As a cornerstone of the eastern suburbs, Eagle Valley Golf Course lies comfortably in the center of Woodbury, a proud jewel in the municipal crown. The course conditions are always better than expected, the staff is more friendly than expected and overall value from a customer perspective is more than you can ask for. With the added bonus of five sets of tees, Eagle Valley can stretch it out from 5,234 to 6,902 yards, which easily accommodates all levels of play. The substantial green complexes also allow for an ever changing array of pin positions. When you add it all up, exceeding expectations could be the reason repeat business and loyalty run deep at this course.

In addition to the 18-hole championship layout that winds through the Eagle Valley housing community along a meticulously paved trail, there is the practice facility, which provides all kinds of elbow room on the putting green and plenty of swing stations on the driving range directly behind it. It’s an efficient, well-planned layout, just what you would expect from the city planners in Woodbury. The teamwork and staff responsibilities run seamlessly under Director of Golf, Dan Moris, who orchestrates the high-volume tee sheet like a true maestro. Your round will go off on time, there will be few if any back ups on the course and turning the corner will click like a finely tuned watch.

Over the last few years Dan and his team have successfully incorporated the voice-of-customer feedback that has landed on their front door. The largest changes came in redesigning five tee boxes to adjust forward tee distances more forward and added a 5^th tee (golds) between the whites and reds. A minor tweak in the big scheme of things, but just the type of continuous improvement that keeps the regular customers coming back and first timers itching to return. In fact, Dan’s motto is “treat your customers how you would expect to be treated at a resort level course.”

With its close ties to City Hall, Dan has initiated the First Tee of the Twin Cities at Eagle Valley Program, which helps introduce golf into the elementary schools in Woodbury while promoting its nine core principles: honesty, integrity, sportsmanship, respect, confidence, responsibility, perseverance, courtesy and judgment. Many courses whether city owned or not would do well to learn from the Eagle Valley model.

Out on the course your round will start with a very doable par 5 that keeps its trouble hidden to the right, front-side of the green. Be careful or it could show its ugly head on the long second shot. The holes keep on delivering surprises with the innocent looking par 4 second, which will likely find the solid hitters with a downhill lie and at least another 140 yards to the green. You know the drill, keep those shoulders parallel to the slope. The number 1 handicap hole is the longish par 4 fourth, which finishes on a turtleback green that is only 15 yards deep. This makes sticking those second shots ‘do or die’ with little or no room behind the green. One design aspect that is appreciated by many is the relatively short par 3’s on the front side. They are very different from each other with one playing up and the other playing down. However, don’t take the yardage too lightly, or you will be struggling to keep that bogey from going to a double.

The back nine opens with a wide, wide open par 5… that is unless you get the spins and fade hard to the right into the elongated pond that stretches up that side of the fairway. Superintendent Dave Erickson and his crew have overseen an excellent reconfiguration on #10 by running a boulder strewn stream across the front introducing a real risk/reward set-up. Wind and drive distance will help you steer that decision, good luck. The par 3 thirteenth is a very large green and fairly flat which accounts for it being rated as the easiest hole on the course. At 170 yards from the blues (150 from the whites) it always seems to play longer than expected even though it’s a half club downhill elevation. That hole is the start of a stretch of holes that will allow players of all abilities to go on a scoring run. Try to take advantage of that stretch before stepping up to the marshland that surrounds the 18^th fairway with trouble on both sides. The par 4 eighteenth finishes on a table top style green that has plenty of sneaky undulation. Finish strong and you can add Eagle Valley to the list of courses you’ve managed to tame.

There is so much right about the way Eagle Valley goes about its business. You can feel the optimized operations from the friendly staff to the course conditions, but you won’t feel the sting in your wallet. For those of you who have overlooked this course or haven’t played it in a few years, be assured it is ready for you today and every day.