Northfield Golf Club – Historic Setting Where Membership Matters

By A.J. Burrill

Today, it’s a pleasure to know that quality golf can be found at an affordable price – even at a prestigious private club. Membership is invited and the public is welcome at Northfield Golf Club. This gem of a course is located just south of Minneapolis/St. Paul in the heart of historic Northfield, MN. Northfield Golf Club’s location is amazingly accessible from not only the south metro but also the Twin Cities at a bit more than half an hour from either Minneapolis or St. Paul via I35 or Highway 52 connecting in on County Road 19 from either highway.

Established in 1926 Northfield Golf Club continues to be one of the finest and most affordable private golf clubs in the Twin Cities area. The club is known for providing members and their guests with an exceptionally maintained and manicured golf course, a food and beverage experience not found anywhere else, and a stately and comfortable club atmosphere for family, friends and associates. Membership at “NGC” is vibrant.

A component of Northfield Golf Club that is paramount to the success and enjoyment of the club is, not only having fantastic course conditions, excellent dining and variety of services, but also top level staff and employees. As examples, well recognized Superintendent Bill Whitworth has ensured industry leading course quality at NGC for 30 years and Chef Beau Larson continues to deliver top notch menus plus this year the club has attracted the services of new General Manager Dan Dols who transfers from leading Legends Club (Prior Lake) for 13 years to multiple national honors including the National Golf Course Owners Association award of “National Golf Course of the Year.”

The history of Northfield Golf Club stretches back almost 90 years. The course opened in 1926 as a 9-hole layout on the edge of town along the Cannon River with a “golf shack” for a clubhouse. The clubhouse was upgraded to a log cabin structure, which added to NGC’s colorful history. Additional acreage, purchased in 1975, allowed expansion to 18 holes. During 1991 the clubhouse dramatically burned to the ground. A magnificent multi-purpose clubhouse replaced it after a year’s construction. Improvements continued including new holes, bunker and sand renovations and addition of a short game practice facility with more on the horizon.

Public Invited: Member-For-A-Day
Today this scenic championship course measures out at 6,728 yards with Rating at 73.3 and Slope of 143. Visiting golfers, including many golf professionals, are not shy in touting the quality and speed of the Northfield greens! There’s a broad array of amenities including tournaments, dining, social events, banquets, weddings, plus member programs such as instruction, men’s and women’s leagues, junior programs, various tournaments and more. Additionally, membership categories are expansive with Individual, Couple, Senior, Junior, Mid-Age and others.

While classic private club membership amenities are numerous, the club extends its hospitality experiences to others with public access to the grill and dining room along with tournament/outing programs and public play. Limited public play is generally available seven days per week to include on-line tee time booking. A unique offering at Northfield Golf Club is the “Member-For-A-Day” program whereby golfers can host small groups of 4 to 40 players for a day with such membership privileges as being assigned an account number to charge most services such as golf, golf shop, beverage cart, grill, dining etc. and receive a single itemized invoice the same as a member. Golf group organizers can always book charitable and corporate outings most Mondays and Thursdays with full tournament packages starting at $49/golfer plus F&B or food inclusive packages starting at $69/golfer featuring tournament prizes. Another unique group offering is a flat-fee program regardless of the number of players.

This season brings a notable revitalization of the member and guest experience at the club under the new General Manager. As the anticipation of the 2015 NGC season gears up, GM Dan Dols has been very busy making changes to almost every aspect of the business. He speaks energetically of addressing the following action items among many others: Initiatives to upgrade the NGC “brand”; new golf cart fleet with state-of-art GPS system; new food and beverage menus focusing on quality, variety, and consistent value pricing; evaluating wine selections; revitalized website with new design; expanded content and communications to include an enhanced “Members Only” portal.

Whether you’re looking for a place to conduct business, a place for the family to come together and play, or personal camaraderie on the golf course, you’re invited to explore membership at Northfield Golf Club. This is a quality private club with many forms of public access at exceeding affordable price points where Membership Matters i.e. Great Value!