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By Design
couldn’t cope,” says Engh. “The flood
destroyed both the clubhouse and
the course. The club had insurance
on the clubhouse and was able to
sell the land, so they decided to pick
everything up and move to a new
course south of town. Minot and the
area around it is booming because of
natural gas and oil exploration, so it is
a strong local economy.
“Most people think North Dakota
is going to be totally flat—and the
old course was—but this one is in a
valley,” Engh continues. “We have lots
of elevated tee shots playing down
to the valley floor, and a creek comes
into play on several holes. Lots of the
native contours are being preserved,
and the fairways are massively large—
because the wind blows strong there!”
Nine holes have been seeded and the
course will open in the summer of 2015.
RainDance National
In the town of Windsor, near Fort
Collins in the north of Colorado,
the economy is also strong because
of the energy industry, in this
case oil drilling. And here, too,
an entrepreneurial developer
has concluded that golf is the
way to drive forward a planned
housing project. Martin Lind,
owner of the nearby Pelican Lakes
course, designed by the late Ted
Robinson, Sr, ASGCA, is working
with Champions Tour player Fred
Funk and golf architect Harrison
Minchew, ASGCA, to build another
course only three miles away.
Named RainDance National,
construction on the course will
start next year. “Fred met Martin
back in 2009 and they hit it off,”
says Minchew. “Martin showed Fred
the RainDance property, where he
intended to do another real estate
development at some point, and said
to him ‘You want to do your first
signature design here?’ Fred contacted
me—we met back in 2004 when he
came by the Palmer Design office to
learn a little about golf architecture—
and that’s how it started.
“There are lots of beautiful arroyos
on the site—it could be one of the
best I have ever seen,” he continues.
“When I first got the topo map I said
‘wow’. When I got the aerial I said
‘
wow
’. When I first went out there
NEW BUILDS
When I got the topo and aerial, I said
‘wow’!
When I first went out
there and saw the property I said
‘You gotta be kidding me!’
Harrison Minchew, ASGCA
RainDance National
Location: Windsor, Colorado
Architect: Harrison Minchew, ASGCA
