Opening day is getting closer for the new home of the Minnewasta Golf and Country Club.
Work keeps moving along at a good pace to get the new clubhouse and restaurant ready for what will initially be a soft opening later this fall.
“Lots of work has been going on in the inside now. It’s looked the same from the outside for quite some time,” noted head pro and general manager Greg Hesom last week. “We’re getting really close inside, and it’s looking absolutely gorgeous, so we’re getting excited to be able to show everybody what it looks like from the inside out and the outside in.”
Some landscaping work has started, Hesom added, but he suggested “we will still have to do lots of planting and stuff like that … I’m very excited about how it looks. We might have to finish some of the landscaping and outdoor work in the spring, but we’re going to push as hard as we can to get it done as much as possible.”
The men’s and ladies league windups are planned as the first significant events at the venue in mid to late October. Otherwise, Hesom sees them doing an opening of the Santa Lucia restaurant with a takeout menu initially. There are also couple of gala banquets already scheduled for November.
“We’ll start doing some soft openings as far as the restaurant goes.” Hesom said. “Obviously, it’s not going to be ready for any part of the golf season, but we do want to start off and give the kitchen a chance to gain some experience … we want to be in a good position to serve people well rather than rush that process.
“Our big event that we’re planning is New Year’s Eve when we are doing a gala opening,” he added.
Construction of the new clubhouse at the Minnewasta Golf and Country Club followed a massive fire that destroyed the facility in late 2021.
The hope is to have the new restaurant be a year-round facility. The clubhouse will feature golf simulators to help attract people over the winter.
There were a couple other key elements that became a focus as the new space was developed, including capitalizing on the view of the course. There will also be a section of the patio area that will be raised to serve as a stage, as they hope to bring back special events like Friday Night Lights concerts.
“As you walk through the doors and as you get further into the building, the course just opens up to you,” Hesom said. “We have such a beautiful course, and yes this is a beautiful building, but the building was designed to showcase the golf course.”
