The Blaine County Journal News-Opinion - We've Got The County Covered

The temperatures are rising, the days are getting longer, baby calves and new born lambs are on the ground. Spring fever is definitely here, and despite the rather mild winter we just had, residents up and down the Hi-line are chomping at the bit to get out and enjoy it. Sure, there is plenty of work that needs to be done before many can play. Farm and ranch work is never ending for sure, and even the average city dweller has chores that need to be taken care of outside before one can have some fun.

The Hi-line will see plenty of people out and about, taking country drives, going fishing where permitted or maybe firing up the barbecue. Youth softball and baseball leagues are forming and the high school spring sport season has began. Harlem, Chinook, Hays/Lodge Pole and Turner thinclads are hard at work preparing for the upcoming Track and Field season. Tennis practice is underway in Chinook and Harlem and finally student athletes in Chinook, Harlem and Hays/Lodge Pole will hit the links to get the Golf season underway.

For many adults, as well as those high school youth, the opportunity to get their clubs out, fire up the cart and play a round at a local course brings a huge sense of joy and excitement for the start of a new year. In north-central Montana there are plenty of local courses, but unlike the bigger cities these courses are member owned and operated and rely on volunteer help to assist a very limited amount of paid employees. Greens fees and cart rentals are done via the 'honor system' for the most part.

To play a fully staffed 18-hole course with a clubhouse equipped with locker rooms, food and a bar, duffers from Blaine County have to travel to Great Falls or Shelby. Closer to home, Fort Benton, Havre and Malta each have nine-hole courses and have paid staff to operate the clubhouse. Blaine County is home to a pair of courses with the Chinook Golf and Country Club and the Harlem Golf Course.

The Chinook course has gone through a massive overhaul the past three years and has become a shining example of what a dedicated Greens keeper and crew can provide to the public. The Harlem Course has had to overcome some major obstacles in recent times, including severe flooding from the Milk River that had half the course underwater until June of 2019. With Covid-19 affecting so many things, the course struggled with machine upkeep, course maintenance along with declining membership and play. The operators of the Harlem course and the crew putting in countless hours to keep the gates open, turned in a valiant effort without question. With the operating costs continuing to rise and equipment and up keep falling further and further behind, ensuring the course would remain open became a difficult undertaking.

Then the Harlem Golf Course was thrown a lifeline that will ensure the local golfing community can get out a make their way around the links without having to leave town. Back in November of 2021 the Fort Belknap Casino Board and General Manager Rob Williams approached the owner/operators of the Harlem Course to gage their interest in selling the course to the Casino. The paperwork was signed and the Deed to the property changed hands this past February and the Fort Belknap Casino Board began the process to officially change the name to the "Mosquito Valley Golf Course".

Formed in 1991 when local businessman Don Richman gathered the funds necessary and did what he could to 'improve or better the community in some way'. "I went to the Bank of Harlem, talked with Rod Becker, the President and got a loan," Don said. "The Course proved successful and payed the loan back in no time. Along with some great help from so many people like Kenny Shelhamer, we got everything done and ready for public use. We played a few rounds that fall but the first full year was in 1992."

Through the years the course has had many great hands volunteer their time to serve on the Board of Directors or work the course itself, but in time the day to day became increasingly more difficult. "We really wanted to be able to help keep the course operating. We feel it is a huge benefit to the community and we wanted to be able to provide some stability in its day to day operations to ensure that golfers in our area can continue to enjoy the game without having to travel a 100 miles to play and have lunch/dinner somewhere else. We wanted to keep that entertainment option available in our own back yard," said Williams.

So then the question becomes, how and why did the Fort Belknap Casino get involved in the first place? "We're trying to do an expansion at the Casino. We really want to expand our footprint and are looking at a number of different options. One thing we wanted to include in our list of amenities was a golf course," stated Williams. The Fort Belknap Casino Board, along with Williams then met with a group hired to do a feasibility expansion study, "We were talking about where to build a course, maybe 9-holes and they suggested that we see if there was a way to purchase the Harlem Course and avoid having to build anything from scratch."

Williams went on to say that he soon met with the owners/operators of the Harlem course, "I visited the Harlem management group and asked them if the course might be available for sale group was the sale and they seemed to get right on board with the idea."

Negations began back in November of 2021, terms were soon agreed upon and the Casino received the deed in February.

The Fort Belknap Casino Board held a meeting and began the process of forming a golf course board to operated the course. As of now, Board members are being finalized and will be announced at a later date. The Fort Belknap Casino also decided to rename the course as the ' Mosquito Valley Golf Course' and have began the process of making the name change official.

With spring upon us and the start of the golfing season right around the corner work has already began on fixing up the course, "We have a new water pump and motor that is scheduled to arrive the end of April," said Williams. "The company we bought it from is also doing the installation and testing of the system."

"Once we get the pump installed we will be able to get sufficient water on the greens. Right now we are hand watering and will be using temporary greens until we can get the regular greens up to shape." In addition the crew will evaluate the machinery and equipment need to operate the course, "We are in the process of evaluating grounds keeping equipment and we will see what needs to be replaced repaired or have general maintenance done. We will start working on tee boxes in middle April along with general course management to get the course ready for the start of the season."

Like a lot of small courses volunteer work is vital to successful course operation as well as a dedicated Greens keeper, "We are getting the course ready for the season, primarily on volunteer help but at some point hope to have Greens Keeper and Clubhouse Attendant hired," stated Williams.

In addition the Board will look to improve in other areas as well, "We are having some testing done to see if we can drill a water well for running water in the clubhouse, actual restrooms and other amenities. Tentatively will have four rental carts the first week of June and we hope 2-4 more by the end of summer."

The course will be having a co-ed Golf League this year and will get started on May 10. Marty Dirden will once again be running the league. League will be held on Tuesday nights. Mosquito Valley also plans on holding at least two tournaments this year and hopes to add more in the future.

For more golf course information, updates are posted on the Fort Belknap Casino Facebook page. The Blaine County Journal will provide updates as they are received. Be sure to look for their Ad next week.