Lester Park Golf Course to Permanently Close after 2023 Golf Season

For the next two years, Lester Park Golf Course will remain closed before having its final season in 2023 when Enger Park’s course undergoes some major renovations.

DULUTH, Minn. – For the next two years, Lester Park Golf Course will remain closed before having its final season in 2023 when Enger Park’s course undergoes some major renovations.

In 2019, a task force found the futures of Lester and Enger Golf Courses were in jeopardy because of an oversupply of golf options in Duluth. Failing golf infrastructure and not enough city funds to fix both golf courses to today’s standards.

The task force advised the city of Duluth to prioritize renovations at Enger and pay for it by selling property at both courses for the development of housing.

The plan was to save Enger then save Lester if that was possible.

However, with the financial impact, it became clear that the way to keep a public golf course in Duluth was to permanently close Lester Park.

Operations of both Enger and Lester is a $100,000 annual loss to the city’s budget. It resulted in cuts to the city of Duluth Park Fund and $100,000 is about the cost to replace a playground.

The judgment of the task force was to get the most fair way to provide public golf opportunities to all residents and investing in a course that was in the center of the community, not at the far periphery where Lester is located.

“Are not asking for support or applause for this decision,” said Jim Filby Williams, the director of Parks, Properties, and Libraries for the City of Duluth. “We are asking golfers to accept the necessity to do this.”

Board members of Friends of Duluth Public Golf, which is a nonprofit dedicated to preserving, protecting, and promoting public golf at both Enger and Lester Park, say they are not happy about the announcement.

“We’re very disappointed,” said Sue Harney who is on the executive board for Friends of Duluth Public Golf. “We’ve worked hard, a long time to try to keep Lester open at least as an 18-hole golf course.”

The golf committee and city staff are seeking to put together a plan to renovate Enger’s golf facilities. This includes a final plan with a new irrigation system, a modest new clubhouse, a new driving range, and improvements of the worst fairways, greens, bunkers, and tee boxes.