A century at Lakeside Golf Course

Waseca Lakeside Club celebrated its 100th anniversary on Saturday, August 20, 2022. The day kicked off with a Hickory Club tournament. Competitors used pre-modern hickory (w golf clubs provided by William Reed, president of the Hickory Golf Association based in Johnston, Iowa. Players had mixed reviews on their personal success, but all said the hickory clubs were fun and interesting to try. “It shows the difference in technology,” Peter Zimmerman said, explaining that most modern golf courses are built larger than old ones to accommodate the power of steel clubs. One team joked that they may dispose of their steel clubs and get hickory ones, since they shot an astounding nine under par, including a ball chipped in from 100 yards on the 18th hole.

As the tournament ended, more activities began. Sweet Food Delights and Sno-Biz offered food, while a bounce house and the club pool were available for children. The club’s putting green had been temporarily refashioned into a mini-golf course for the entertainment of adults and children alike. Club members came to socialize, and were able to enter drawings for numerous prizes. Beginning at five p.m. indoor fine dining was offered, catered by Torey’s. The restaurant caters for the club three times weekly – once for ladies, once for gentlemen, and once for couples – as well as serving at the club’s special events. After dinner, the Blue Ringers provided entertainment.

Throughout the day, the history of Lakeside was on display. Memorabilia included a hand-written diary-style account of the construction and founding of the club. “Mr. Guy Everett stood on the south shore of Clear Lake – an idea taking shape in his mind,” the unsigned account reads. “He says to mother, ‘Let’s take a ride around Clear Lake. I think it’s time to build a golf course in Waseca.” The same account notes that the population of Waseca at the time was 3,805. It also states that in 1918, two years after the quoted conversation, 300 shares were sold at $35 to raise the money to build the clubhouse, which was constructed on a former potato field. Work on the course began in 1920, and was delayed by the cutting of the corn crop. In the 1920s, the golf course consisted of nine holes. Waseca Lakeside board president Jayne Selvik explained that holes ten through eighteen were added in the 1970s. Helen Fowler, who has been a member of the club since 1940, reveals that the 10th green is at the location of the old clubhouse. 

In more recent history, large parts of the golf course were underwater during major flooding in 2016. To clear the water without damaging the course, the club had to rent large water pumps from a Minneapolis company, Selvik said. It caused some difficulties, but the club bounced back. During the height of COVID-19 restrictions, Lakeside actually benefited and gained new members as golfing was approved as a socially distanced activity, so long as people rode alone in golf carts. “Now, in a time when a lot of courses are struggling,” Selvik added, “Lakeside is thriving, mostly due to quality management.”