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The City of Cottage Grove is doing its part to help prevent the spread of COVID-19 and unfortunately, that means closing River Oaks until March 29th. It is such a shame that right when it seems that the Twin Cities is at the cusp of what seems like an early golf season we find our selves amid a national health emergency. Most public places are being avoided at all costs, events are being canceled, kids are out of school and people are working from home. It is a rather strange time . . . but what will all this mean for the golf season?
Well, the PGA has closed down in response to the coronavirus and some golf clubs around the nation are following suit. It is even questionable if there will be a Masters this year.
Who knows what this national emergency will look like in two weeks? It could get better or worse, but either way, it doesn’t look like the virus is going away anytime soon. Even when we can all come out of quarantine (whenever that may be) we will still have to practice our social distancing.
The truth is golf is a very low-risk scenario when it comes to spreading the virus, but that doesn’t mean that golf goes without any risk. When River Oaks does officially open up it’s the course for the season it will be good to implement these social distancing practices on the golf course.
Tips for golfing with the coronavirus:
Following these simple tips will further help prevent the spread of COVID-19 once our golf season starts. The golf season will come. Everyone at River Oaks is anticipating and preparing for the day that we can finally open the course, but the health and safety of our customers mean a lot to us and we will work to continue to provide a safe environment and serve the needs of our customers as best as we can.
At River Oaks, we are so much more than just your average municipal golf course. Golf is just one of the many different things we offer. Over the past few years, we have made numerous improvements and changes to offer our guests a much different and unique experience. Here is a list of five things you may not have known about our golf club.
Believe it or not, we offer winter recreation! During our off-season, when the snow has hidden the fairways of the golf course, the city of Cottage Grove grooms miles of snow trails for cross country skiers and snowshoers. These trails are open every year and are free to use. We do not offer ski or snowshoe rentals, so athletes must bring their equipment.
If you only come to River Oaks to golf, then you may not be aware that we are open year-round. The Eagles Bar and Grill is open every Friday and Saturday from 3 pm to 9 pm. At the Eagles, we honor neighborhood and community by offering a place for family, friends, and neighbors to come together for wonderful cocktails and delicious food all year.
Also, our event center hosts numerous public events throughout the fall and winter months to get you and your friends and family out of the house. We host annual events such as our Friendsgiving, Santa Bruch, Annual Beer Tasting, and Lenten Fish Fry. We also run musical events and dinner parties throughout the season. Follow us on Facebook to stay up to date on all of our events.
River Oaks now has bocce ball! This year we will be including two newly built and regulation-sized bocce courts. Our courts feature an amazing patio bar overlooking the Mississippi River on the 18th hole. The courts are open to the public for free when there are no private events scheduled. The new bocce courts and outside bar can be rented out for private events such as your next birthday party, retirement party, family reunion, team building, wedding party or anything you can think of! Stay tuned this summer as we are putting together event and tournament packages for our guests.
River Oaks has its very own custom made and regulation size cornhole boards. Like our bocce courts, our bags boards are free for the public to use when there are no private events scheduled. Also like our bocce courts, our bags can be rented out for private events! Stay tuned this summer as we are putting together event and tournament packages for our guests and are even considering league options.
Last year we ditched the old dinosaurs our golfers were driving around in and invested in updated and 
more contemporary golf carts. Our state of the art golf carts are equipped with course maps and GPS tracking allowing you to look up yardage. These carts also include Bluetooth speakers, so you can listen to your favorite music and USB charging ports for charging your devices. They have direct communication with the clubhouse, so you can order food right from your cart making for an easy and comfortable ride.
An aerial view of the 8th hole green at River Oaks.
Whenever you play River Oaks, how often (if ever) do you consider the process that went into developing and designing each hole? You may have questioned the positioning of a specific bunker or the location of a water hazard and noticed it was placed there with intention, but you probably rarely stop to give it a second thought. If you are like me, you may find many aspects of a golf course’s layout to be as unsystematic and random as the trees and brush that grow around them. However, every detail of the course’s design, from the positioning of a tee box to the undulations of the greens and everything in between, were the intention of one man’s vision and dream — Don Herfort.
Who was Don Herfort?
Don Herfort in his signature plaid ASCGA member jacket. Photo was taken from Golf Digest website.
According to the Star Tribune, Don Herfort was born in Green Bay, WI on February 6th, 1925. He graduated from the University of Wisconsin in 1951, earning a degree in Business Administration. After graduation, Herfort accepted a position as an accountant at a large corporation in Saint Paul, MN known as 3M. He would later go on to become the most prolific and creative golf course architect in the history of Minnesota golf.
It was while working for 3M that the Tartan Park Golf Course (a 3M employee course) was in the process of being designed. Herfort watched the process closely and began to develop some strong opinions about the vision of its original designer.
“Right from the start, I didn’t think the guy they had hired to build the course knew what he was doing,” Herfort said in an October 2008 interview with Minnesota Golfer magazine. “The holes weren’t laid out very well. The drainage was going to be a problem with the layout. It was like the whole thing was wrong.”
American Society of Golf Course Architects official logo.
Herfort would go on to voice his concerns about the course to 3M’s top executives. Despite having no experience or education in golf course architecture, Herfort was asked by 3M to design and develop its employee golf course. Confidently, Herfort took on the massive undertaking. Tartan Park was a success! It launched his career as an architect, leading Herfort to resign from 3M to establish his architect firm, Don Herfort Inc.
