Meadowbrook Golf history

The decision was upheld by the Minnesota Supreme Court in early 1925, and Wirth was given the go-ahead to commence building the golf course.

The course was completed, including a small clubhouse, and opened for play in 1926.

The first problem encountered at the golf course emerged in 1927 when parts of the course near a flooded Minnehaha Creek were too wet to be playable.

Other players to achieve that feat were Walter Hagen (in 1926), Olin Dutra (in 1932), and Byron Nelson (in 1945). It was a Cinderella week for Ford, playing in his first PGA Championship and becoming the first player to win under that scenario since Tom Creavy in 1931.

In 1933 the board announced that it was unable to make scheduled payments on the contract for Meadowbrook.

By the end of 1934, with its failure to make even interest payments for a few years, the board’s debt on the property had grown from an original amount of $220,000 to $253,000.

In 1936 the park board instituted a season pass program for the golf courses, ranging in price from $24 for Meadowbrook to $16 for Columbia.

On May 30, 1944, Meadowbrook Country Club opened its doors with an all-day open house and buffet dinner.

According to Theodore Wirth’s memoirs, written in 1945, he set out to find suitable land for a golf course anywhere in the vicinity of south Minneapolis.

Clear park board title to the property was celebrated in 1947 when the National Public Links Golf Championship was played at the course.

In fact, the PGA Tour record for the longest sudden-death playoff was established at the 1949 Motor City Open, played at Meadowbrook.

A picture of her at this endeavor can be found in the August 6, 1953 edition of the Dispatch.

Harbert won seven times on the PGA Tour, including one major championship, the 1954 PGA Championship, which was then a match play event.

The 1955 PGA Championship

More than a decade later, Mike Souchek also shot a 63 during the second round of the Motor City Open in 1959 (which he later won).

On March 27th, 1960, Meadowbrook was dedicated at its present location with a formal gala celebration.

In 1962, a group of golfers, many of whom had belonged to the Markham Golf Club, met together and arranged to purchase Meadowbrook from Arthur Latcham.

Snowmobiles for rent at Meadowbrook Golf Course in 1967. (MPRB)

In 1968 Meadowbrook became the first park board golf course to offer golf carts to players.

The early 1970's was a period of slow but steady growth; a time when move and consolidate was the only feasible method of operation.

The second intriguing aspect of the photo above is the decal on the right front of the machine, “Bird is the word.” In the few photos I’ve found online of the machines — Boatel stopped manufacturing them by 1972 — none of the Ski-Birds have that tagline on them.

The dedication of Katke-Cousins Golf Course took place in the fall of 1976 when the front nine holes were completed.

In the spring of 1977, the course opened its doors for business with the additional nine holes.

In addition, he played in nine Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf team events, with his top showing a fifth-place performance in the inaugural event in 1978, when he teamed with Bob Toski.

In 1979 the first non-golf improvements were made to property, including a canoe landing on Minnehaha Creek and a picnic area.

He tied for 43rd at the 1981 Michelob Senior Classic and then tied for 40th in the same tournament the following year.

Meadowbrook was host to the Canadian Tournament Players' Championship, won by Ernie Gonzales, in 1990.

In 1994 Meadowbrook was one of the first golf clubs to change to non-gender membership classifications; allowing both women and men the same privileges for the same price.

In 2000, the Club looked at a project of tremendous magnitude.

The board voted in 2002 to eliminate snowmobiling permits altogether, because no one had applied for one in many years.

The North Course of the Olympia Fields Country Club near Chicago (host of the 2003 United States Open)

In 2008, David C. Smith compiled and wrote a history of the golf course for the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board.

2010, Meadowbrook's 50th Anniversary season saw the construction of a new Golf Shop complex.

Park, Jr was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2013.