Abby Nadeau
Staff Writer

Between public complaints of poor management and a lack of city involvement, Castlewood Golf Course is failing.

The course, which according to Mayor Terry Smith ìappears to be losing money,î is failing financially and physically.

Golfers and residents echo the need for change at a public course that was once a thriving place of business.

Course History

When the Castlewood Golf Course was given to the then Forest Lake Township, it was gifted in a way that it could only be used as a golf course or a park.

The warranty deed, signed by property owners Jim and Diane Schilling in 1985, states that ìthis property may be used only for golf course and/or parkland purposes.î

The Schillings worked with John Bush, another Castlewood land owner, to draw up plans for a golf course and town home settings to benefit the citizens of Forest Lake Township.

ìIt was an investment the citizens made,î said Dick Tschida, the then Forest Lake Township board member. ìJohn Bush split the land into two pieces. Nine acres would be designated for town homes and the remaining balance was set aside for a public golf course.î

In 1990 Ron Vannelli purchased part of the land on the southeast side to build a clubhouse. Vannelli opened Vannelliís on the Green soon after.

Vannelli, along with manager Mike Olson, ran the daily operations at the nine-hole golf course.

The pair took care of maintenance needs on the course, in the club house and even had time to run a dinner theatre out of the restaurant.

Castlewood Golf Course was a thriving course with room to grow.

Then in 2000 the city of Forest Lake annexed Forest Lake Township.

According to Tschida, who also helped negotiate the contract, the deed drafted by Schilling and Bush carried over to the city with no changes.

ìIn order for that deed to change would be if either John Bush or Jim Schilling signed a release of the land,î Tschida said. ìOr the public would have to ask for a release.î

City Attorney Dave Hebert seconded that opinion and said that ìeverything that was binding on the town, was binding on the city,î when the township was annexed.

While no one seems to know when it happened, Castlewood Golf Course started to change.

A failing course

After the city council started discussing land opportunities for the golf course, at a June 19 Recreation Committee meeting, several Forest Lake residents approached the council about their concerns.

Many stated the reason the golf course was failing was because of poor management.

Vannelli and Olson, now Olvan LLC, still run the course that the council says ìappears to be losing money,î a statement Tschida cannot understand.

ìWhen the township was running that course, it made money all the time,î Tschida said. ìI donít know what the problem is now, but township took in something like $25,000 a year on that course.î

Barb Pribyl, from the womenís league at Castlewood, approached the council in early 2005 to ask for a request for proposal.

Pribyl wanted the council to look at other companies to run the daily operations of the golf course due to her own experiences with the management.

While helping out with the womenís league Pribyl has encountered several occasions where the course was less than adequate.

On July 23, 2005 the large Castlewood golf course sign on TH-97 blew down in a severe thunderstorm. The sign was not picked up until August 19, and has not been replaced since.

ìCastlewood Golf Course has no sign,î Pribyl said. ìIf youíre not from Forest Lake and have never played on the course, you would not know where to start.î

Pribyl also stated other problems, one in which it took almost two years to fix, and financial mismanagement.

The council discussed the matter in the September 12, 2005 council meeting, but wanted to wait for a decision until more financial information could be obtained.

By March 2005 the council had not received any additional information to discuss an RFP, but decided to lease the property for the 2007 year to Olvan.

However, the contract was amended to include a request for a response to council member Susan Youngís list of questions regarding the course and operation, and to review the agreement prior to the 2007 season begins.

Neither Vannelli nor Olson were available for comment at press time on Monday, July 3.

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Forest Lake Times
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880 SW 15 St.
Forest Lake, MN 55025
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