Inver Wood Golf Course to change stance on non-players

After 20 years of keeping non-players off the greens, Inver Wood Golf Course is preparing to let some in.

Recreational walkers would not be welcome, but parents of high school golfers could for the first time walk the course to watch their athletes play in school meets at the Inver Grove Heights municipal course.

And golfers could bring with them a non-playing child, spouse or parent -- provided the non-players sign a liability waiver and stay in the cart.

The change would bring Inver Hills in line with most other similar golf courses, where non-players are typically allowed if they sign a waiver.

"It's really going to be appreciated if we can have spectators," said Dennis Schueller, a member of the city's Park and Recreation Commission. "We have a booster club that really wants to watch their team play golf. The kids should be able to play golf in front of their parents."

City Council members gave informal approval to the policy change at a recent study session. They said they would allow non-players 16 and older on the course if they sign a waiver freeing the city of liability for injury.

"I can see a couple of guys want to play golf and their wives want to go with. Why not?" said Council Member Rosemary Piekarski Krech. The change would create positive PR for the course, she said.

"It was determined that non-players, whether they are walking along or riding along, represented a greater level of risk of injury and consequently a higher level of liability to the city," golf course manager Al McMurchie said in a background report for council members. "From this recommendation Inver Wood has prohibited non-players on the golf course throughout its 20-year history."

When a golfer asks to bring a non-player along, most of the time it's a child, an older adult, a spectator or a caddie, McMurchie said. The course typically gets two to four requests a week from players who want to bring a non-player on the course, he said.

Non-players are at a higher risk for injury than players because of "their inexperience with the game, their tendency to get out of position during play and the operation of golf carts on challenging terrain."

After a resident objected to the policy in a series of e-mails to city staff and Mayor George Tourville last September, McMurchie surveyed 15 other municipal courses to learn their policies on non-players. He found that Inver Wood is more strict than most: all but one permit non-players if they meet age rules and agree to sign a waiver freeing the course of responsibility for injuries. The one exception is Dwan Golf Course in Bloomington, which prohibits non-players.

Tourville suggested that the city change the policy for 2012 and see if it results in increased demand by non-players to be on the greens. To those who ask to bring little kids: "That's an easy answer -- no," he said.