Ramsey County History – Spring 2019: “Where the Grass is Always Green: The Founding of Midland Hills a Century Ago”

Where the Grass is Always Green: The Founding of Midland Hills a Century Ago
Author: John Hamburger

Golf was growing in popularity in 1915 when a group of University of Minnesota professors built a nine-hole golf course on the edge of the Farm Campus. Four years later, the aptly named University Golf Club, leased 160 acres to the north to build an eighteen-hole course. Ralph Barton, a mathematics professor and early board member who supervised the course construction, preserved much of the “drama” that ensued as keeper of the club minutes. As in any major undertaking, there were heated discussions over which course architect should be hired, how to collect dues from members to keep the construction going, and even what the name of the club should be going forward. The renamed Midland Hills Country Club opened in 1921. The club’s archives provide a treasure trove of first-hand discussions, long-faded black and white photographs, and golf artifacts, including tees, balls, and hand-stamped golf clubs. Club member John Hamburger has done a top-notch job bringing those early years to life and sharing how the founding members, local lawyers and bankers, the golf professional, the prominent golf architect, the skilled landscaper, and several others created a masterful course that has stood the test of time and is still here for today’s golfers to enjoy.
PDF of J. Hamburger article