Minnesota Valley Country Club in Bloomington, Minnesota celebrates its 100th anniversary in 2024. The club is commemorating the birthday of the Seth Raynor design by completing a long-term master plan project authored by Bill Bergin, ASGCA (Bergin Golf Designs).
Golf Course Architecture reports:
Duininck Golf first began construction on a first phase in 2017, following Bergin’s completion of a master plan that focused on highlighting Raynor’s design and included reintroducing a number of template holes.
Duininck project manager Paul Deis said: “We are executing phase two of the master plan; completely rebuilding the third and fourth holes, installing new irrigation, linking the fairways on holes 16 and 17 while also adding new bunkers with liners, and adding new bunkers and tee complexes on a handful of other holes.”
Punchbowl shaping is being introduced to the third green, which has been relocated to the right, and work on the fourth green will see a steep drop-off to the right added, along with new greenside bunkers.
Bergin is focusing on improving visuals, particularly on the seventeenth and eighteenth fairways. “Bill puts a lot of thought into the strategy of the game for every level of golfer, focusing on creating fair and fun challenges,” said Deis. “Here you can see the shots he wants you to hit, and the genius in Seth’s original design. But you still must hit those shots.
“Bill knows exactly what he wants the final product to look like. And he does a great job of laying out every feature for us and then working closely step by step to complete that vision.”
Judd Duininck, general manager at Duininck Golf, said: “We knew the project was going to be a hit with the membership from day one. At times it can be hard for a club to shut down their entire golf course to complete everything that they want to get completed.” Referring to the first phase of work, he said: “The club saw and got to experience what we knew going in was going to be spectacular all along.”