2025 Candidate Responses - Question 4
A recent Star Tribune article covered the problem of stray golf balls from the course hitting houses along 43rd St. What would you do as commissioner to address that issue prior to the projected 2030 course reconstruction?
Jump to: At Large | District 1 | District 2 | District 3 | District 4 | District 5 | District 6
At Large
Meg Forney (At Large):
“design the golf course to drive the balls away from the immediate neighbors.”
Tom Olsen (At Large):
“This is a good question that I don’t have a complete answer to as this is new to me. But I think we can easily solve this by implementing design changes to the course that will reduce the amount of balls that would fly that way, increase tree and shrub coverage to block more shots, and if those don’t solve it, improve signage urging caution and threatening consequences for dangerous play, and create a policy where golfers must explicitly acknowledge their responsibility.”
Michael Wilson (At Large):
“This is a real and unacceptable safety issue. As commissioner, I will prioritize immediate solutions to protect residents along 43rd Street well before the 2030 reconstruction of the course. While it is important to legally protect MPRB from reckless individuals misusing park amenities to cause damage, it is also the responsibility of MPRB to create the conditions for safety under normal use in each neighborhood where park programs are taking place. When a drive slices to the right, that is usually not the intentional personal failing of a reckless golfer. While no one hopes for a drive that misses the fairway, that is not outside the realm of normal use, and MPRB should mitigate this dangerous situation with more thoughtful tee placement (and diligent replacement if golfers move the tee). The situation calls for more thorough oversight ensuring safe tee placement, not merely limiting liability through blaming the victims and unskilled golfers.”
Amber Frederick (At Large):
“Even as we plan for the long-term reconfiguration, we need near-term safety measures. I would push staff to evaluate and implement mitigation steps—like netting, adjusted tee orientation, or planting buffer vegetation. The Park Board should also work directly with nearby residents to monitor impacts and ensure transparency about short- and long-term fixes.”
Mary McKelvey (At Large):
“I’m sorry that this happens. Perhaps a warning sign could be placed at the offending tee. However, I would wait until the redesign to change the course if this problem has existed since it was first designed decades ago.”
Averi M. Turner (At Large):
No response provided
Adam Schneider (At Large):
“We should introduce more trees to the golf course, allowing for a more controlled environment and reducing the possibility of golf balls going astray.“
Matthew Dowgwillo (At Large):
“I’m not very familiar with this issue, I have spoken with several homeowners who are concerned about the water levels as some properties below the 215 Mark and the new course designs for 218 I believe.
Coincidentally in college, I actually installed the retaining walls and some of the sand traps at that course on the driving range. I did this for an organization called tree trust and it was a wonderful summer teaching kids the value of hard work and building life skills.“
District 1
Dan Engelhart (District 1):
“The article seems to state that moving the tee helped some (then golfers moved it). I would work within this plan that in my opinion must be upheld strongly to do whatever we can with this golf swing trajectory to stop errant balls everywhere but particularly to these homeowners that cannot have peace due to this.“
Dan Miller (District 1):
No response provided
District 3
Kedar Deshpande (District 3):
“Moving the tee location seemed to work for a time. It's unclear to me why that can't be done again, and I will seek answers as to why. I would also encourage signage and behavioral nudges so that golfers understand their errant drives can damage cars and houses nearby, and potentially hurt people physically. I'd also like to investigate if there is additional fencing or netting that can help deflect the errant drives (similar to what baseball fields have), though I recognize the glide path of the drives might be too high.”
District 4
Andrew Gebo (District 4):
No response provided
Jason Garcia (District 4):
“I would look into the possibility of raising barrier netting or another form of prevention.”
Jeanette Colby (District 4):
“My knowledge of this issue comes from the StarTribune. According to the coverage, this doesn't sound like a difficult problem to solve. I would work with the Superintendent to ensure that Park Board properties do not negatively impact neighbors. Park properties should improve, not detract from, the quality of life in Minneapolis.”
District 5
Steffanie Musich (District 5):
“While I take safety concerns seriously, I believe the most responsible path forward is to prioritize implementation of the adopted Hiawatha Long-Range Vision Plan, which includes redesigning the course to resolve this issue. Reconfiguring the hole before 2030 would require significant funding and staff resources—diverting both from the long-term plan that already addresses the stray ball problem through a comprehensive redesign. As commissioner, I will continue to advocate for timely implementation of the approved plan so we can resolve this issue holistically, rather than piecemeal, and ensure that public dollars and staff capacity are used efficiently.”
Kay Carvajal Moran (District 5):
“Prior to the projected 2030 course reconstruction, I am committed to holding a town hall with residents along 43rd St and key MPRB leaders to hear their concerns and strategize on resolutions prior to the projected 2030 course reconstruction. Collaborating with residents and hearing their concerns is critical to developing a park system that works for all.”
Colton Baldus (District 5):
“My immediate priority is to enhance safety for residents along 43rd St. I will direct staff to evaluate and implement interim protective measures, such as the installation of protective netting and the relocation of tees where feasible. This provides a necessary near-term solution while we plan for the 2030 reconstruction, where permanent design fixes will be a top criteria.”
Justin Cermak (District 5):
“Netting. Next question.“
District 6
Cathy Abene (District 6):
“Since this is not in my district and I haven’t had too many people contact me about it, I am not totally up to speed on actions that have been taken to address the situation (if any). That said, I fully expect the redesign to correct this type of thing and prevent it in the future.”
Ira Jourdain (District 6):
No response provided