Renowned golf course architect Michael Hurdzan was more than a bit skeptical when approached two decades ago about a project in North Dakota.
Hurdzan’s Ohio-based firm designed, renovated and restored hundreds of courses over the years, but had never ventured into the scenic and rugged Badlands region of North Dakota, at the time a state not really known for its golf offerings.
Bismarck developer Jack Marquart, who passed away in May 2023, was the man who virtually begged Hurdzan to come to the Medora area along the Little Missouri River to take a peek at his vision for what would become Bully Pulpit Golf Course — and it took some convincing for sure.
“While I was talking to Jack on the phone I got a map out of North Dakota and I looked up where Medora is and I said. ‘Jack, you know, I can’t get there from here, it is at the end of nowhere and I’ll have to fly to either Chicago or Minneapolis and then get to Bismarck, and then it’s a two-hour drive from there,'” Hurdzan recalls. “Jack was such a nice guy so I came out, but while on the two-hour drive I was thinking of all the reasons why I didn’t want to be doing that job.”
That was until Marquart took Hurdzan to a bluff and pointed to the potential golf course site off in the distance.
“I said ‘Jack, I want this job,”’ Hurdzan says.
Hurdzan, who at the time had nine other designers in his firm, was so blown away by the land’s unique topography that he kept the project for himself.
“So none of the guys in the office ever saw that job until we had a gathering out there,” the 80-year-old Hurdzan says. “I did the routing and the drawings and all the site visits and everything.”
Marquart lived long enough in his battle with cancer to see his golf vision enjoyed by thousands of golfers over the last 20 years. Award-winning Bully Pulpit now serves as centerpiece of the 19-course Lewis and Clark Golf Trail.
“If you visit once it just sticks in your brain,” Hurdzan says of the Medora area. “You just want to go back. There is just something magical about that space. And to be able to have a golf course there means an awful lot to me. I’m extraordinarily proud of it.
“Let me say this, when you take in the new courses, plus all the remodeling we’ve done, we’re approaching 500 projects. And I would say Bully Pulpit is in the top 10 or 20 because the character of the land influenced the experience of the golf. In other words, the golf course just naturally fits there.”
The Lewis and Clark Golf Trail was initially started by freelance writer Bob Kallberg back in 2001-02 prior to the Lewis and Clark bicentennial celebration, according to Kim Schmidt, communications manager for North Dakota Tourism & Marketing.
Schmidt says the state’s tourism department offers a golf package called the Triple Challenge, which includes rounds at Bully Pulpit, The Links of North Dakota and Hawktree.
“There are a few different things that set us apart as a golf destination and I believe that people are pleasantly surprised when they come here and realize they had no idea that we have these beautifully, nationally ranked courses right here in North Dakota,” Schmidt says. “People are surprised that they can get a tee time probably that morning and they don’t have to book weeks in advance to get on our courses. And we’re also known for a more relaxed golf atmosphere.”
And maybe the most important item golfers and those on vacation seek — hospitality.
“Everyone says that people are so nice here, it’s so welcoming,” Schmidt says. “We like to say North Dakota has friendly faces and friendly places, and people are always willing to say ‘Hello, welcome to North Dakota. What brings you to the state? How can we help?”
The recent popularity of the Lewis and Clark Golf Trail has joined a bevy of other North Dakota activities that make the state a must visit for those seeking unhurried variety.
“Our outdoor recreation is probably one of the top draws for the state, simply because we do have those wide open spaces,” says Schmidt of a state with a population of less than 800,000. “You don’t have to wait in line and you will not see crowds in North Dakota. You can drive right into our top attraction — the Theodore Roosevelt National Park — without waiting in line. And with these wide open spaces comes the opportunity to have cattle ranches, which lends itself to our cowboy culture.”
For the record, North Dakota has more golf courses per capita than any other state.
“And with that being said we have some fabulous rural courses that people maybe wouldn’t even think of playing but should,” Schmidt says. Roosevelt once said the Badlands “do not seem to belong to this earth,” while Lewis and Clark spent 214 days in the state on their exploration journeys.
“It seems like North Dakota has so many wonderful natural geologic assets that the people who have been privileged enough to go there to put golf courses in have just let them fit,’” Hurdzan says. “And when you experience the Badlands you will see wild horses and antelope, and these long vistas and beautiful sunsets. It’s a very spiritual experience to play golf in North Dakota.”