They had never managed a business. Never used a spreadsheet, never hired and fired people, never dealt with intricate insurance policies. Heck, they didn't even play golf. • But a few years ago, when their husbands died within months of each other, Kittie and Linda Fenlason suddenly found themselves owners and operators of Blackberry Ridge, a 216-acre golf course and event center in Sartell, Minn.
Their husbands, who were brothers, had been in charge of the business. The wives had never been much involved; Kittie had a teaching career, and Linda had worked in a variety of local shops. But now the sisters-in-law had to learn how to run a golf course — and fast.
"We decided we'd better get busy and try to make this thing survive," Kittie said.
They succeeded. Despite tough times for the golf-course industry in general, Blackberry Ridge seems to be not just surviving, but flourishing.
Until about 12 years ago, Blackberry Ridge was a dairy farm. Brothers Donnie and Veryl Fenlason had grown up on the 560-acre spread just north of St. Cloud and farmed it together, living in neighboring houses with their families. But by the late 1990s, as the men grew older and started suffering health problems, the farm was getting harder to operate. A neighbor suggested that the land, with its open spaces and thicket of old trees, would make a fine golf course. None of the Fenlasons golfed, but the two families decided to try it.
"We were looking to make life easier," Linda said. "Whoops!"
They had trees thinned, which "we thought was going to ruin our woods because it was so beautiful," Linda said. "But actually it's more beautiful this way, because it's like a park." They had granite blasted away. They added a bar and grill and large banquet facility, and created an adjoining 59-lot housing development (they finally sold the last lot in March).
Tragedy struck in 2009, when Donnie died of heart disease. Veryl died of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma 10 months later. And two women who barely knew a birdie from a bogey found themselves in charge.