LAKESIDE - The superintendent for the Waseca Lakeside Club has many steps to get ready for the winter months, with plans to be wrapped up by either the first or second week in November. Pioneer photo by Ben Revermann
Waseca Lakeside begins winter prep
Thu, 10/09/2025 - 1:30am
Waseca Lakeside Club on the north end of Clear Lake has been a pillar in the local community since 1922. Along with more than 25,000 games of golf being played every summer season, the clubhouse sees a lot of activity in the form of private parties and corporate events. With the seasonal nature of the sport, the organization begins the process of winding down each year as the weather begins to cool.
Corey Edholm, Waseca Lakeside Club superintendent, says the process begins when the club swimming pool is closed after Labor Day. The Lakeside Club doesn’t empty the pool themselves, “We outsource for that sort of thing, that way the professional pool people who know what they’re doing are in charge of it.” But the pool is the least of Edholm’s worries, “Over the summer I have 10 to 12 guys working maintenance, that’s lawnmowing, keeping and maintaining the greens and the mowers, the driving range. We have a full driving range and 18 holes and are looking to expand some of our facilities sometime next year.
He mentioned plans to add a practice complex. “We’ve started that this fall to be ready sometime in the 2026 season. It will include a 4,800 square foot practice and putting green, as well as a chipping complex.” He also wanted to let Waseca residents to know there will be an assistant superintendent’s job open for the 2026 season.
Edholm is no stranger to proper golf course care; he has a bachelor’s degree in Parks and Recreation, and worked at a number of professional golf courses before he settled in Waseca, including Perry Park Country Club in Larkspur, Colorado, the Broadmoor Golf Club in Colorado Springs, and North Links in Mankato.
In the 1920s, the Lakeside Club golf course consisted of nine holes; holes ten through eighteen were added in the 1970s. In more recent history, large parts of the golf course were underwater during major flooding in 2016. Edholm, however, arrived in 2017, “My wife and I wanted to raise our kids in Minnesota. I have parents here, and we wanted to be around family and that’s been working out. I also coach youth football.” On mornings during the busy season, Edholm gets his start on the course at 4:30, an hour before official opening time of 5:30. Overseeing maintenance of the grounds and facilities is clearly a big job, since a ten-hour day is typical for him.
Keeping the grounds means adjusting to circumstances to make golfers’ experience pleasant. This year, mosquitoes were out in big numbers. Professionals were hired for mosquito control, and sprayed the grounds five different times. The bugs were so thick, though, Edholm describes wondering the next day whether more spraying was needed.