Matt Murphy

Club Manager – Hazeltine National

Matt Murphy’s professional career in the hospitality industry started in the same place as many great culinarians…the dish room! His first “real job” was in a local pub in his hometown of Duluth, Minn. After more than a year of “entry-level experience,” his culinary journey began. He made two significant discoveries during this stage; his love for the industry, and for the woman who has now been his wife of 26 years, Melissa. His time did pay for his degrees in Computer Engineering and Computer Science from the University of Minnesota, Duluth.

At this point, however, it was becoming obvious that Murphy did not have a future in either the computer industry, or in Duluth. He moved to the Minneapolis-St. Paul area, where he worked for several notable clubs in the region. After working as a Sous Chef for three years, he landed his first Executive Chef position at Golden Valley Golf and Country Club—a storied property known for its A.W. Tillinghast layout (one of only two in the Midwest), and its long history of being one of the great social clubs in the Twin Cities region.

During Murphy’s time at Golden Valley, he was given the opportunity to design the kitchens and service areas for the new 64,000-sq. ft. clubhouse that opened in 2001. After nine years as a chef and 20 as a culinarian, he then took the job of Club Manager. When he left Golden Valley after 11 years, the club’s F&B revenue exceeded $4 million for the first time.

Matt Murphy’s next opportunity came at Hazeltine National Golf Club (HNGC) as Club Manager. HNGC had hosted a US Open, US Women’s Open, US Senior Open, US Amateur and four other USGA national events. It was also the host of the 2002 PGA Championship.

Within a month of Murphy’s starting as Club Manager at Hazeltine in the winter of 2007, the trailer that would be needed to provide office space for officials of the Professional Golfers’ Association of America was delivered to the storied golf course outside of Minneapolis, to begin preparations for the PGA Championship that would be held there in August 2009.

Murphy thus immersed himself pretty much from day one of his new job in all of the details that were required to ensure a successful tournament and reform the clubhouse operations. He certainly showed that he passed the crash course with flying colors: The 2009 PGA, which culminated with Y.A. Yang’s exciting last-day, head-to-head victory over Tiger Woods, was hailed as a complete success on all counts, adding a great new chapter to HNGC’s legacy as one of the top venues for a major championship.

But after the PGA was over, Murphy had little time to accept handshakes and accolades—or to catch his breath. At the same time he was preparing for the Championship, he had also been directing the planning, and member approval process, of a $16 million long-range plan for not only major restoration work on the fairways and greens of Hazeltine’s Robert Trent Jones course, but also replacement of the club’s original clubhouse and complete reconstruction of the practice facilities.

Work to implement the plan began five weeks after Yang’s final, Championship-clinching putt. The results of the project will be unveiled by September 2010—including a unique new 49,000-sq. ft. “prairie-style farm house, wrapped in stone” that will include a 425-seat ballroom and other facilities that, Murphy expects, will help to “easily double” the club’s banquet business.

Once everything is completed, Murphy will then start the planning process for the next project: Hazeltine’s hosting of the 2016 Ryder Cup.

(Details about the course and clubhouse improvement plans were included in “Heady Days for Hazeltine” in the September 2009 issue of Club & Resort Business.)