BY Sarah smith
ssmith@parkrapidsenterprise.com
The weather is perfect for spring golfing, minus about 20 degrees of warmth.
Tadd Usher is hoping for a warm streak as the new general manager of Headwaters Golf Club, formerly known as Headwaters Country Club, begins the 2015 season.
Usher is no stranger to golf or the club. He’s worked at the club as assistant pro since 2003 and replaced Jeff Anderson as GM on March 1. Anderson retires after this year as head pro, so Usher could be in line for that job in a year.
“I’ll probably hire some assistants to share the workload,” Usher said.
He started as a range picker when he was 12, driving a machine that picks up golf balls off the driving range.
He was a few years shy of obtaining his driver’s license. It apparently made no difference to Blueberry Pines as he spent the next six years there until he graduated from high school in Menahga.
He then moved to Arizona, where he attended golf management school and worked at a country club there.
The club had a $60,000 initiation fee and wasn’t as laid back as things are here.
“I got to see how they lived,” he said of the Arizona members. “Everything there was ‘yes sir and yes ma’am’. Everything had to be perfection. I’m hoping to bring some of that to Headwaters Golf Club.”
(Not the $60,000 fee.)
He wants the club to be customer-service friendly, while encouraging the public to make a tee time.
The club has around 220 memberships, all golfing. That translates to 300-325 members, Usher said.
“We have no social members,” he said, referring to people who buy a membership to a club but do not golf.
“We’re not a private club,” he added. “It would be (classified as) semi-private, open to the public but a member-owned facility.”
The country club started when 300 stockholders bought shares in 1969, Usher said. He’s transitioning that misnomer to a golf club, with non-members welcome. A non-member is able to make a tee time, he said.
The original back nine started nearly a century ago. The additional holes were added with the stockholders’ funds and the course has been 18 holes for decades.
The sand greens were replaced with grass. The course has been reseeded numerous times, Usher said.
The club has been immune to the weather disasters that have befallen the county. It has missed tornadoes, windstorms and torrential rains.
A lightning strike a few years ago “took out most of the irrigation system,” Usher noted.
“We’ve been very fortunate,” he said.
In north central Minnesota, the peak times are June, July and August, although the club stays open six months.
“Early spring will help out a lot,” Usher said. “It’s huge for the golf industry, having nice falls and springs.”
Meanwhile, Usher has lots of ideas to bring in revenue.
Right now, people can play all they want for a $100 flat fee until May 15. Golf carts aren’t included, but it’s still a pretty good deal, especially because the club will deduct that $100 from the cost of a membership.
A membership drive day will be held May 20. After 1 p.m., golfers can play for free.
Again, carts are not included. There will be lots more events coming up, he added, and will be posted on the club’s website,
www.headwatersgolf.com/
.
Usher hired Danielle Hill to manage the food and beverage aspect of the club. A happy hour will run from 3-6 p.m. with $1 off drinks.
The porch can be rented by outside groups. Usher said it’s difficult to rent out the main clubroom because golfers can come and go as they please.
Usher is anxious to bring his style of customer service to the club.
“You just smile every day and keep going,” he said, adding that he was grateful for Anderson’s leadership over the past years.
