Golf teams enjoy unique course

Elizabeth Trevathan, Staff Writer|May 25, 2019

Elizabeth Trevathan

The girls golf team poses for a photo.

The golf team’s home course, Somerset Country Club, is known for its strict rules regarding clothes and cell phones as well as it’s exclusiveness.

“It’s a very relaxing place to be able to play golf. It has a strict dress code and we can’t even show a hint of a phone, but I think that the restrictions are worth it to be able to play there,” Senior golfer Lily Nestor said.

The strict policies at the country club include detailed dress codes for each area of the country club and cell phone policies. On the golf course and practice areas, traditional golf attire is required. This includes skirts and shorts that are at least the length of Bermuda shorts and golf shirts with some type of collar, according to the club’s website. Any electronic device is deterred from the club because there is a chance that it might draw away from the informalness and comfortableness the club works to maintain.

The reason why St. Paul Academy and Summit School’s teams began practicing there has been lost through switching of staff and coaches, but the reason why the teams continue to practice remains obvious to athletic staff and coaches. SPA teams have an advantage over other teams by practicing at Somerset since it’s quiet, secluded, and some team members have grown up playing there.

“While we sometimes practice at Highland Golf Course, Somerset is a better match-day setting and it better prepares our students for competition at courses they play at throughout the Twin Cities. […] As many golfers know, understanding the lay of a course can be a huge advantage over the competition,” Athletic Director Andrea Schmidt said.

“Somerset is beyond accommodating for both the boys and girls teams despite the fact they are a very exclusive private golf course,” Head Girls Golf Coach Amanda Dlugopolski said. Golfers on the team view the exclusive aspect of the course as unusually quiet compared to the atmosphere at Highland Nine where they also practice.  

“It’s kind of exclusive, […] so not a lot of people get to go. Which makes it sound like it’d be really great, which it is. It’s nice, but there’s never anyone there really. Which is fine. It’s very quiet, it’s secluded,” ninth grader Sonia Ross said.

Somerset Country Club is located in Mendota Heights, and trekking to the tops of the tallest hills allows you to see an overview of the Twin Cities. Golfers urge visitors to just make sure to wear proper clothing, keep phones hidden, and not to get too freaked out about the course’s seclusion.