Flandreau Golf Course
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“I think this golf course, we don’t know the impact economically that it has on the town, but people come in, they play the course, they buy groceries, they fill up their car. It’s a good thing to have and I’d hate to see us without it…but we’re at the point financially, where we can’t make a go,” longtime local attorney John Shaeffer said, before the Flandreau City Council this past week.
An appointed member of the Golf Course Task Force in Flandreau, Shaeffer was standing at the podium that night with three others from the committee sitting behind him — Jason Ramsdell, Dick Emter, and Derek Burshiem. The three were giving Council members a final recommendation after months of discussions and assessments of the course’s future.
That recommendation is to give the golf course and surrounding farmland to the City.
“We have one of the nicest, prettiest golf courses in the whole state and I’d like to keep it. I think it’s a benefit for the city to consider taking it over,” said Shaeffer.
Jason Ramsdell, Golf Board President, told Council members that there is a current lien on the land with approximately $188,000 remaining, and loan details could be worked out with the lending facility in Elkton. The task force estimates the land would give the city an equity of at least $600,000 if it would need to sell in the future, or otherwise rent out.
River’s Bend Golf Course, a nine-hole course in Flandreau, is considered one of the more beautiful courses in the region. Fairways are lined with mature trees and the Big Sioux River winds its way through at several turns. But River’s Bend has had its share of challenges in recent years. Flooding forced the closure of the course in 2019, and an entire season was lost. (It did, however, reportedly bounce back to almost a record year the following summer.)
Aging and broken equipment have also created ongoing headaches for the few staff and volunteers the club has. Members have long been pushing for some sort of benefits for a golf pro or greenskeeper, because lack thereof has kept strong qualified applicants from considering the job.