golf activities at the Lodge to be more aligned with the values and the vision of the Lodge as a resort.
Sad to see there will be no golf course memberships next year!! The locals who supported the course for years are being pushed out!! Should check to see just how many rounds the locals played this past season. Good luck trying to replace them with green fees.