It's almost tee time at ShadowBrooke

Reprinted with permission from the Winsted-Lester Prairie Journal, July 5, 1993.

A father's love of golf and a bad day at work for his son ­ an unlikely combination to begin a business venture.

Tom Schmidt and his father, Elmer, are the minds behind the new ShadowBrooke Golf Course at the intersection of Hwys 7 and 261 between Winsted and Lester Prairie.

The spark for building this course ignited when Elmer built a clubhouse at his Whispering Pines golf course near Annandale in 1986. Elmer bought the clubhouse building from Lester Building Systems, and dealt with Ed Mlynar on the sale.

In 1991, Mlynar contacted Elmer and asked him if he would like to build a golf course near Lester Prairie.

"I don't think Elmer took him real serious," said Tom. "Elmer bumped into Ed several more times and the same topic came up. Ed indicated he knew a good spot for a course, further down 261. Elmer looked at it and asked, 'Tom, how would like to build a golf course?'"

Tom had been looking to do something on his own for about six years. As a tax accountant, he had been working in the Minneapolis area for 11 years, commuting into the city, and working the long hours required in the corporate world.

"I went and looked at the land and wasn't overly excited about it. I have three kids, and I remember what Elmer went through getting his course off the ground. It was no easy task," he said.

The idea was put on hold, until Ed contacted Elmer again, wanting him to look at another piece of land. This time, both Tom and Elmer liked the land, "and the house looked like it had some character."

There still were questions in Tom's mind as to whether the corner of 7 and 261 was a wise spot for a golf course and if there would be enough people to support it.

"It was located in a good spot next to a highway, but you look around and there are no people around here," he said.

But then there was the real bad day at work.

"I sat down at my desk and said 'I want to build a golf course.' Within a half hour, I called Elmer," Tom recalled.

That night Tom and Elmer looked at the land together. "We started to get excited about it and decided that it would be a family business. I also decided it might be cheaper to build a golf course than to send three boys to college. They can take this thing over and I'm off the hook for college tuition. I also look forward to the idea of working with my father. Elmer is extremely creative, which I didn't realize until I started working with him. He's got a good imagination and good taste," said Tom.

The Schmidts began getting an idea of what it would cost to build the course in February through April of 1992. They got bids for the work and looked back on what it cost to build Elmer's Whispering Pines course.

In April they met with bankers and had an informational meeting with mayors, council members and business people from Silver Lake, Lester Prairie, New Germany and Winsted.

"We wanted to get enough information to know if we were idiots," Tom joked.

After the meeting, interest in the course snowballed. Charter memberships sold well, mostly through word of mouth and newspaper ads.

On July 1, 1992 Tom and Elmer closed on the land. The beginning of ShadowBrooke Golf Course was underway.

With Elmer's imagination and golf expertise, and trying to work within a budget, they considered designing the course themselves. Hiring an ex-pro golfer to design a course and an architectural firm that specializes in golf courses is expensive. To have Elmer design the course and hiring an architect that didn't specialize in golf courses would have kept cost down, but Tom and Elmer decided that "if we're going to do it, we're going to do it right. If we make a mistake in design, we would stick more money into this thing and it still won't be a nice course."

They chose ex-pro Joel Goldstrand to design the course and Fairway Architects, Inc. to build it.

"Joel is one of the best golfers Minnesota has ever produced," said Tom. As for the Schmidt's part in the actual building, they do a lot of looking. Goldstrand and architect Ron Bloom worked together hole by hole, "and Elmer and I sit back and say, 'Gee, that looks nice.'"

There were other people that Tom and Elmer hired. Contractors were needed to move dirt, drill a well, and put in the sewer system. Over 40 area businesses were either contracted with or had supplies purchased from them for the course. Tom recalled days where there were about 50 people on the course, all doing some part of the building process.

Building the course has been difficult and sometimes overwhelming. "The weather conditions have been just awful," explained Tom. "It's turned out to be a much bigger project than I expected. At first, it seemed kind of glamorous. Then, as it's all happening, you see all the things that have to be done. It's a real learning process.

"When you start a project like this, you think you know what you're getting into and there is so much more (that you don't know). There are the governmental agencies and the insurance, and all the things you know about, but there is so much of it.

"But at the same time you're seeing progress and it's exciting. You know once you get through the initial building stage you've got something that is worthwhile."

Building the course involves not only Tom and Elmer, but also Tom's wife, Linda, and their children. Robbie will turn 7 on July 16, Tyler will turn 2 on July 18, and Jonathan is 4.

Linda is in charge of the clubhouse renovation and decorating. Elmer's wife, Dorothy, will be setting up the clubhouse and training new employees.

The course will start with nine holes with about 20 sand traps. Tom and Elmer hope to begin building another nine holes next year. Landscaping will be a continual process for the next five to six years.

For Tom, the most exciting part of building the course was the first time the irrigation system was turned on: "It finally looked like a golf course," he said.

Plans are for the course to open Saturday, July 17, unless the weather causes complications.