|
by David R. Holland
Next time you pull out a Post-It Note to jot down a reminder for your upcoming tee-time, think about Minnesota. The land of 10,000 lakes (actually there’s 11,842) is the birthplace of that little square of yellow paper, and home to some travel golf opportunities you might not have heard of. The state has hosted all 13 sanctioned USGA championships and has 703,000 golfers – more per capita than any other state in the USA.
As Minnesota celebrates its 152nd birthday this summer it wants to remind travel golfers that ninety percent of its 508 golf courses are public – ranging from prairie links to lakeside wooded parklands to reclaimed mining areas. Away from the links, this is a land of summer lake fun – fishing, boating, canoeing, kayaking, swimming, water skiing and downhill skiing, ice fishing and snowmobiles when it is chilly.
I was hoping that somewhere during my 36-hole a day jaunt through the northern mining areas of Minnesota and the Brainerd Lakes resort section that I’d be matched with golfers like former governor-wrestler Jesse Ventura, or an aspiring senatorial candidate/comedian like Al Franken, or even A Prairie Home Companion’s (legendary folksy, tongue-in-cheek radio variety show -- originally broadcast from St. Paul) own Garrison Keillor.
Instead I was paired with some of the friendliest folks on the planet, and dealt with golf course staffs that must have invented hospitality.
This journey began heading north to the Iron Range, home to Giants Ridge, for 36 holes of award-winning golf. The Legend and The Quarry, both near Biwabik (3.5 hours north of Minneapolis), were designed by Jeff Brauer. The latter is No. 56 on Golf Magazine’s Top 100 You Can Play List and No. 19 on Golf Digest’s America’s 100 Greatest Public Courses. Folks, this is North Country, remember the movie with Charlize Theron in the lead role? It’s not that far from Thunder Bay, Canada, so you might hear some put a “boondocks” label on it.
“The first year of The Legends (1997) they logged 30,000 rounds,” Brauer recalled. “We sodded the course so it was ready almost instantly.”
And thanks to some successful marketing and photos by Mike Klemme, the naysayers, those who said nobody would drive all the way up to Biwabik, were silenced. Doubters got even quieter once The Quarry opened in 2003.
How good is The Quarry? One critic said it is better than famed Minnesota major championship venues such as Interlachen Country Club, home to the 2008 Women’s U.S. Open, and Hazeltine National, home to the 2009 PGA Championship and the 2016 Ryder Cup.
Giants Ridge Golf & Ski Resort is also home to a downhill skiing, but golf is luminary. The Legend at Giants Ridge (6,930 yards, par 72) is imprinted adjacent to Superior National Forest, features evergreens and birches, boulders, waste areas, and massive bunkers. Look for the “giant’s” footprint bunker on No. 3, a 501-yard par five. Aim over one of its “toes” to cut the corner on this dogleg left.
The Quarry (7,201 yards, par 72), which ousted The Legend for best public access course in the state (Golf Digest), zigzags through an old rock and sand quarry, finishing along a 550-foot deep mine-pit lake that also serves as a Department of Natural Resources trout fishery.
The project, developed by Minnesota's Iron Range Resource and Rehabilitation Board (IRRRB), changed the face of scarred taconite mine lands with rock, gravel and sand pits, with raised tees, bent grass fairways, deep bunkers and waste areas, wetlands, ponds, marshes and contoured greens. Name an award and The Quarry, managed by Troon Golf, has won it from all the major publications. After golf bunk down at The Lodge at Giants Ridge or the Villas at Giants Ridge.
“For years the Brainerd Lakes area was the best known for a northern Minnesota golf vacation,” said John Kendall, director of golf. “But now Giants Ridge in on the map.”
Next stop, about 30 minutes from Giants Ridge in Tower, is Fortune Bay Resort Casino, home to another Brauer gem, The Wilderness. Owned and operated by the Bois Forte Band of Chippewa, the $10.8-million course measures 7,207 yards at par 72 and snakes through white and red pines, along Lake Vermilion, marshlands, and granite outcroppings. Some holes have rock ridges that serve as dividing points between upper and lower fairways.
Like The Quarry, The Wilderness, with its GPS carts, also was an instant award-winner, getting tabbed as one of Golf Magazine’s Top 10 Best New Places To Play in America one year later. Golf Digest named it No. 2 on its list of best casino courses and among America’s Best New Upscale Public Courses.
