Emerson golf course builder wins volunteer award

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This article was published 06/03/2021 (2061 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Robert Felsch only took a year of engineering, but a lot of dedication and some golf course homework helped him have a central role in the creation of the new Emerson Golf Course.

Felsch was one of 150 Manitobans to win an Honour 150 community service award. Felsch said he was singled out from a group of at least 70 people that formed a community effort to rebuild the Emerson Golf Course

“It’s a small town,” Felsch said in reference to Emerson. “If you want to see stuff go you have to be involved.”

Felsch’s company The Tractor People contributed to building the course, and Felsch continued to work on the course after moving to Winnipeg. Felsch’s experience in the farm equipment business gave useful connections. His volunteer commitments have also included the golf course board, church council and the curling club.

Felsch said the golf course project was in the works for a number of years before the course’s opening. The new course is a par 35 with two par fives and three par threes.

The old golf course in Emerson flooded nearly every other year, Felsch said, and the province’s Emergency Measures Organization would give the course lump sums of money to rebuild and reseed.

Felsch said a local councillor secured a large sum of money, over $400,000, and organizers looked for land on which to build a new course. The course was also funded by donations.

Organizers eventually acquired 150 acres of land, but sold 100 acres, and Felsch said the existing course consists of about 46 acres.

Felsch had never participated in building a golf course before. He said he had a friend that was greenskeeper of a major course in Winnipeg, who helped with the details of building a golf course.

A golf course is an engineering project, and drainage is a major design consideration. Math is used to take into account water flow and pipe size, and Felsch said he studied how PGA greens are built, proper slopes and sand thickness. Felsch said he’s more mechanically-inclined than academic.

The experience building a golf course helped him later build a mile-long railway.

The course has reservoirs, Felsch said, which the course slopes and drains into.

“It could rain three inches and the next day the golf course has no puddles on it,” Felsch said. Planners also need to take into account irrigation and overflow.

Despite having an important role in building the course, he’s only played the course three times. He’s a member of Southwood Golf and Country Club in Winnipeg.

Reviews of the golf course have been encouraging, Felsch said.

“For a small-town nine hole course, [golfers say] it’s anywhere from good to excellent.”