Lafayette at Lafayette Club

The Lafayette Club in Minnetonka Beach occupies a wooded site along the shores of Lake Minnetonka, approximately fifteen miles west of Minneapolis. Tom Bendelow designed the course in the early twentieth century, during his prolific period as a traveling architect for the A.G. Spalding sporting goods company. Bendelow laid out hundreds of courses across the Midwest and beyond, typically working with modest budgets and natural terrain to create straightforward, playable designs that introduced golf to communities throughout the region.

The routing moves through mature hardwood forests and rolling terrain characteristic of Minnesota's glacial landscape. The property's elevation changes and tree-lined corridors create definition and variety across the eighteen holes. Lake Minnetonka itself provides scenic backdrop and influences the microclimate, though the course does not play directly along the water's edge for most of its length.

The Lafayette Club operates as a private facility serving the western Minneapolis suburbs. Over the decades since Bendelow's original work, the course has likely seen modifications and updates to accommodate modern equipment and maintenance practices, as is common with designs from this era. The club maintains a year-round presence in the community despite Minnesota's seasonal climate, with golf available from spring through fall. The setting offers members a wooded, relatively secluded golf experience within the Twin Cities metropolitan area, reflecting the early country club movement's emphasis on retreat from urban life while remaining accessible to city professionals and families.