Rethinking a Wet Course: The Redesign of Crooked Water Golf Club

When the Crooked Water Golf Club embarked on a course redesign, MCWD represented a regulatory hurdle near the end of a set project schedule. What began as a permit application for plans that could not incorporate required wetland buffers as designed, transformed into a partnership that illuminated creative solutions to align goals, deliver the Club’s vision, and achieve meaningful water resource benefits.

“It was a true collaboration that balanced our business goals with the watershed’s environmental goals,” said Club President Dave Link. “It left us with a better product that protects the watershed and benefits everyone.”

Continuing a 50-Year Legacy

Nestled among woodlands, wetlands, and a smattering of homes at Minnetrista’s northern border, the Crooked Water Golf Club’s 200-acre course emerges from clusters of trees along rolling hills. The Club has existed as part of this rural fabric since 1970.

By 2024, its age was apparent, introducing challenges and posing a significant question: Was it time to reinvest, or shutter the gates?

“After 50 years and no significant infrastructure improvements, everything was deteriorating quickly,” Link said. Interest was spiking among young and new golfers, but expensive upkeep and limited course offerings struggled to meet next-generation needs. Prone to water-logged conditions, the course had also garnered a “wet” reputation.

Situated in the Painter Creek Subwatershed…

the Club was built on a 93-acre wetland complex upstream of Painter Creek and Jenning’s Bay on Lake Minnetonka.

Before modern-day wetland protections, approximately two-thirds of the site’s wetlands were filled or altered for water hazards and aesthetics.

When wetlands are filled or altered, landscapes struggle to naturally hold and filter stormwater. Crooked Water was no exception, experiencing drainage issues that left holes underwater and the course unplayable after heavy rain events.

With strong membership support, the Club decided to tackle these challenges. “We didn’t want to give up our home course,” Link said. “We believed Crooked Water could still provide a sensational golf experience with some reinvestment.”

A Transformative Plan for the Next Generation of Golf

The Club commenced a $12 million redesign with three primary goals to address the major challenges, hoping to begin construction by Summer 2025 and reopen in 2027.

ENHANCED PLAYABILITY

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• Incorporate the Club’s 20 acres of undeveloped land, rerouting and elevating the existing 18 holes to improve drainage and reduce water hazards.
• Align the course design with US Golf Standards.

EXPANDED OPTIONS

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• Add tee boxes to the 18-hole course, encouraging members of diverse skillsets to play.
• Build a short course for younger and newer members to develop without the intimidation and commitment of 18 holes.

IMPROVED INFRASTRUCTURE

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• Install a tailored, flexible irrigation system, reducing annual water consumption by 30-40%.
• Plant low-maintenance grasses, reducing annual pesticide and fertilizer use by 40% and 20%, respectively.

While transformative, the project would significantly change the landscape, potentially impacting remaining wetlands and downstream waterbodies. Recognizing a positive golf experience depends on a healthy environment, the Club wanted to steward environmental protections.

“A beautiful environment enhances the experience, so it’s in our best interest to improve water quality, wetlands, and wildlife habitat,” Link said. 

When the project engineers applied for an MCWD permit, the Club hoped the redesign would meet regulatory standards. Improved irrigation and grass varieties meant less pesticide use and a phosphorus-free course. The redesigned layout reduced hardcover by nearly 2 acres, improving stormwater management.

However, wetlands would once again influence the Club’s future. This time, in the form of wetland buffers.

Competing Standards Create Challenges

Wetland buffers are unmowed and naturally vegetated areas that protect adjacent wetlands by separating hard surfaces and water resources. They provide stormwater treatment, storage, and habitat otherwise lost from impacts to wetlands.

MCWD’s Wetland Protection Rule required nearly 3 acres of buffers throughout the site, ranging from 20-40 feet wide, to filter runoff from the cart paths and provide wildlife habitat.

As designed, the plans could not incorporate the required buffers because they would cover portions of the fairways on some holes, impacting the Club’s ability to meet standard fairway width minimums.

MCWD’s permitting team was transparent with the engineers; the course layout needed to incorporate the buffers to receive a permit and begin construction.

Changing the layout this far into the process would increase risk for the Club. Additional redesign could compromise the Club’s vision, while adding time and money.

The design had creative and financial support from the Club’s membership.

They had already begun the City approval process with these plans.

Design and engineering were largely final, so significant costs were sunk.

“We could not issue a permit without the necessary wetland protections in place, especially when it was possible to adjust the design,” then MCWD Permitting Technician Maggie Menden said. “But to the project’s engineers, this layout was their client’s vision and fixed.”

At this point, MCWD had not met with the Club. As technical experts, a permit applicant’s engineers typically handle the regulatory process, rather than the applicant.

MCWD convened the engineers, designer, and Club leadership to walk through site maps and illustrate how, where, and why buffers were required, as well as understand the Club’s needs.

