Les Bolstad Golf Course

The University of Minnesota's Les Bolstad Golf Course opened in 1929 to a design by Tom Vardon, brother of six-time Open champion Harry Vardon, and served the university and surrounding Twin Cities community for nearly a century. In 1983 the school renamed the course to honor Les Bolstad, a standout amateur golfer who served as Minnesota's men's golf coach from 1947 to 1976 and mentored many of the state's finest players, including LPGA pioneer Patty Berg. The course long functioned as both the home of Gopher golf and an accessible public facility, valued for its mature trees and classic parkland routing. After roughly 96 years of operation, the university announced the closure of the course and plans to sell the roughly 141-acre property, ending one of the longest-running collegiate golf traditions in the region.