A New Club (And Model) Will Bring Private Destination Golf To Minnesota

On a rolling parcel of sandy farmland two hours outside Minneapolis, Geoff Ogilvy’s design firm is creating its first all-new U.S. golf course. Scheduled to open in 2024, Tepetonka is intended to be Minnesota’s entry into the private, destination golf arena currently occupied by clubs like Sand Hills in Nebraska, Ballyneal in Colorado, the new Lido Club in Wisconsin, the Harvester Club in Iowa, Sutton Bay in South Dakota, and the various properties within the Dormie Network.

The operational setup of Tepetonka is unique, more along the lines of fractional ownership model – as with some resort properties and private jet companies — than the traditional private golf club model that includes initiation fees, guest fees and annual dues. Tepetonka’s membership will be capped at 100, with 20 founding members in place already, each having an equal ownership stake. Instead of dues, they commit to (and pre-pay for) 100 days of golf. That’s right, days, not rounds, as members will be encouraged to get out and play as much golf as they want in a given day, in any format they desire, from the tees of their choosing.

“Minnesota has been lacking. There’s really no private, destination golf,” said Mark Haugejorde, a native Minnesotan and one of the visionaries behind Tepetonka, along with longtime Hazeltine National (Minnesota) head professional Mike Schultz, a member of the PGA of America’s Hall of Fame. “We’re pro-business networking. We’re definitely pro-philanthropy. We have members from all various industries. I like to say we’re exclusive, but not exclusionary. Our goal is to be a beacon in Minnesota golf and create an experience unlike any other right here in the backyard of Minnesotans.

To help create this vision, Haugejorde turned to OCM, a design firm founded in Melbourne, Australia, by 2006 U.S. Open Champion Geoff Ogilvy, Mike Cocking and Ashley Mead. OCM has been lauded in the U.S. for its revamp of Shady Oaks in Fort Worth, Texas, and most recently has been overhauling the historic No. 3 course at Medinah Country Club outside Chicago. In architecture circles, the team is best known for its work in Australia and Asia, profoundly influenced by the strategic design of fast and firm sand-belt courses in Melbourne that use width and brilliant green complexes to create angles and interest for golfers of all ability.

That influence will carry over to the 200+ acres near New London, Minnesota, about two hours northwest of Minneapolis. The property has three distinct types of land: a 120-acre glacial dunes area reminiscent of the Sand Hills of Nebraska, another 40 acres of Minnesota wetlands, and then the meandering Shakopee Creek area marked by cedar trees and high elevation.

While the routing hasn’t been completed, the opportunity is there to take holes in and out of varied landscapes. Unlike most Minnesota golf courses, which generally have bent grass fairways, bent grass greens, blue grass rough and a lot of carry, Tepetonka will likely have a blend of fescue with bluegrass fairways and bent grass greens, so the expectation is that it will play fast and firm — quite a different experience than Minnesotans are used to.

“Whilst we’ve studied the topo and have some good video footage of the site, nothing really compares with being on the ground so it’s a little tricky at this early stage to describe our vision for the site,” says Mead, who along with Ogilvy and Cocking will visit the property next month to really get a handle on the routing. “We take a lot of inspiration from the land — the scale, soil, views, vegetation and also closely study surrounding properties or parks prior to coming up with a vision for a course.”

Haugejorde, a 1973 high school state champion golfer from New London-Spicer High School, spent almost three years searching for land upon which to build a golf course in his home state. He ultimately found the perfect spot in the town in which he grew up, not far from his old high school and where he used to hunt pheasant as a youngster. While driving one day, Haugejorde spied an area with a creek, ravine and trees he didn’t remember ever seeing before. He took a left down a gravel road and went past a sign that said “Dead End.” Haugejorde stopped after driving a quarter mile, got out of his car, took a look around and said to himself, “This is it.”

“It was like a golf course was already there,” said Haugejorde, who played golf at the University of Houston, where he was a college teammate of Fred Couples, Jim Nantz and, briefly, Nick Faldo.

It turned out there were already ties in place, too. Haugejorde not only knew the family that had owned the unused farmland for more than 100 years, but the woman it belonged to had been a year ahead of him in high school. They hadn’t spoken since 1974, but she too was familiar with Haugejorde family. Mark’s father had been superintendent of the school district they attended and in the 1960s had opened a golf course in the area called Little Crow. That course was where Mark got his start in the game.

