Hiawatha Links: stuck in a sand trap

David Thebus

With the unveiling of the new Hiawatha Links Concepts in August, the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board (MPRB) continues to pour money into a failing municipal golf course in a flood prone area which will reportedly cost $43 million dollars to redevelop. Not only is this fiscally irresponsible, but it also fails to respond to changes in recreational preferences generally and golfing preferences in particular. This includes growth in more inclusive forms of golf. The MPRB must prioritize financial sustainability and inclusivity by rethinking the role of Hiawatha Links in preserving history and promoting golf in a changing recreational landscape.
According to an analysis of the 2024 un-audited year-end financial status report, the MPRB Enterprise fund (which is intended to be self-supporting) is facing significant financial pressure. Total enterprise fund net income declined by 24.7% last year! While golf produces the majority of the income for the fund, revenues generated from golf are declining. Last year golf produced a net income of only $37,974, which was 95.9% lower than net income in 2023 and under 2024 budget projections by $733,129! Revenue from golf increased only 2.8% while expenses increased 13.8% during the same period. Golf revenues as a percentage of total enterprise fund revenues decreased from 57.1% to 55.5%. We all know what eventually happens when expenses rise faster than revenue.
Hiawatha Golf Course has been a long-term financial burden to the MPRB enterprise fund. According to the financial data for all MPRB golf courses for the period covering 2008 to 2017, total net income for all courses during the period was approximately negative $8.9 million! The course last reported a positive income of only $20,309 in 2010. From 2011 to 2017, the last period for which the MPRB reported individual golf course revenue and expense data, Hiawatha operated at a loss of approximately negative $2 million!
On top of that, the 2014 storm event that flooded parts of the course, making it unplayable till 2016, caused losses due to repairs and lost revenue totalling $4 million before the course returned to full operation. Large areas of the course are below the average water level of Lake Hiawatha requiring the MPRB to pay to pump hundreds of millions of gallons of ground water out of the course annually to prevent it from flooding, even on sunny days, and so that the greens are not too damp to play on.
The proposed Hiawatha Links concepts and the approved master plan for Hiawatha Golf Course Area would shrink the course from 18 to 9 holes and cost an estimated $43 million to develop. The master plan estimates the redeveloped course will generate a net annual revenue of only $218,000! It is easy to see how future flooding events could make this an empty promise. In its 2025 budget, the MPRB did not recommend any increase in greens fees and only recommended an increase of $1 per 18 hole round in 2026.
Recreation preferences are changing. The MPRB has not released sufficient user address zip code data to identify the distribution of golfers' home communities so we don’t know what percentage of users are actually Minneapolis residents. I’d bet that percentage is low. And according to the Hiawatha Golf Course Area Master Plan, an MPRB system-wide golf study found that Hiawatha Golf Course was operating at 47% of its practical capacity. Even at the height of the pandemic participation was still 20% less than during the 90s and early 2000s. Interest in traditional golf has been waning for decades. According to the National Golf Foundation, on-course golf rounds declined steadily from 2001 to 2019, reaching historic lows in 2018 and 2019. While the COVID-19 pandemic sparked a temporary surge in golf participation in 2020 due to demand for socially-distanced activities, this uptick is unlikely to persist as Return to the Office (RTO) policies gather steam and economic factors like COVID relief funds continue to fade. According to the National Golf Foundation’s 2025 Graffis Report, off-course golf participation exceeded on-course golf participation in 2024.
Not surprisingly, off-course golf activities such as the Puttshack miniature golf in Edina, Five Iron Golf simulators in the North Loop, and Top Golf scored driving ranges like the one in Brooklyn Center are driving growth in golf participation because they offer faster-paced play, are more cost effective, and offer more social and family-friendly venues. You can play golf at night! The MPRB has already added golf simulators at the Columbia Golf Club to increase revenues. The simulators are open with hourly rates from 10 a.m.-10 p.m. most days, throughout the entire year!
Critics may argue that eliminating one municipal golf course limits recreational options for all golfers and decreases recreational equity; however, the MPRB operates six additional public courses and the Twin Cities metropolitan area offers over 100 golf courses of varying sizes and price points, ensuring ample opportunities for traditional golf play. Would it decrease recreational equity for Minneapolis residents? Because the MPRB doesn’t release user statistics for individual golf courses, we don’t actually know whose recreational equity would be affected. Moreover, I would hazard a guess that the rise of off-course golf options better meets the evolving preferences of working low and moderate income Minneapolis residents (a large pool of potential future golf players).

Residents of Minneapolis should demand from MPRB fiscally responsible park plans that include recreational equity and inclusivity! In response the MPRB should take decisive action to address Hiawatha Links fiscal and inclusivity challenges. First, MPRB should release more data on user statistics like, for example, user home zip codes so we can see if Hiawatha Golf Course is actually benefiting Minneapolis residents. Second, the greens fees must be set to cover actual operating and capital expenses, including projected depreciation and losses caused by increased flooding to ensure climate resiliency and fiscal sustainability! Keeping the greens fees below this is a public subsidy of golf! An additional $1 per round seems low. Third, the MPRB should complement the traditional on-course golf with off-course golf options like miniature golf, scored driving ranges, and indoor simulators, which provide more inclusive, equitable, and financially viable recreation experiences for Minneapolis residents.
Continuing to operate Hiawatha Golf Course (Hiawatha Links) without significant increases in Minneapolis resident golf participation and revenue is fiscally unsustainable and out of step with modern recreational trends. The MPRB has an opportunity to lead by continuing to transition to more inclusive, revenue-generating off-course golf options and repurposing city owned land for community benefit. By embracing these changes, the MPRB can create a more equitable, financially sound, and vibrant recreational landscape for Minneapolis residents.
David Thebus is an architect, a volunteer board member of the Standish Ericsson Neighborhood Association, and a graduate student in the Master of Urban and Regional Planning (MURP) program at University of Minnesota’s Hubert H. Humphrey School of Public Affairs. Reach out to him via LinkedIn.