The ongoing redesign aims to satisfy many constituencies of park users with different desires for limited parkland, including the Black golfers who want to see the history of racial integration enshrined there, American Indian environmental activists who want to clean up the lake formerly known as Bde Psin, trail walkers who revile the fence that prevents them from enjoying the lakeside and those who want to see the land used for more sports than golf.
The neighbors hope that redesign process will bring relief from unwanted golf balls. But they’re worried their feedback won’t resonate with park officials, some of whom have tried to help and others who have been reluctant to believe the extent that badly placed shots are interfering with neighbors’ lives.
Emails show that during the 2023 season, former Park Board golf director Larry Umphrey moved the tees at the fourth hole farther away from the houses, which essentially took care of the neighbors’ problem. But after a while, unhappy golfers moved the tees back to their original positions, Umphrey left the Park Board and the errant balls resumed.
Park Board staff declined to answer why attempts to redesign play at the fourth hole ended after that.
“They bought the house next to it,” Park Board lawyer Brian Rice told the Minnesota Star Tribune. “It’s an existing condition. That’s like saying I bought a house on the freeway, and then all sudden, I don’t like the noise. Well, okay, you bought it.”
Rice’s firm sent neighbors a letter last season, stating: “The MPRB is not liable for errant golf balls; the golfer who hit the errant ball is at fault. Moreover, the MPRB does not have the staff to monitor the play of every golfer at Hiawatha or at the other six public golf courses owned by the MPRB.”