FARGO — Chris Larson began his life in the golf business working in the bag room at the Moorhead Country Club. In essence, he’s heading back home taking a newly created position of general manager.
Larson resigned his position at Osgood Golf Course in part because of the changing landscape of that position from PGA head professional to golf manager.
“One door closing, one door opening,” Larson said. “It was a great opportunity to come back to the Moorhead Country Club, a new challenge and it was definitely time from the Fargo Park’s perspective, that job was changing and it wasn’t exactly aligned, let’s put it that way.”
The other part is the continued growth of MCC, which at one time was so-so with membership but continues to have a waiting list with a cap of 430 members. Larson’s job will being all-encompassing, including still being involved on the golf side as well as developing a master plan with the club. That includes a new irrigation system and renovations to the course.
The MCC Board of Directors created the position.
“The board has been pretty proactive in getting the club to where it needs to be,” Larson said. “It’s tough to see myself in that role because I’ve been a golf professional for so long but it has changed to the point where they think they really need a leader in that position to guide them through a lot of things that are going to be going on.”
Larson was at Osgood since 2021. At MCC, he worked in the bag room while in high school, with the maintenance staff while in college before moving into an assistant teaching professional role for nine years. He was the head pro for five years.
“In talking to the board, they wanted a general manager that leans to golf,” Larson said. “We have a really robust food and beverage department out there, which for me is comforting because it’s not my background. They wanted to reassure me that we see a lot of golf things on the horizon, a lot of things we can expand and get better at. They want somebody who is vocal and has vision on where this is going … and this has always been home. It’s like a comfy pair of shoes.”
Larson, 44, is the second veteran local golf professional to take a general manager position at a private club. Mark Johnson, who was on the ground floor of Suites Shots in south Fargo, took over that role at Oxbow Country Club late this fall, with Larson tapping into Johnson’s mind before taking the MCC job.
Johnson was a former head professional at Meadows in Moorhead and Fargo Country Club.
“I talked to him at length about all of this,” Larson said. “It’s nice to have friends, nice to have a network of buddies who are doing the same thing.”
The move reunites him with MCC head pro Chris Howell, who was an assistant under Larson before being promoted after Larson took the Osgood position.
“He and I just work together so well,” Larson said. “We’re great friends, great colleagues. We bounce a lot of ideas off of one another, some are good, most are bad but we definitely keep it loose and it’s a great partnership.”
In a release, the Fargo Park District said it is currently advertising for a new golf manager at Osgood with the role playing an important part in “overseeing day-to-day golf operations, staff leadership, tournaments, instruction and overall guest experience.”
Moorhead Country Club assistant professional Chris Howell, front, and head pro Chris Larson pose for a photo while riding a Finn Cycle at Moorhead Country Club in 2019. A Finn Cycle is a two-wheeled motorized golf cart that is pegged to help speed of play for golfers.
Forum file photo
Jeff Kolpack, the son of a reporter and an English teacher, and the brother of a reporter, worked at the Jamestown Sun, Bismarck Tribune and since 1990 The Forum, where he’s covered North Dakota State athletics since 1995. He has covered all 10 of NDSU’s Division I FCS national football titles and has written four books: “Horns Up,” “North Dakota Tough,” “Covid Kids” and “They Caught Them Sleeping: How Dot Reinvented the Pretzel.” He is also the radio host of “The Golf Show with Jeff Kolpack” April through August.