Our Story
During the late 1920s, several Whitefish residents, headed by D.P.Dedon, bought 104 acres of land west of Whitefish for $1600 to build a golf course. In those days money was hard to get, and course development became a slow process. These hard-working people had cleared the land for what was to become fairway number one and two as well as part of number three(present woods nine) when one of the local politicians came up with a program whereby grants could be received for municipalities to build emergency landing fields. The City then applied for and received the funding to build the golf course/landing field.
The property owners donated the land to the County in 1933 which then transferred it to the City of Whitefish on January 15, 1934, with the stipulation it would become a golf course for local golfers and double as an emergency landing strip.
Construction of the clubhouse or “administration building for a nin-hole airport” began in 1936. Using timbers from the surrounding forest, the lodge pole pines were crafted to create the crisscrossed beams overhead along with the walls and ceiling. The original clubhouse extended only to the far side of the bar and was completed in 1937.
On August 3, 1939, the first airplane landed at the course causing considerable speculation about golfer safety. Planes continued to use the course into the early 1940s even during golf tournaments, but golf soon took priority. The course was still designated as an emergency landing field into the 50s and 60s.
The City of Whitefish began operating the golf course, incurred debt, and lost money at the same time. In the 1940s the City considered closing the golf course, when local golfers incorporated the Whitefish Lake Golf Association and leased the course from the City, and also assumed the debt. From that time until the present the Whitefish Lake Golf Association has operated the course on a not-for-profit or break-even basis.
Throughout all of the time it has taken to build the Whitefish Lake Golf Course into the only 36-hole complex in Montana, the Golf Association and its Board of Directors have always operated on a volunteer basis. All of the monies generated from the operations have been put back into course improvement, equipment, and other capital expenses or paid out to the City of Whitefish as Lease payments. The goal of the Association is to continue its cooperative relationship with the City of Whitefish while maintaining the highest quality golf facility at an affordable price for local golfers.