Fairways & Greens - Minnesota

I arrived at Purple Hawk Country Club, a semi-private club in Cambridge, thinking about what seems to be a couple of the main initiatives in the golf industry. These two initiatives are, “tee it forward” and “pace of play.”

If you’re like me, you’ve noticed some courses have names that really don’t make much sense. Either there’s some obscure, long since forgotten reference that led to the course’s name, or someone just pulled it out of a hat. Wild Marsh Golf Club in Buffalo, is not one of those courses.

A lot can happen in 20 years. Would I even recognize her? All sorts of thoughts ran through this writer’s head as he drove into Bunker Hills ample parking lot for the first time in ages.

Pebble Creek is located less than 50 miles from the heart of downtown Minneapolis. If you drive like my dad you could be there in 40 minutes. Drive like my mom and you’d still make it in less than two hours.

I thought I had played all the best courses in the state of Minnesota. Territory took me completely by surprise. I should’ve known better though. Tradition Golf courses, Legends and TC of Iowa, are among my favorites in their respective states. I should’ve seen this coming.

Edina’s Tradition Golf manages a strong portfolio of signature golf properties that is only getting stronger. From its flagship course Legends Club in Prior Lake, to one of Iowa’s best The Tournament Club, to one of the Twin Cities’ best value (and wildest) rounds at Willinger’s.

As golf course architects, there are many issues that we need to consider when deciding how or why to renovate a golf course. Most often, when I get a call from an owner or a golf course manager, they are usually looking to make changes that they hope will increase the popularity of their course and lead to increased membership or improved revenue.

The next person who justifies not going to Willingers because it is too far from the Cities is going to get punched in the big toe. It’s perhaps too far from Alaska… a tad too far from South Africa… and reasonably too far to walk from Hawaii. But too far from the Cities???

Laughter echoes across the rolling fairways, families and friends scattered across the indoor and outdoor patios of the Windsong Farm clubhouse… savoring a perfect evening in the country, embers glowing and logs crackling in the fire pits, toasting happiness before a glowing cloud and sunset audience.

When looking at “About the Course” on the Gopher Hills website it starts out: “With 27 holes on three distinctive nines….”. That couldn’t be truer and the variety of each nine (The Heath, The Glen, and Executive Nine) is one of the reasons golfers return to Gopher Hills.

“We are who we are and we like it that way.”
– Wedgewood Cove Director of Golf Donnie Teeter

When golfers consider the efforts made in this state to provide a test of golf that has as much of a “links” feel as you can get, the conversation has to start with The Links at NorthFork.

Tee Times is once again doing a feature on “links style” golf courses in Minnesota for the July issue. This series is done to bring attention to The Open Championship, and to give golfers some idea of where they can experience the feeling and challenges of links style golf.

Sprawled out about the backwaters of the Mississippi River just about 1 mile southeast of the outskirts of Cottage Grove, is a more than just visually pleasing public golf course and wedding planner’s dream.

Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board (MPRB) golf courses that circled the thriving downtown area. With the experience gained from developing the four older siblings, one would think that the MPRB and Theodore Wirth would have had an easy time developing Hiawatha Golf Club, not so!

Meadowbrook opened for play in 1926, as the fourth sibling of the collaboration of Theodore Wirth and William Clark. People loved the new course that was built along gorgeous Minnehaha Creek (the brook in the name).