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LOCAL NEWS <br />Keller Golf Course in Maplewood sees <br />revenues jump since renovation <br />By Sarah Horner <br />shorner@pioneerpress.com <br />POSTED: 07/16/2015 12:01:00 AM CDT | UPDATED: ABOUT 13 HOURS AGO <br />The new clubhouse at Keller Golf Course was part of a $12.2 million renovation of the Maplewood course and its <br />facilities. (Pioneer Press: Ben Garvin) <br />Golfers are swarming Keller Golf Course since it reopened last summer, and Ramsey County has the numbers to <br />prove it. <br />Revenues have shot up about $400,000 since the Maplewood course first debuted the results of its costly two-year <br />makeover last July, according to county staff. Meanwhile, the new and improved course has earned two awards <br />from national golf publications. <br />"From the day we (reopened), we've been booked from dawn to dusk every day.... We had to close early last year <br />because the course was getting loved to death," said Jon Oyanagi, Ramsey County's director of parks and <br />recreation. "People are just really excited to get out there and see the new course." <br />Renovations cost taxpayers about $12.2 million. About $4 million went toward rebuilding all of the 86-year-old <br />course's greens, including reseeding all of its grass and adding new drainage and irrigation systems. <br />The project's architect, Richard Mandell, preserved the course's unique layout. <br />The rest of the money paid for a new clubhouse, pro shop and parking lots. <br />Despite raising fees, the county has sold about 32,000 green fees for the course since reopening July 19, helping the <br />course bring in about $1.3 million over the last year, according to Mark VanGerpen, a spokesperson for Ramsey <br />County's parks and recreation department. <br /> <br />