In 1970, Herfort would be elected into the American Society of Golf Course Architects (ASGCA), becoming the first Minnesota-based professional to pass the rigorous membership process. He would go on to have a successful career spanning for more than four decades!
During his 41-year career (1970-2011), Herfort designed more than 140 courses throughout Minnesota, Wisconsin, and North Dakota, with projects in the states of Iowa, Michigan, and South Dakota. You may even recognize his work since most of his courses can be found all over Minnesota. Some of Herfort’s notable works include Dellwood Hills, Indian Hills, Como Park, Oak Glen, Pebble Creek, Superior National, and of course River Oaks.
“His large flashed-sand bunkers and undulating greens are still a trademark of his work,” once said Kevin Norby, prodigy and partner of Herfort.
A view of the green on hole 12 at River Oaks.
According to the ASGCA, the main job of the architect is, “developing programs and facilities that attract and retain new players.” Don Herfort was prolific at this! He appealed to the masses. He wanted golf to be a game for everyone. He wanted it to be fun.
Don Herfort would continue to design courses up until his death on June 27th, 2011. He passed away in his Lakeville home from a heart condition at the age of 86.
By transforming thousands of acres in the upper Midwest Herfort became an artist and left a legacy that stretched across an entire state. Every summer, thousands of people play his courses and yet most are unaware of his achievements. He left his mark on the history of golf in our wonderful state and became the man who built the game for much of Minnesota.
It can be difficult working on your golf game when you live in a northern state like Minnesota! If you live in the Twin Cities metro area, you are lucky to get six months of solid golf play before the long Minnesota winter shuts down like the white lid of a box. Even though most Minnesotians are acclimated to the cold weather, nobody wants to golf in a foot of snow with a windchill of – 20 degrees. Whatever the reason, it’s during the winter months that we need to find creative ways to keep improving our game. I mean, we’re not gonna stop golfing just because of a little cold weather, are we?
Here are 5 ways for you to improve your golf game this winter.
Chipping and putting is an easy thing that everyone can do to work on their golf game from home (provided that you have space and carpet). You can keep it as simple as putting into a coffee mug at the end of your hallway or you can invest a little money into some indoor equipment.
They make indoor putting mats and cups with automatic ball-return that are relatively inexpensive. If you are looking to improve your short game from home, consider purchasing a chipping net. If you plan on chipping inside, I would suggest using practice balls! These practice balls feel, spin, and react like a real golf ball but are much softer and have less distance. They can be used indoors and won’t damage drywall, furniture or other property.
Practicing your drives at home proves to be a little more challenging than chipping and putting. Of course, hitting into a net from short distances allows you to get a feel for your swing, but finding the indoor space to swing a driver (the longest club in your bag) can be difficult.
However, there are heated indoor driving ranges you can go to that will allow you to take a full swing at a real ball and watch it fly off the tee! The Midwest Golf Dome is a local favorite for the Twin Cities area with 33 stalls and indoor chipping and putting green.
Topgolf in Brooklyn Center is also a place you can go in the winter months to practice your swing. Even though it technically isn’t an indoor range, Topgolf has over 100 climate-controlled hitting bays that will allow you to comfortably work on your swing in a T-Shirt, even in the dead of winter.
Golf simulating technology has really come a long way over the last decade! Early golf simulators felt more like playing an archaic video game with many bugs and glitches that didn’t really allow you to gauge your actual state of play, but now there are simulators that make it feel like you are playing an actual round of golf. Simulators give you the chance to play at famous courses like Pebble Beach or TPC Sawgrass, giving you a pretty realistic score in the process.
If you are looking to try out one of these state-of-the-art simulators, indoor golf and entertainment facilities have begun to pop up in recent years. X-Golf and Birdi Golf are two new businesses that have opened up the city of Woodbury that are as realistic and accurate as simulated golf can be. Both offer golf events, leagues, and lessons that will allow you to play golf all year round!
This is a rather simple suggestion, but taking some time to listen to professionals can be very beneficial. Watching the Golf Channel can often reveal some informative tips. There are also hundreds of Youtube channels dedicated to teaching you tips, tricks, and techniques that you can watch from the comfort of your own home!
Content can range from how to fix your slice to different grips for holding your putter. Some of the more popular Youtube channels include Me and My Golf, AskGolfGuru, and Buzza Golf. Whether you decide to take their advice or not, just listening to others’ opinions and techniques can further your knowledge of the game.
This option might be a little out of your price range because traveling and golf aren’t cheap, but southern states like Florida, Arizona, and Nevada are popular destinations for year-round golf. Depending on what destination you pick and what weekend you decide to go, one can find some deals on airfare.
However, lugging your clubs through the airport can be a major hassle. Sure you can rent clubs at the golf course, but you don’t often get the choice of what kind of clubs you get to use. Yet thanks to new technology and business ventures there are ways to get around this. Websites like Ship Sticks will allow you to easily ship your own golf clubs to your destination for a reasonable price. Or the website Club Hub will let you rent the clubs of your choice and have them waiting for you at your hotel when you arrive. Traveling for golf has never been easier!
Don’t let the cold weather and snow deter you from working on your game.