With this information, MCWD moved beyond simple permit review and provided the Club with two pathways forward: either alter the layout to incorporate buffers, or show MCWD’s Board of Managers that they could do something better within the existing design.

“We were at an impasse,” Menden said. “We needed to get everyone in the room, to clarify MCWD’s rules and understand the vision and design limitations from the Club’s perspective.”

Achieving Something Greater

When a project does not meet rule requirements, the applicant can propose an alternative means of achieving or exceeding the rule’s intended water resource benefits. If MCWD’s Board determines the alternative is sufficient, it may approve an exception to the rule.

The Club would need an alternative that would achieve or exceed the intended benefits of MCWD’s Wetland Protection Rule.+

The Wetland Protection Rule aims to protect and enhance wetland quantity, quality, and biological diversity by limiting or mitigating development impacts. Buffers are a common mitigation strategy, but they are not the only strategy to protect and enhance wetlands.

The Club decided to pursue an exception. To hit the construction timeline, they had six weeks to find comparable or greater wetland protections, present an exception proposal to the Board, and receive approval.

“MCWD understood that we couldn’t satisfy the buffer requirements without overhauling our redesign plans,” Link said. “So they came to us with solutions, and we worked in a spirit of collaboration toward something greater.”

Unearthing a Creative Solution

To meet an ambitious timeline, MCWD’s permitting team set a project management schedule for the Club’s contractors, and helped them navigate the project’s complex technical components and policy considerations to unearth a creative solution.

Over several weeks, MCWD communicated regularly with the Club and its engineers, making wetland maps and guiding them through grading plans, placement of underground infrastructure, and a myriad of hydraulic and earthwork calculations. “We were going back and forth, and every time, we were constantly asking how about this,” Link said. “It was a collaborative, ever-evolving, and fruitful process.”

Finally, they identified a nearly 4-acre open area on the site’s north end that could be a viable wetland restoration. It was one of the site’s historic wetlands that had been filled during the course’s creation.

Now, the wetlands presented a solution.

By removing historic fill and planting diverse vegetation, this restoration would reconnect natural habitat and significantly elevate the wetland’s ecological integrity, improving its ability to filter stormwater and enhancing wildlife habitat.

The plans would also generate 2 acre-feet of floodplain storage, decreasing flood risk on site and downstream.

After discovering a solution, MCWD advised on the final plans and exception request by pinpointing the grading specifications and vegetative diversity needed to realize these benefits. In February 2025, MCWD’s Board ultimately approved an exception to the Wetland Protection Rule because the restoration would create greater benefits than buffers could alone, by enhancing the quantity and quality of local wetlands and reversing direct impacts.

“The Minnehaha Creek Watershed has lost over half of its wetlands to historic development, so protecting what remains is incredibly important to the District,” MCWD Board President Sherry White said. “This restoration is significant and was only possible through mutual understanding of each other’s goals and charting a creative path forward, together.”

A Redesigned Course that Celebrates its Wetlands

Through understanding, collaboration, and innovation, the Club and MCWD achieved the redesign goals, while generating natural resource benefits beyond regulatory requirements.

“Working with MCWD reinforced the value of approaching the regulatory process through a lens of partnership,” Link said. “It strengthened our ability to build a transformative course, while remaining good stewards of the environment and enhancing the overall golf experience.”

With significant physical changes moving forward, the Club decided their brand needed to reflect the landscape’s history. Formerly known as Burl Oaks Golf Club, in March 2026, the Club officially became Crooked Water Golf Club, based on Minnetrista’s Dakota meaning, “Crooked Water.” This new name embraces the course’s connection to the surrounding environment, particularly its wetlands. 

“Without this project, I am confident our membership would have decreased, and the Club would have become a new housing development,” Link said. “MCWD helped us reduce the impact our golf course would have on the environment, providing a more beautiful course that will retain and attract Crooked Water players for another 50 years and beyond.”

Explore the New Site

Historic Wetland Restoration

This 4-acre wetland restoration removes historic fill to reconnect natural habitat and significantly elevate the wetland’s ecological integrity, improving stormwater treatment and enhancing wildlife habitat.

The plans also generate 2 acre-feet of floodplain storage, decreasing flood risk on site and downstream.

Event Lawn

A new lawn can be rented out by the community for events like weddings, parties, and fundraising activities.

Driving Range

The course redesign included expanding the driving range for an improved player experience.

Improved Grass and Irrigation

Low-maintenance grass types reduce annual pesticide and fertilizer use by 40% and 20%, respectively.

A tailored, flexible irrigation system also reduces annual water consumption by 30-40%.

Short Course

A 9-hole short course was added for younger and newer members to develop their skills without the intimidation and commitment of 18 holes.

Wetland Buffers

Alongside the 4-acre wetland restoration, the Club incorporated approximately 1.5 acres of non-required wetland buffers throughout the redesigned site.

Reduced Hardcover

The redesign included nearly 2 acres of reduced hardcover, improving the site’s ability to manage stormwater.