I’m offering a free and unique (that word is misused so often that it makes me flinch, but this really is unique) opportunity to any Twin Cities-area golf league, golf course, civic organization or community group:

Want to find out where Roadside Golf Club was? What made Mudcura Golf Club so unusual? How Bunker Hills came to be a golf course in Mendota Heights before anyone ever considered putting a Bunker Hills in Coon Rapids? Why Westwood Hills was the king of all Minnesota lost golf courses?

I am offering an opportunity to make a presentation on Minnesota’s lost golf courses, more than 80 of them, to any Twin Cities-area group, large or small, at no charge. I have put together a PowerPoint presentation with photos old and new, and I can tell you all about the old Matoska course in Gem Lake, the Minnetonka Club in Deephaven, Hilltop in Columbia Heights, or any of dozens of others of courses you group may or may not have ever heard of. I can tailor the presentation to courses that were near the area you live in, and I might even be able to elicit a chuckle or two with stories: the one about the golfers who’d get their bearings mixed up and end up on the wrong course, or the one about the monkey who frequented one course, or the one about fellow who nearly died (everything turned out OK, but the story is humorous) under a pile of dirt more than a century ago at still another course.

With golf leagues about to organize for the season, I’m just thinking this might be a nice diversion for a portion of the organizational meeting. Again, there would be no charge. My only request would be the opportunity to sell or promote my new book, “Fore! Gone. Minnesota’ Lost Golf Courses 1897-1999,” after making my presentation.

If you’re interested, contact me at bissenjoe@gmail.com or through this website. Thanks for your consideration, and have a great golf season!

Joe Bissen

The following two tabs change content below.

• Bio
• Latest Posts

Joe Bissen

Joe Bissen is a Caledonia, Minnesota, native and former golf letter-winner at Winona State University. He is a retired sports copy editor at the Minneapolis Star Tribune and St. Paul Pioneer Press and former sports editor of the Duluth News-Tribune. His writing has appeared in Minnesota Golfer and Mpls.St.Paul magazines. He lives in South St. Paul, MN. Joe's award-winning first book, "Fore! Gone. Minnesota's Lost Golf Courses 1897-1999," was released in December 2013, and a follow-up, "More! Gone. Minnesota's Lost Golf Courses, Part II" was released in July 2020. The books are most readily available online at Amazon.com or Barnes & Noble (bn.com). He continues to write about lost courses on this website and has uncovered more than 245 of them.

Latest posts by Joe Bissen (see all)

• Island courses: Photo gallery - February 24, 2024
• Island outposts: Coney Isle and Circle Lake - February 24, 2024
• Lost courses, or just my imagination? - February 7, 2022