Fairways & Greens - Minnesota

You can travel near and far, you can zig-zag the backroads of Minnesota into every corner of the map but you are not likely to pull into a golf course that roll’s out the red carpet like Whitefish Golf Club. Parking the car, loading the clubs and walking up to the clubhouse under a canopy of tall pines is a sure sign you’ve landed in the right place.

If you’re like me (an avid golfer), you plot out your Minnesota golf season months before it actually begins. You dream about golf getaways to Aruba, Jamaica and New Zealand, and sub in short trips to somewhat less tropical places like south and central Iowa (instead) to get ready.

The most surprising contrast between the North Shore of Oahu (in Hawaii) and the North Shore of Lake Superior (in Minnesota) is the GOLF… and not the way you’d think. The golf is WAY better in Minnesota! SERIOUSLY.

C. Murphy: “An absolutely fantastic course that is in perfect condition. This course is a hidden gem and I recommend playing it.”

Ninety miles of cornfields from the southeast corner of the Twin Cities, this side of Redwood Falls, brilliant golf course architect Rees Jones built one of the Minnesota’s greatest hidden treasures on land that’s richer (in character) than all the rows of harvestable gold around it.

It’s not easy to carve out a golf course from an old growth forest and leave the best parts of the woodsy feel while delivering on an exceptional, championship level course. Not quite sure how they did it, but Golden Eagle has done just that.

These two river beauties are a pair to draw to. They’ve got it all from stellar entertainment, world-class accommodations, well-designed golf holes, epic golf scenery, state-of the-art gambling facilities, swimming pools, bowling alleys, fine dining, soaring eagles and even scorecard eagles.

Many Minnesota golfers have never experienced the dramatic beauty of The Lakes Golf Course at Ruttger’s Bay Lake Lodge. If you fall into that category, make a promise to yourself: spend a day at Ruttger’s this season.

For property owners at Izatys and patrons who support the old Lake Mille Lacs resort life has been slip or slide. Constant changes in underfunded ownership and inexperienced management caused facilities and golf courses to slide into oblivion.

As a golf journalist I’ve had the chance to speak to PGA players over the years, and one of my favorite questions to ask them is (prefaced with the fact that they pretty much play the world’s best courses every week) – “Where is a place you’ve never played that you’d really like to play?”

Think of a course you would play every day of the year if you could. A course with no houses on it, no cars driving by, superbly managed, greens in perfect condition, beautiful views on nearly every hole, plenty of great scoring opportunities, and high shot values around every single corner… if those kinds of things are important to you.

Dollar for dollar, quality hole-for-quality hole, which resort in Minnesota offers more great high-value golf for golfers (and especially golf groups) than Cragun’s Legacy Courses on Gull Lake? What do you base your opinion on? Here are the facts:

I miss Arnold Palmer. I sit and watch the Invitational at Bay Hill (his Florida home) and I fondly remember my 2015 visit there, while “The King” was still here – still there. I remember dropping balls at various spots around the course where signature shots were hit over the years.