The Whitefish City Council voted unanimously in favor of approving the mortgage securing Whitefish Lake Golf Club’s financing with Glacier Bank to fund their current remodel of the club house.

Whitefish Lake Golf Club (WLGC) leases the land it occupies from the city and has been doing so since the 1930s. In 2011, city council approved the lease to last through 2040, to operate the Whitefish Municipal Golf Course and facilities including the club house, pro shop, maintenance shed and restaurant.

The golf club recently embarked on a remodel project which began in the fall of 2022 to upgrade the existing club house. The cost will be more than $200,000. In June 2022, council approved the remodel plans.

This month, WLGC asked the city to use the lease in order to secure financing to complete the construction which adds a second floor and keeps the existing footprint.

The club’s general manager, Terry Nelson, cleared up a misunderstanding about whether the land was at stake or the lease.

“Just to clarify, we’re not asking for the land as a security, just the lease,” said Nelson.

Ryan Porter from Glacier Bank added that the document in question encumbers only the lease, not the land.

“If the golf course did default, we would want to be able to run the golf course as a whole and since the club house and a lot of the maintenance facilities are located on the city property, we’re just wanting to be able to take over the lease, receive the rents for the course as a whole,” Porter said.

Councilor Steve Qunell asked if this loan would be sold to another lender.

“This is in the commercial department so we will service this loan, we’ll make all the disbursements,” Porter said. “It’ll be with Glacier Bank… the entire life of the loan.”

Nelson added that it is a cooperative loan involving three local institutions. While there were no further questions regarding the loan acquisition, Councilor Rebecca Norton inquired about the remodel.

Nelson gave details of the remodel of the bag room as well as the addition of new golf simulators.

“One of the things we’ve done over the years is bag storage for our members,” Nelson said. “We had 86 members who used that out of 1,850, so it’s a poor use of about 2,000 square feet. We're going to improve the use of that square footage.”

“We’re going to put in golf simulators which offer our members something to do in the off-season… and it's a revenue source for us, too,” he added.

Other improvements include office spaces on the second floor and increased workspace in the kitchen.

“Some changes will give kitchen staff easier access to the deck and to the lounge without having to go carry their tray through the dining room and around the bar,” Nelson said.