More than 90 teams join Minnesota Power's Yellow Ribbon golf scramble

More than 90 teams teed off at Minnesota Power’s Yellow Ribbon Golf Scramble at Enger Park Golf Course in Duluth, giving the fundraiser a turnout large enough to mark a decade of steady support. The event, held June 26, drew players to one of the city’s best-known public recreation sites, high above the West End with views toward the harbor.

This year’s beneficiary was Forgotten Heroes Ranges and Retreat in McGregor, a nonprofit that provides fully accessible gun and archery ranges for disabled combat veterans and others at no cost. Organizers hoped to raise more than $80,000 for the group, money that helps underwrite a service model built around accessibility and no-fee use for people who might otherwise have few places to train and gather.

The scramble’s setting carries its own local history. Enger Park and the adjacent golf course sit on land purchased with money donated by West End furniture dealer Bert Enger in 1921. City records say the original 18-hole course was built in 1927 near the park and expanded to 27 holes in 1992. By 2023, Enger Park Golf Course had become the home of Duluth Public Golf, keeping the site central to the city’s public recreation system.

The event also showed how Minnesota Power uses a familiar Northland pastime to channel private dollars into veteran services. A field of more than 90 teams means the scramble depended on more than individual donations alone: it brought together sponsors, employees and community partners in one place for a long fundraising day. That scale matters for a program like Forgotten Heroes, where the need is not a one-time expense but an ongoing commitment to keep accessible ranges open and operating at no cost to the people who use them.

For Duluth and surrounding communities, the scramble has become part charity outing and part civic routine. After 10 years, it has settled into the calendar as a recurring way to connect a major employer, a landmark golf course and a regional veterans service that depends on consistent fundraising to keep its ranges available.