Izatys 2009: A Pleasant Surprise

When Jason Tollette announced that a pair of local businesses were going to join him to open Izatys Resort in April 2009, skeptics grinned.

Since the resort filed for bankruptcy and closed abruptly in October 2007, there just wasn't much to be positive about.

Until this summer.

With Blackbrook Golf Course in its best shape in a few years, Izatys opened fully and has been a pleasant surprise this summer season.

The pool was opened thanks to cash from Izatys Townhouse Association and the Village Timeshare teams. Club 19 reopened after a long draught. The hotel opened and filled to capacity on most weekends. Walleye World and the venerable Izatys "Lady of the Lake" came out of a long slumber. And the golf course outperformed all expectations, netting nearly 15000 rounds to this point.

All in all, it was a upbeat situation in a down economic period. There are many people to thank. It starts with Jason Tollette who, with some help from his father, Dick, put all the key pieces together.

There was Rand and Kathy Syverson and Brandon and Lori Niesen along with a new crop of workers who staffed Club 19, opening the pool bar, operating with a small, but decent menu of entrees.

Also pitching in to make it a winner was Bill and Kathy Lundeen and their daughter, who opened Walleye World and ran launches, rented slips, sold bait, supplies and gas to a rejuvenated fishing/boating contingent.

Thanks to Commerce Bank, which is trying to sell the resort after taking it after the bankruptcy. They paid past due taxes, updated broken and unservicable equipment and provided funding to reestablish Black Brook Golf Course as one of the area's best golf courses.

But perhaps the MVP of the season is golf superintendant Michael Edin. He and a staff of about 10 golf course maintenance guys redid sand traps, nurtured sagging greens and repaired countless irrigation problems to restore the crown jewel of the once venerable resort.

Working 70-plus hour weeks, Edin treated Black Brook like he owned it, supervising every phase of the operation. Many men's league golfers, who have spent years playing Black Brook, labeled it the comeback golf course of the year. Several said it regained the luster that it boasted back at inception minus some budget-driven no-mow areas.

We'd be remiss if we didn't mention Sherry Tollette, who helped restore the Izatys web site, served as a marketing manager and did just about every job one could imagine at the 28-room hotel.

And the final ingredient of it all was a spirit of cooperation that brought townhome owners, timeshare owners and the teams mentioned above together as the resort business blossomed after a cool and windy May and June. Some folks planted and maintained flowers.

Folks like Rob Wilsey and some of his staff spent countless hours volunteering to mow unkept fairways of the now-closed Sanctuary Golf Course. He and his staff revamped the Sewage Treatment Facility with new equipment doing mega-mowing and never-before-done upkeep to fencelines and holding ponds.

Just what is in store for Izatys isn't yet clear. Tollette and Commerce Bank claim Izatys will be open for business next April after closing for the season on October 19th. First and foremost, is the potential sale of the resort.

A deep-pocketed ownership group has not yet been found after nearly two years on the sales block. It does appear to be only a matter of time until the resort does sell, and a new chapter of Izatys will be written. As many locals will tell you, a healthy and vibrant Izatys is key to making everything else go on the South Shore of Lake Mille Lacs.