Thumper Pond Golf Course — Local services in Ottertail

The restaurant is now called "Willy T's", we were there in the evening on Memorial Day. Although the place was not full, it took several minutes for someone to acknowledge our presence at the entrance and get us seated. Once seated it didn't get much better. There were multiple tables that hadn't been bussed yet. I counted when we got seated, including us there were 9 tables occupied (admittedly a couple of larger groups of 6 or 8), and I believe 3 servers and 2 bartenders. It just felt like the service could have been better for the staff to customer ratio.

The food was hit or miss. We had a quesadilla appetizer, which was very good. For sides to our entree both my wife and I had their homemade tater tots and the turkey wild rice soup. The soup was average, the tater tots were not your typical tater tot, and we thought they were great. The wife had the salmon, which was bland. I had the barbecue chicken and ribs combo. I thought the ribs were below average, but the chicken was very good. My guess would be the entire menu is like this, with some dishes impressing and others disappointing, but I can only speak for those items we tried.

My wife ordered a glass of wine off the menu. When she got it she suspected that it wasn't what she ordered. Apparently they had discontinued what she ordered and the bartender had subbed another wine which wasn't on the menu yet (without asking). He did take that glass off the bill when we mentioned it.

As to atmosphere, I would consider this a typical bar and grill. The jukebox is playing, the customers may get rowdy, there are pull tabs, video games, darts, and all the usual stuff.

If you are playing golf at this course I can certainly see why you might stop in for a drink or a bite to eat, but otherwise there isn't much to set this place apart from many other similar establishments...

This past weekend a group of us had a tee-times to play. We arrived early to hit a bucket beforehand. At check-in we learned they don’t have any Range balls (only 4 buckets worth and they were all hit already). Then we paid $93 for a round and cart. (Possibly the most expensive course in Ottertail, or Douglas county) From there we went to the bar. We had to wait for the only employee working the proshop to come tend the bar. They have a 6 pack beer special. But no coolers. But you can buy a thin POS cooler from them for $5. After a $3 tip to put 6 beers in a cooler ($46.00) we headed out to the putting green. Among all the players standing around we were able to coordinate on our own whose turn it was. No Starter. No Ranger on the course to keep pace of play. And no Beverage Cart (hence why we got a 6 pack at the beginning) I just don’t understand how someone can charge premium prices for a sub-par facility. Course was in nice condition, but we had to start on the back 9 for some reason, then play the front. I did call and speak to the manager this morning about this, but he really didn’t give a shit. Blamed it on that all his employees went back to school and someone stole all the Range balls and coolers. Weak excuse if you ask me. I won’t be back unless someone else is paying. They’ll never see my hard earned money again. 1-star- would not recommend. Definitely many other courses in the area that provide much...

Fantastic 18 holes of golf. Several great approach shots with water in play and downhill to make you think about the club. Conditions were great in early spring, 3 weeks later will be perfect we are sure. Staff is helpful with anything you need. A must play golf course in Ottertail...