I’ve long been a fan of Jim Engh’s work – a largely unheralded genius, I would say. The native North Dakotan’s courses mingle on my “favorites” and “bucket lists,” from The Club at Black Rock in Idaho to True North (Michigan) and The Golf Club at Redland’s Mesa (in Colorado). I count his Carne Golf Links in Belmullet, Ireland among my Top 5 Irish rounds, and if there are 18 holes of golf in the Dakotas a golfer absolutely must play, it’s the 18 holes in Bismarck, at Hawktree. There’s other great golf in the Dakota’s – more than enough to build a solid weeklong golf trip – but Hawktree is the Dakota marquee.

I’ve known Hawktree’s current PGA Head Golf Professional, Michael Herzog for nearly a decade. I first met him at Interlachen in the Twin Cities and always believed he was on the fast track to corporate greatness. That fast track led him to Bismarck, where he is leading the charge at Hawktree, and the club couldn’t be in better hands. “This is a Top 100 course, without question,” he says. “There is literally no way a person could find 100 better golf courses in America.” In other words, he’s living a dream… in North Dakota of all places.

That sounds like a slight to North Dakota, but it isn’t. North Dakota it is a truly beautiful state. The Badlands are actually VERY good, and Theodore Roosevelt National Park (in western ND) is loaded with epic trails and scenery – easily worthy of any adventurer’s time. What I meant was that people don’t think of golf when they think of North Dakota… South Dakota either. That’s crazy to those of us who have played their best courses, but truth to the rest of the country that hasn’t. The Dakotas are more than just Wall Drug billboards and Mount Rushmore. The Dakotas are surrounded by the Rocky Mountains, the Canadian wilderness and the great state of Minnesota. Imagine all those elements in one prairie-land place and you get Hawktree.

Hawktree Golf Club proves the earth isn’t flat (at least the North Dakota part) beginning in a clubhouse that boasts vistas you won’t believe – as many as 14 holes in view from the various windows. The Hawk’s Nest Bar & Grill could have simply been called Salivation – not just for the incredible fares served by a revamped menu and its spectacular chef, but because of those heavenly and enticing views. Somehow, for a decade at least, those incredible views have been absent from the club’s website as if they were trying to keep them a secret. Michael Herzog is about to change that – to let the secret out. “We’ll have a drone tour up soon, and a photo exhibition that a course like this deserves. We want the whole world to see what they’re missing.” (Hint: A lot.)

I’m not sure how Golf Digest misses the boat on Hawktree. They tend to be the course rating resource I trust the most, and yet Hawktree’s placement (or misplacement) is a mystery. They have everything but yardage guide’s here, everything a private club covets available to every single public golfer. Unique as the experience is, “exclusivity” is not the word for Hawktree. “Inclusivity” IS. Everything is included here. You get dramatic ball flights off elevated tee shots into distant lush valleys. You get water carries, wide fairways and the most unique of black coal sand bunkers. If billionaire property owners came out and played Hawktree, they’d be hiring Jim Engh to build their next course. Imagine a Jim Engh course at Mike Keiser’s Sand Valley (in Wisconsin), and then realize that dream on an even more dramatic landscape like Hawktree’s.

But great golf has to be about more than views, right? Is Hawktree fun? An avid Minneapolis golfer that I’ve played with several times (Minneapolis is only a 6 hour drive away) says, “Golfing Hawktree is the most fun I’ve ever had in my life.” With raised eyebrows I asked him, “Ever?” He paused then said, “Well…” I get the point. There are some things more fun than golf (and probably many great golf courses he hasn’t been to), but when it comes to fun golf, Hawktree definitely doesn’t shortchange.

Four sets of tees with eight different slope combinations (each rated) provide every golfer with as much fun and challenge as desired. Links-style in design with only 80 irrigated acres of turfgrass, the glacier-carved landscape is loaded with quality shots (both with clubs and a camera). Check out the photos on their website gallery if you’d like a sampling of what awaits you. That’s two minutes of time you won’t want to have back likely leading to hours of time you’ll gladly give (and give again). Hawktree is 99% hit and 1% miss – the only thing missing is you.