The Last of the Deluge: Minnehaha Creek Floods Meadowbrook Golf Course

Posted June 27, 2014
Filed under: Minneapolis Golf Courses, Minneapolis parks, Minnehaha Creek | Tags: Hiawatha Golf Course, Meadowbrook Golf Course, Minnehaha Creek, Theodore Wirth Golf Course |

Ok, enough about flood waters—but I had to post a couple more shots of water winning. These were taken at Meadowbrook Golf Course, the Minneapolis park course located in St. Louis Park and Hopkins on Excelsior Boulevard. (Click here to learn why the Minneapolis Park Board owns a golf course outside city limits. In fact, it owns four courses outside of Minneapolis: Theodore Wirth, Francis A. Gross, Fort Snelling and Meadowbrook.)

Meadowbrook Lake. Meadowbrook Golf Course doesn't usually have a lake in the middle. The pond on Minnehaha Creek on teh east side of the course was created in the late 1920s shortly after the course opened, because high water in the creek flooded part of the course. The pond was dredged to deepen it and use the earth dredged to raise the level of the course around it. That has worked pretty well through the history of the course -- but not when Minnehaha Creek rises this much. This was more than a week after the heavy rains of June 19. (David C. Smith)

Meadowbrook Lake! Meadowbrook Golf Course — seen here from Excelsior Boulevard in St Louis Park — usually doesn’t have a lake in the middle of it. A pond on Minnehaha Creek on the eastern edge of the course — several hundred yards from this scene — was created in the late 1920s shortly after the course opened, because high water in the creek flooded part of the course. The pond was dredged to hold potential flood water and the earth dredged for the pond was used to raise the level of the course around it. That has worked pretty well through the history of the course — but not when Minnehaha Creek rises this much. This photo was taken more than a week after the heavy rains of June 19. (David C. Smith)

Another shot of the new lake in Meadowbrook Golf Course taken from near Excelsior Boulevard. (David C. Smith)

A different lake view, this looking east from Meadowbrook Road through the heart of the golf course. Great new wildlife habitat. (David C. Smith)

A different “lake” view, this looking east from Meadowbrook Road through the heart of the golf course. The 14 water hazards the course normally features appear to have merged into one. (David C. Smith)

As of this afternoon, the only Minneapolis public courses that remain closed due to flooding are Meadowbrook and Hiawatha. Only this afternoon, Theodore Wirth began allowing the use of carts again. There is no target date for when the two closed courses will reopen, but it’s likely to be awhile—especially with another 2-4 inches of rain forecast for this weekend.

Not only will cleanup and repair of these courses be expensive, but the revenue they typically generate will be lost to the Park Board for much of the summer.

David C. Smith

Minneapolis Park History