Construction crews work on Cragun’s Legacy Courses Tuesday, April 20, 2021, on a renovation project set to complete in the summer of 2023. Steve Kohls / Brainerd Dispatch
Cragun’s big renovation
SET TO COMPLETE IN SUMMER OF 2023
One lakes area golf destination is getting bigger. Construction has started this spring at Cragun’s Legacy Courses to expand its current 36-hole championship golf complex to 45-holes by the summer of 2023. Minnesota native and professional golf icon Tom Lehman partnered with Cragun’s to BY CONRAD aid in the remodel ENGSTROM and redesign of the Sports Writer Legacy Courses. “We are extremely excited,” Cragun’s general manager Eric Peterson said. “I’ve gotten to know Tom and his design team and watch him work. Who’s not excited about Tom Lehman in Minnesota golf and what comes with that? But I am really excited about the renovation of the golf course and expansion.” When the renovation is complete the Legacy Courses will look different. Plans are to re-do every hole on the course including reversing the direction of some holes.
12 | 2021 Brainerd Lakes Area GOLF GUIDE
“We are freshening this thing up where most of the holes will be unrecognizable,” Peterson said. “We are renovating all 36-holes of golf we currently have and in fact of the 36-holes we currently have we are eliminating two or three golf holes altogether. It’s an incredible remodel.” Lehman’s son played in a junior event at the Legacy Courses last fall and Lehman visited the property for the first time to watch his son play. “(Lehman) played the property and then our golf team talked with him and met about our plans of expanding the golf course as well as remodeling,” Cragun’s director of golf Chuck Klecatsky said. “That’s how the partnership started.” The remodel will incorporate holes from Bobby’s and Dutch’s Legacy to form Lehman’s 18. Dutch’s holes one, two, three and four will be combined to be the first three holes of the Lehman course. Holes 4-8 of the Lehman’s 18 will be brand new and designed on the east side of Cragun’s property. Hole nine will be what is currently Bobby’s 14 with new modifications. Then the back nine of Lehman’s 18 will begin four new holes that will stretch all the way out to the Gull River. The finishing holes of Lehman’s course
will use some combination of Bobby’s 15, 16, 17 and 18 as well as using the space of the gambler’s hole to make the 18th hole of Lehman’s course lead back to the clubhouse. “All those Lehman’s 18 holes of golf are getting an extensive remodel or basically a complete renovation to where it’s a new golf hole,” Peterson said. “That gives you a sense of how complete that 18 holes will be. So it won’t be really recognizable.” Klecatsky added it’s bittersweet to see the original Bobby’s and Dutch’s courses change so much, but said the improvements will be great. “The Lehman people put some fresh eyes on it and said here’s how we can best maximize the use of the land while still being environmentally friendly and also taking into account pace of play,” Klecatsky said. “We believe the product that will come out, in the end, will be better than the product before.” The 27 holes that remain will be called Dutch’s 27. Those holes will also be remodeled with new routing. Some holes will be reversed to be played in the opposite direction. “It’s going to make the golf course more friendly, but we are also going to keep the challenge for the lower