The farmland Haugejorde came across had been in a preservation area for years. And while the family had no plans to sell, they embraced Haugejorde’s vision and the opportunity to create a lasting legacy.

The synchronicity of these pieces falling together doesn’t escape Haugejorde, who spent several decades developing businesses with advanced marketing technologies, including a lengthy stint helping extend Jack Nicklaus’s global brand.

“I pinch myself every now and then. You almost feel like you were being led,” he said. “This golf course was always here. We were waiting to discover it.”

There might be a standard 18 holes at Tepetonka, but there could be more, not unlike a newer property like the Ohoopee Match Club in rural Georgia with its 22 Gil Hanse-designed holes. It all depends on what the Minnesota land yields.

“We’re throwing away the notion that it’s got to be par 72, 7,200 yards,” said Haugejorde, who is no stranger to destination golf as a member of the Dormie Network himself. “Let’s go find the best 18, or whatever number of holes we find, and we’ll add up the par when we’re done. I just love that.”

There will be around 50 understated rooms on property for stay-and-play opportunities upon which the club is being founded.

While Minnesota has a lower proportion of private golf than the nationwide average, the state boasts a number of top country clubs, most notably Hazeltine, which has hosted U.S. Opens and PGA Championships for men and women, along with the Ryder Cup. Other highly-regarded clubs include Interlachen, the Minikahda Club, Spring Hill, White Bear Yacht Club and Windsong Farm. Haugejorde is a member at the latter, but sees an opportunity for Tepetonka to stand apart when it comes to private destination golf with a national reach.

When it comes to the financial model, Tepetonka was intentional in its approach. Haugejorde pointed out situations at private clubs where some members are paying half as much in dues as other members, but playing twice as much golf and still getting access to preferred tee times. He sees an important value component in their operational model, suggesting that members might pay $25,000 up front for 100 days of golf – the equivalent of $250 per day for unlimited golf, cart fees (if wanted) and all food and beverage, except alcohol. Caddie fees and lodging costs are also separate.

If a member wants to bring 25 people four times each, they can. If they want to bring the same four people 25 times, that’s fine too. Each membership can have four designated members as well, whether that be family, friends or a corporate group. And the member doesn’t even need to be present, as long as visitors using their play days adhere to the course’s two rules: play fast and have fun.

One founding member has already said he’s planning to use 20 days for himself and friends, but donate the other 80 days to charities and foundations that can auction them off as part of fundraising efforts.

“We want to teach our future generations what we think are the principles for private clubs,” Haugejorde said. “Right now, it’s boom time so we’re seeing heavy capital investment because initiation fees are up, revenue is way up, and many of us believe there’s a healthy permanent shift in the demand in golf. But are you necessarily getting it right and how much fixed overhead are you creating?

“Those are the questions that we looked to other arenas for. We can create a (fractional) model with our member owners where basically the club can break even every year with substantial reserves for capital improvements, so we don’t need capital calls,” he adds. “We simply adjust up or down how much those 100 golf days cost every year. In 2025, maybe it’ll drop to $225 a day or go up to $275. Whatever it is, we’re not squeezed. We’re not going to the grounds crew and asking them to cut the budget.

“The experience will always be premiere. We think it protects the capital investment of the member who purchased a membership because they are owners.”

As for the name Tepetonka, some of the credit can go to an intern in Haugejorde’s At The Turn organization that uses golf to promote financial literacy, networking and job preparation for motivated teens and young adults.

The youngster went to the historical society in Kandiyohi County and found that in 1895 there was a hotel called Tepetonka on nearby Green Lake, widely regarded as one of the top five lakes in a state known as “the land of 10,000 lakes.” The hotel and lake drew visitors from surrounding states for clear water and wonderful fishing, while it also had gardens for locally-sourced fresh vegetables, and was a place where local college kids worked throughout the summer.

The forthcoming Tepetonka Club will have a similar ethos, just for golf.

“It might not be clear water and fishing,” said Haugejorde, “but it’s going to be a golf experience second to none, with people coming from all over.”

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