When word got out that there was a Top 100 Public Course in northern Minnesota no one really believed it. In seemingly unmapped and very untapped golf territory, with two six-month seasons, why should they have? A national contender in the mining country of the Iron Range and canoe area of the Boundary Waters. I mean, obviously it is stunningly beautiful up there, and everyone loves boating and fishing up there, but… golf? Would golfers drive all the way up there to play one course?

Yes. As it turns out, for the past 25 years they have, and the drive up is so scenic that time flies on the way. Architect Jeffrey Brauer from Dallas, Texas gave media and photographers something to write home about and poster-worthy pictures to plaster on the walls, of one of America’s prettiest golf settings – the 17^th Hole on The Legend – and people just couldn’t stay away. So, they commissioned him to build another course just down the road (and then another 30 minutes north) and all three of those courses made the national Top 100 lists. And that second course that Jeff Brauer built at Giants Ridge – The Quarry – well, it achieved heights on the national ranking lists that no other Minnesota course ever had… even breaking into the Top 25.

Would golfers drive up to northern Minnesota to play one, two, or three courses? Drive, fly, run or parachute in … yes… you bet they will, they did, and they will continue to do so. Golf Digest just awarded Giants Ridge the Editor’s Choice Award for “Best Golf Resorts in the Midwest.” The hits just keep on coming.

Geographically speaking, Giants Ridge is less than a three-hour drive from where 35E meets 35W in the Twin Cities. As Minnesotans know it, that means you’re less than two hours north of Tobie’s famous cinnamon rolls in Hinckley – a must stop on the way up (and down). The scenery changes dramatically from the urban brick walls to the natural halls of trees and you know you’re in for something special well before you even arrive.

Legend At Giants Ridge

Both nines barrel out from the clubhouse like a shotgun, over a deep ravine to mirroring fairways with distant greens. It’s a beautiful sight from the windows of the golf shop, and it’s not uncommon to see a fox out there patrolling the edge of the ravine. Left of the ravine is the driving range, left of that The Lodge, and left of that the ski slopes. That’s right, Giants Ridge is a year-round vacation destination, doubling its slope factor from golfers (and bikers) in summer to skiers in winter. That’s part of the beauty and part of the allure. It’s also a big part of how they survive now, as masses of skiers flock up there while most snowbirds go south.

And those bike trails in summer… they’re spectacular. There are videos on YouTube of them posted regularly and every year they add more and more features. They’re creating a “Legend” of their own.

Legend is an impressive golf course, beginning to end. Brauer went deep into his previously unheralded bag of magic tricks and gave golfers a hole-by-hole adventure they’ll never forget. He may not believe it himself that someone actually wanted to build a golf course up there, but you’d best believe he was thrilled to be the one that got the chance to build it. The 17^th Hole on Legend may be THE signature, having been recognized by multiple magazines as one of America’s greatest golf holes, but there are no less than a half-dozen other photo-worthy gems that you’ll appreciate. And then there’s the “other” course.

The Quarry At Giants Ridge

Jeff Brauer is a big fan of the late Mike Strantz, and an even bigger fan of his genius work in North Carolina (just outside Pinehurst) at Tobacco Road. Jeff played Tobacco Road before he built The Quarry and he essentially wanted to replicate that “mad science” in Minnesota. “It’s not necessarily an everyday play,” Brauer told me (about The Quarry), while we watched his beloved Dallas Stars in Texas. “But every day you play it you’ll love it a little more.”

To describe The Quarry as quirky would be oversimplifying the reality. It does have a collection of hole designs you won’t find anywhere else in the Midwest. And it sure isn’t for the faint of heart. But it also has a rugged and unique beauty exactly reminiscent of the massive fescue dunes at Tobacco Road – very much the intended compliment. The fact that The Quarry lapped Tobacco Road in popularity amongst the raters could easily have gone to Brauer’s head. Instead, he turned it back on the raters. “They just don’t respect Tobacco Road enough.”

Jeff’s design mesmerizes, from the fantastic Par 5 second hole (one of my favorites in Minnesota) to the Strantz-ian 6^th, plunging Par 3 7^th, funneling 9^th and signature (sometimes reachable) Par 4, 13^th. “I tried to give golfers a little bit of everything… a little challenge with a lot of reward.” Jeff’s efforts paid off with the pundits – which is great – but it’s the golfers that pay the bills. Fortunately, this special place has special rates. After all, if you’re going up there, you might as well play both courses. Right?

37 Hole Special

I will say it is worth the trip to just play the Legend course, and worth the trip to just play The Quarry. But it’s really worth the trip to play both in the same day, with lunch in between, especially with their popular 37-Hole Special. Giants Ridge Director of Sales & Marketing, Steve Rahkola, is impressed by just how many people do the 37-Hole Special on back-to-back days even. “They all come up here assuming they’ll love one course more than the other, but they often love them both equally, and have so much fun playing they’ll stay an extra day and play them both all over again. We don’t offer a 74-Hole Special. But maybe we should.”

Technically, if you stay overnight and play both courses again, it would be a 75-Hole Special, as you’d likely eat dinner at either the Burnt Onion Kitchen & Brews (adjacent the Lodge and Legend Clubhouse) or at The Quarry’s clifftop Wacootah Grille, with their nice new Sun Shade, overlooking the sparkling blue waters of Lake Mine. Either option more than satisfies with deep and diverse menus and specials (like the exceptional Friday Night Fish Fry).

Lodging options abound, both on and off-site. The Lodge at Legend and The Villas just down the street accommodate in both numbers and comfort, as rooms and suites in the lodge expand to multi-bedroom units at the Villas. And then there’s the stunning one-of-a-kind resort across the road from the Quarry that has been heavily highlighted in state and regional publications over the past several years – Shawn Callahan’s immaculate Green Gate Guesthouses – a collection of unique accommodations including a Miners House, Farmhouse, Barn Home (literal barn) and Log Cabin (tiny house). Shawn is as much a master craftsman as Jeff Brauer, and each of his fantastic houses is worth checking out. Plus, he has a collection of condos, cottages and villas on Wynne Lake that can accommodate 2 to 14. Something for everyone.

That’s pretty much Giants Ridge in a nutshell: Something for Everyone… golfers, skiers, bikers, boaters, fishermen, hikers, swimmers. Head north this summer. Go Giant, then go home.