History

THE TRADITION

"Remember that our club is still in the making and that we want to make it such a club that because of the physical exercise in the open, because of the good friendship and good sportsmanship, you are a better companion, more efficient in your daily life and a greater source of happiness in the family circle." - 1920 Annual Meeting Notice

The "Roaring Twenties" had just begun when a group of University of Minnesota professors and local business leaders met to develop plans for a new 18-hole golf course on farm land adjacent to the University's St. Paul campus.  As golf was exploding in popularity across the United States after World War I, members of the recently formed University Club were looking to expand their "playground."

Consider the era:  In St. Paul, Vaudeville acts were still popular at the Orpheum Theater.  The St. Paul Saints were in first place ahead of the Minneapolis Millers and F. Scott Fitzgerald published his first novel, This Side of Paradise.  Bobby Jones and Walter Hagen were the top golfers in the land and Babe Ruth had just been sold to the New York Yankees for $125,000.

It was during this period that Midland Hills was born!

The Golf Club was initially established almost entirely by a group of faculty members of the University of Minnesota.  On July 15, 1915, as a 'voluntary, unincorporated University of Minnesota Golf Club' they leased ground for a golf course from Mr. and Mrs. John G. Barrett.