"The clubhouse will be a major part of that experience, a place where people can come together, share a meal or a drink and make memories, whether they played 12 holes or came to enjoy the atmosphere and watch the fun." Breezy Point Resort president David Spizzo said that at the groundbreaking for the new Ace Valley clubhouse on Monday, Oct. 5, according to the Pine and Lakes Echo Journal.
Spizzo's words describe the plan exactly. The resort built the project around the building, and the holes come second. What has been going on behind the construction fencing on the old Traditional course since last fall is a new bar and dining room on County Road 11, with golf laid out around it so people have something to watch.
The holes circle the building
Ace Valley is a 12-hole, par-3 course designed by Andy Staples. Staples Golf Design puts it on about 25 acres of rolling sand and native pines. The greens copy famous template holes from Scotland, Ireland and England. The course mixes natural and artificial turf, and the holes are lit for evening play.
Look at the layout, though. In the July 2025 announcement, the holes "encircle a central Social Club," and the plan called for tee boxes on raised platforms so golfers could hit from the clubhouse onto the course. That story ran in the Pine and Lakes Echo Journal and was reprinted by FOGOLF. The current plan keeps that idea. The 5th hole tees off from the clubhouse roof. The island-green bonus hole, which has a progressive jackpot to reward holes-in-one, sits a few steps from the clubhouse and restaurant. An 18-hole putting course fills out the rest.
Every feature that draws a crowd points back toward the building. Engineering firm Widseth is doing the architectural and structural work on the clubhouse in a design-build partnership led by Hy-Tec Construction. Widseth lists the building's spaces as a bar, social dining, a golf shop and areas for gathering. At the groundbreaking, the resort also thanked Pratt's Excavating, Borden Excavating and Central Lakes Landscape.
The lights matter more to neighbors than the template greens do. The 2025 plan called for LED directional lighting on tees and greens. The lights would go off no later than 9 p.m., shutting down automatically as the last groups finished each hole. Eric Hart was then the resort's general manager and is now managing the project. "We don't have houses all the way around the course. There are some, but with the directional lighting they have nowadays, it won't affect any of them," he told the Echo Journal. Those are details from the original plan. Nobody has said yet how the lights will actually run once the course opens.
What was promised in 2025, and what's in the ground now
The resort held its first groundbreaking on Saturday, Oct. 4, 2025, at the old Traditional clubhouse. Course construction was scheduled to start two days later. Ace Valley was billed as an $8.5 million project within a $17.8 million investment by the Spizzo family. A year later, the clubhouse has broken ground and the plans have changed in a few ways.
| July 2025 plan | October 2026 plan | |
|---|---|---|
| Clubhouse construction start | Early 2026 | Broke ground Oct. 5, 2026 |
| Clubhouse opening | April 1, 2027 | Summer 2027, opening with the course |
| Golf opening | Memorial Day weekend 2027 | Targeted for July 2027 |
| Building | Three levels, with pickleball courts and a rooftop deck | Two stories, with bar, dining, pro shop and gathering space |
| Second course | Not described | Traditional 10, a 10-hole par 30 |
Hart expected the weather to cause some slippage. "You know, it's completely unpredictable up here, so that does affect some of it," he said in 2025. The resort's Ace Valley page is still careful about the date. It says the official opening is still to be determined and depends on course conditions. Tee sheets aren't open yet, and guests who book a 2027 Stay + Play Package have the chance to be offered the first tee times. Planners now talk about the clubhouse and course opening together in mid-summer 2027. For locals, that means a second summer without the room the project is built around.
In 2025 the resort also said rounds would cost $50 to $60. That was the originally announced range. The resort hasn't posted 2027 rates yet.
The name over the bar
Happy Dave's honors Dave Gravdahl. The Pine and Lakes Echo Journal's tribute reported that he spent about 60 years at Breezy Point. He started as a teenage golf caddy, later tended bar, and became general manager in 1981 when Bob Spizzo hired him for the job. He ran the resort for more than 40 years. He retired in October 2023 and died on Aug. 11, 2024, according to his obituary in the Brainerd Dispatch.
"Dave was always happy and all about fun. He would have loved this." David Spizzo, as quoted in the Pine and Lakes Echo Journal's October 2025 expansion story, published by the Brainerd Dispatch
His name is tied to how the project got started, too. Hart told the Echo Journal that the Spizzos had talked about a redesign for years. After Gravdahl died, Hart went to them and pointed out what he saw as the resort's one gap. Golfers had Whitebirch and the Arnold Palmer-designed Deacon's Lodge, but no shorter round that fit easily into a stay. Before Staples was hired, Hart and the resort's senior golf staff invited nearly 30 architects to pitch the project and got 11 proposals. The 2025 coverage also described the Social Club as open to Lakes Area locals as well as resort guests. Naming the bar after the man who hosted the resort for four decades fits that idea.
Ten old holes stay in play
Not all of the Traditional course is being replaced. The course dates to 1921, and ten of its holes will continue as the Traditional 10, a par-30 short course connected to the same new clubhouse. The resort's golf page calls it a quick round through tree-lined corridors once played by Patty Berg, Les Bolstad, Walter Hagen and Gravdahl himself. It's under construction this year and set to open in summer 2027 alongside Ace Valley.
So the clubhouse ends up joining two kinds of golf. One plays on holes dating to 1921, and the other is a lit, jackpot-and-rooftop course built for evenings. Both lead back to the same bar at the end of the round.
Where to sit until the clubhouse opens
With the opening now set for mid-summer, these are the places at the resort to get together this winter, as listed on its fall 2026 dining pages. The resort notes that hours can change.
- Caribou Coffee House & Bakery moved this spring into the new lobby, next to the new gift shop. It's listed as open to the public, 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily.
- The North Star Roadhouse is open 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 11 a.m. to midnight Friday and Saturday. The kitchen closes at 9 p.m. Its four golf simulator bays rent for $40 per bay per hour. They're open 2 to 9 p.m. Thursday and Sunday and 2 to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and closed Monday through Wednesday. It's the closest thing to night golf at Breezy Point until the Ace Valley lights come on.
- Dockside Lounge opens daily at 11 a.m.
- Marina II serves a breakfast buffet Friday 7 to 10 a.m. and Saturday and Sunday 7 to 11 a.m. Service depends on how full the resort is.
- The Chocolate Ox, across from the coffee house, opened this year. The resort lists its hours as Thursday through Monday, 11 a.m. to 8 p.m., though winter hours haven't been posted.
Antlers Kitchen + Wine Bar is closed for the winter until spring, and Palmer's Grille is closed until April.
The next date on the resort's calendar is ICE FEST, Jan. 8 and 9, 2027. Nearby, the City of Breezy Point's Buschmann Road project is doing early work this fall on Buschmann Road and Ranchette Drive, including staking, clearing and minor utility relocation. Full reconstruction is expected to run from spring 2027 into late summer, and the city says access will stay open, with possible detours and delays. Both the road work and the clubhouse are scheduled to be under construction through next summer.
If you own a home near the old Traditional course and want to know how a new gathering place on County Road 11 could affect your property's value next year, Amanda Lumley can walk you through it. Schedule a consultation, and we'll talk about what the 2027 season could mean for your corner of Breezy Point.
