Bemidji’s Birchmont Golf Tournament returns for 102nd year

Registration for Bemidji’s 102nd Birchmont Tournament will open April 1, 2026 at 10 a.m. through Golf Genius, with the six-day amateur match-play event set for July 27-Aug. 1 at Bemidji Town & Country Club. The club says the tournament will again draw golfers from Minnesota and beyond, including players from multiple states and Canada.

The Birchmont has always been tied to more than scorecards. Bemidji Town & Country Club’s history says the tournament began in 1925 as a joint effort of the Birchmont Beach Hotel and the club, built to promote resort tourism, keep vacationers in the area longer and encourage repeat visits as the region shifted from logging toward tourism.

That connection still matters on the north shore of Lake Bemidji, where Bemidji Town & Country Club says it was established in 1916 as an 18-hole, semi-private, member-owned course with nearly 400 members. The club marked the Birchmont’s 100th anniversary during the 2024 golf season, a reminder that the event has outlasted generations of players while remaining part of Bemidji’s summer calendar.

Last summer’s 101st Birchmont gave a sense of the tournament’s reach. Lakeland News said men’s qualifying ran July 28-29, 2025, with women’s qualifying held during the same stretch, and Jon Sauer led the men’s field after round 2. Lucas Feterl, Carter White, Ryan Engel and Jacob Skarperud were also among the top qualifiers. Bemidji Pioneer coverage noted former winners Curt Howard, Kolby Koerner, Troy Johnson and Jeff Wiltse adding Birchmont titles to their résumés.

The 2024 event listing for the 100th Birchmont ran July 22-27 and listed registration beginning Monday at 7 a.m. with a $10 entry fee. With the 102nd edition now on deck, the tournament will once again put Bemidji’s oldest summer golf tradition back at the center of the city’s tourism season.