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This site is about golf courses that were built by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) during the Great Depression in Minnesota.

After looking at records at the Minnesota State Historical Society and records in more than ten county historical societies, it is clear the WPA built 10 courses [Anoka Green Haven, Blackduck, Mahnomen, Fergus Fall’s Pebble Lake, Detroit Lake, Mankato, Ortonville, Roseau and Pierz]. You can see information and pictures for each of the courses in this website. Send feedback or pictures to: wpagolfmn@gmail.com

There is a distinction between courses the WPA built and courses the WPA worked on. For example, the WPA worked on all of the public courses in the Twin Cities as well as other courses throughout Minnesota. On many of these courses, the men installed water lines and replaced sand greens with grass; the cost of working on these courses often exceeded the cost of building courses. But, the whole goal of this work was to put people to work. The WPA project was NOT the dole. These men worked very hard, often throughout the winter.

To find this information, I read a lot of spools of newspapers, went to a lot of county historical societies and had a first-name relationship with the folks at the State Historical Society. I also watch on EBay for photographs of the WPA and Minnesota Golf Courses.

Let me make it clear on the initial page, I am not a very good golfer, more in the hacker mode, but I still play with my father who is 91 years old. Golf is a wonderful sport, I just wish I was better.

Please let me know if you have additional information I can add or correct to this website.

I am solely responsible for the content here, although I've made some interesting contacts along the way.

The map to the right is out-of-date and I will be updating it, but it gives you an idea of the range courses the WPA worked on.

Randy LaFoy

(612) 520-1861

wpagolfmn@gmail.com