Legacy Golf Course at the 19 in Mason City, Iowa, has completed a major renovation effort that commenced in 2022 following the purchase of the course by the Pritchard family.
The Legacy, formerly Mason City Country Club, is a 1915 Tom Bendelow design. With the course history in mind, the renovation, guided by architect Kevin Norby, was directed at addressing major issues while enhancing the course’s Golden Age character.
The Legacy course’s renovation began when the Pritchard family took ownership of the former Mason City Country Club in 2022. Joe and Pam Pritchard felt it was important to preserve the community asset that had been in decline for several years, and they asked the Minnesota-based Norby, known in the Hawkeye State for his work at The Preserve on Rathbun Lake in southeast Iowa, to review a set of plans he had originally drawn up in 2008.
“We did a long-range master plan then to look at what improvements we could undertake to make the course more playable and maintainable,” Norby said. “The plans sat idle for 16 years until the Pritchards took over.”
Significant updates include installing a state-of-the-art computerized irrigation system, new ponds, new bunkers and improvements to current bunkers, realignment of all fairways, and the addition of forward tees to allow for all levels of players to enjoy the course. There were also significant changes to the course layout, including new greens for the first, second and 10th holes, and a full redesign of 11th hole to create a challenging hole featuring a water hazard.
“The future of this golf course is very important to the Pritchard family,” said Joe Pritchard, president & CEO of Pritchard Companies, a family-owned and operated National Automotive Enterprise based in Clear Lake, Iowa. “We named it The Legacy to represent our generational connection to the course. My father, Bill Pritchard, worked as a caddie at the Mason City Country Club for his first job. It’s vital to us to keep this legacy going as an asset for our employees, customers and all of north Iowa.”
One notable change came at the suggestion of two-time major champion John Daly. “Bad Boy Corner” is the nickname of a series of holes that were redesigned based on Daly’s suggestions after he first visited the course in 2022.
“The Legacy course is Daly endorsed, no doubt about it,” Daly said during his visit to the Legacy in late August. During that visit, Daly helped unveil another notable feature of the course: Daly Tees. These extended tee boxes on certain holes create challenge for long hitters by stretching some holes to as long as 585 yards.
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