The University of Minnesota is set to sell the Les Bolstad Golf Course in Falcon Heights. Now,  the notoriously challenging course may no longer host the cross country Roy Griak Invitational due to budget constraints.

The Board of Regents was notified in June; however, the course has not been sold yet.

“We recognize this course holds generations of memories for our community. This decision reflects careful consideration and was made in light of today’s challenging financial environment,” the University said in a statement.

The 39th Roy Griak Invitational is being held at the course September 19-20. Collegiate competitors ran Friday and high school runners will compete on Saturday.

Last year, the women’s Gophers took home the team victory. Leading the way was sophomore Ali Weimer, who took first in the women’s 6k.

Weimer ran unattached to the Gophers on Friday, so her second-place finish in the 6k did not contribute to the overall team score. Weimer performed eight seconds better than her finish in 2024.

North Dakota State University fifth-year student Jaydn Keeler beat out Weimer by three seconds for the first-place finish.

Keeler mentioned the difficulty of the course when speaking about her winning performance.

“I know a lot of my teammates were talking about sticking together from the gun, pushing each other on the hills and really using those downhills to our advantage too,” Keeler said.

The Les Bolstad course is unlike most cross country tracks because it was not made to be a cross country track — it is made for golf.

The hills create a more challenging and fun terrain for golf. For cross country, it means the runners must be incredibly intentional when pacing themselves.

As of recent rankings, the women’s Gophers are No. 20. However, California Baptist put on a dominant performance at the Invitational, bumping the Gophers to second place in the women’s team category.

Cal Baptist head coach Sean Smith said that though they come to Les Bolstad infrequently, it will be bittersweet if the invitational leaves the course.

“It is a brutal course, I think we will miss that,” Smith said. “We go to so many pancake-flat courses in California, so I think we will and we won’t miss the challenge.”

Despite the most familiarity with the course, neither the men’s nor women’s Gophers could come out on top. The Gophers will compete at the Les Bolstad course one more time this season.

Rocky’s Run is the Gophers’ final home meet of the season. It will be held on Oct. 24, the week before the Big Ten Cross Country Championships.