Cragun’s big renovation

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 aid in the remodel and redesign of the 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.

“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 addition of nine holes is great. It will also help us to serve more people and have more room for everyone to play more golf.”

- Chuck Klecatsky

“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 handicappers,” Peterson said. “The golf course is actually getting longer.”

Sixty percent of the bunkers will be taken away and the bunkers that stay will be replaced with Ohio’s best sand.

“We are going to eliminate all of the bunkers we have on the golf course currently and put back less than half of the bunkers we have,” Peterson said. “We are going to elevate our level of golf. Once we add some length and modify some golf holes the quality of our golf course will be as good if not better than any public golf course in Minnesota when we are done.”

Sand traps will be strategically placed to challenge the lower handicapped golfer.

“Right now, we have a lot of bunkers that are not in play for the low handicap players,” Peterson said. “Where a beginner or mid-handicap player will hit into some bunkers. We are trying to make the golf course more challenging for the single-digit handicap and make it easier for the mid-to-upper handicapper. That’s how Tom sees the game as well.”

The hope is the renovations make the course more challenging and makes Cragun’s poised to host its Mackenzie Tour event the CRMC Championship for the next five years. Lehman was named honorary chairman of the CRMC Championship in 2020 before the tournament was canceled due to border restrictions caused by COVID-19.

“The CRMC Championship will be hosted on 18 holes out here,” Klecatsky said, who is also the CRMC Championship tournament director. “There might be a tournament compilation that is a little closer to the clubhouse. That will be determined when the event comes.”

There is still uncertainty surrounding the 2021 CRMC Championship as the Mackenzie Tour has yet to announce its 2021 schedule.

The course will need two full years of construction before the full 45 holes are completed. However, a plan is in place to open in phases. Twenty-seven holes will be open at the Legacy Courses while construction is occurring. Lehman’s 18 should be open by August of 2022.

Bobby’s back nine is currently closed to start the 2021 golf season. By July, Dutch’s front nine will be closed and there will already be new holes to be played at the Legacy Courses in the summer of 2021.

“The great thing is people will be able to see the renovation happening and by July be able to play the new holes and experience some adjustments to some green complexes and play the new bunkers,” Peterson said. “So as the project is happening you’ll be able to get a feel for some of it.”

By the late summer of 2022, Cragun’s hopes to have 36-holes open with Lehman’s 18 being one of them. Dutch’s 27 will be finished by early to mid 2023. The reversible par 3 course and practice and teaching facility will remain open throughout construction.

“The addition of nine holes is great,” Klecatsky said. “It will also help us to serve more people and have more room for everyone to play more golf. There is a lot of great golf in the Brainerd area right now and we just feel like this will help get our facility up to date. We built the Legacy over 20 years ago and haven’t done much renovations since. So we’re hoping it continues to elevate Brainerd in regional and national golf groups alike.”

CONRAD ENGSTROM may be reached at 218-8555861 or conrad.engstrom@brainerddispatch.com. Follow on Twitter at www.twitter.com/the_rad34.