Originally a nine hole course and airstrip, though land for the course was bought in the 1920s, the first nine and the log clubhouse weren't built until 1935, with the aid of WPA funding. The Grand Opening Tournament was held on May 24, 1936. An additional nine were added in the 1960s, a third nine, the Mountain Nine, was completed on the south side of the highway in the early 1980s and the final nine of the South Course opened in 1994. Flooding on the final nine proved to be a problem, so, after another fours, the South Course opened for a second time in 1998.
Today the course remains an extremely popular and busy course, with both eighteens operating to capacity through the summer. The North Course, updated By John Steidel In 1983, plays at 6,854 from the blacks, while the South Course, designed by John Steidel, is 6,551 from the Blacks. The North Course is an even 36-36, while the South Course is an uneven 35-36.
Read a bit of the Course's history below.
WLGA History
During the late 1920s, several Whitefish residents, headed by D.P.Dedon, bought 104 acres of land west of Whitefish for $1600 so that they could build a golf course.
In those days money was hard to get, and the course development became a slow process. These hard working people had cleared the land for what was to become fairway number one and two as well as part of number three (present woods nine) when one of the local politicians came up with a program whereby grants could be received for municipalities to build emergency landing fields. The City then applied for and received the grant to build the golf course / landing field. The property owners, golfers, donated the land to the County on October 29,1933 which then transferred it to the City of Whitefish on Jan. 15, 1934 with the stipulation that it would become a golf course for local golfers and double as an emergency landing strip. This was accomplished in 1935 with the funding coming via the WPA, which also built the Log Clubhouse / terminal finishing that project in 1937.
The City of Whitefish began operating the golf course, incurred debt and lost money at the same time. In the 1940s the City considered closing the golf course, when local golfers incorporated the Whitefish Golf Lake Golf Association and leased the course from the City and also assumed the debt. From that time until the present the Whitefish Lake Golf Association has operated the course on a not for profit or break even basis.
In the 1950s the WLGA felt the need to expand the facility, and once again the Association bought the adjoining property necessary to add the Lake Nine.
Dr. Don Brown and Brad Seeley arranged for the purchase of the land for $8,400 which were to be the additional nine holes. The land and the course development were paid for by the WLGA through personal loans from members and selling 10-year memberships. Whitney Smith was the chairman of the Lake Nine development project for the association with Roy Owens, Sterling Rygg, Mel Lane, Herb Peschel Sr. and H.O. Swisher serving on the committee. This property was developed during the early 1960s, becoming an eighteen-hole course, which became very popular throughout the Northwest.
With the continued growth of golf in Whitefish the existing 18-hole course was soon operating at near capacity. The population was growing with demand for golf exceeding availability in Western Montana, so a group of local entrepreneurs bought property south of Highway 93 across from the existing course. This group, Grouse Mountain Development and headed by Tim Gratton, built additional nine holes that was called the Mountain Nine and completed in the early 1980s.
It was then in the late 1980’s that the WLGA Board of Directors began the acquisition of land to add another nine holes to form the South Course. Dick Maddux and Jim Welch were very instrumental in the coordination of the seven different parcels obtained to build the additional nine holes. The South Course development took four years to be built, grow in and finally open in June of 1994. The total cost of the additional nine holes and remodel of the now incorporated Mountain Nine was $1,200,000. Golf Architect John Steidel was again engaged to design the addition and remodel phases of the expansion project.
Unfortunately, five of the wettest years in history occurred during the early 1990s and sections of the South Course were flooded beyond playability in April of 1996. The WLGA returned to the various agencies for permits in order to reclaim the flooded property. Raising the entire area adjacent to Lost Coon Lake by over 4 feet and rebuilding the affected fairways, greens and tees costing another $400,000 to re-open the course in July of 1998.
In 2003 Tim and Darlene Grattan graciously donated the original Mountain Nine property to the Whitefish Lake Golf Association placing full ownership of the South Course into the hands of the Association.
Excerpts From the WLGA