Brauer, who makes his home in the heavily populated Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, was impressed with the beauty of the land and Lake Vermilion, and took notice with every wildlife sighting -- from bald eagles, bear, fox, timber wolves, white-tailed deer, and even an occasional moose.
The Wilderness General Manager Tom Beaudry says, “We play golf to get away from it all and there is no better place to escape than on these lush, scenic fairways. Golf here will clear your mind and Fortune Bay will facilitate your productivity.” What else can you do? Try the casino, dine, use the marina, exercise room, or pool.
After getting refreshed in the Minnesota backwoods head next to Brainerd where you will find a mecca for golf and outdoors vacations. Madden’s on Gull Lake and Grand View Lodge are ideal old-time resorts with up-to-date modern conveniences.
Best course in the area is The Classic, designed by superintendent Scott Hoffmann, and part of Madden’s portfolio. Back in the mid-1990s, Madden’s already had 45 holes of fun golf, but decided they wanted a truly modern championship course. Among its many awards are No. 42 on Golf Digest’s America’s 100 Greatest Public Courses and Best New Upscale Public Courses in North America for 1997.
"We wanted to offer our guests the experience that a professional golfer would have every weekend on tour," Hoffmann said. "We wanted a championship course, but one that was very fair and a good test of golf." Throw in one of Minnesota’s best teaching pros, Chris Foley, and The Classic would please anyone.
The Classic rolls out at 7,102 yards, par 72, and has elevation changes up to 60 feet with fairways that dip and roll. Maple trees, red oaks, flowering crabapple and others line the fairways and create scenic contrast with more than 50 bunkers filled with "Ohio's Best" white sand. Water comes in to play on 15 of 18 holes creating plenty of decision-making.
Madden’s got it all started in 1926 when it opened Pine Beach East, the first 18-hole resort course in the state. Pine Beach West followed along with The Social 9, an ideal place for juniors and beginners with awesome views of Gull Lake.
Located on more than 1,000 acres, Madden’s is going on eight decades, and spans miles of Gull Lake shoreline with all kinds of accommodations, dining and recreational activities. Madden's has three full-service restaurants and four casual eateries with an in-house bakery for breads, pastries and desserts. Walleye prepared blackend or broiled is popular as is top sirloin with sherried mushrooms and onions.
Grand View Lodge will take you back in time with its classic old-time resort look. But the amenities are truly 21st century with golf, spa, boating, fishing, and 1,500-foot natural sand beach on Gull Lake.
Deacon's Lodge, designed by Arnold Palmer, is its highest ranked golf course, ranking No. 52 on Golf Digest’s America’s 100 Greatest Public Courses and No. 76 on Golf Magazine’s Top 100 You Can Play list. This 6,934 yard, par 72 flows through 500 acres of lakes, wetlands and forest with wide fairways and devilish approaches. When they tell you the second shot is key they mean it. If your approach doesn’t find the putting surface you might be in trouble.
Opened in 1999, Deacon’s Lodge was preceded by The Pines in 1990 and The Preserve in 1996. The Preserve, rated 4.5 stars by Golf Digest, measures 6,601 yards at par 72, and includes rolling terrain lined by birch, maple, ash and oak trees and 40 acres of wetlands. There are 11 elevated tees and the clubhouse sits on a lofty clearing with panoramic views. The Pines is a totally enjoyable adventure of 27 holes – Lakes, Woods and Marsh nines, with lots of doglegs, tree-lined fairways and one green with church-pew bunkering. There’s also an executive nine called The Garden.
Grand View Lodge has accommodations that range from its Historic Main Lodge dating back to 1919 to luxurious cabins with lake views. Six restaurants offer such specialties as walleye and Minnesota wild rice soup, as well as an upscale steak house, Sherwood Forest, located in a 1920s timber lodge.
Bet you never dreamed that golf in Minnesota could be so high-ranking with so many options from upscale to earthy. Now you know, for Midwesterners there’s no need to fly to Pebble Beach or Bandon Dunes or Myrtle Beach. Save travel money and try Minnesota – it might be the best bargain around.
As Mr. Keillor would say: “That’s the news from Lake Wobegon, where all the women are strong, all the men good-looking and the golf courses are above average.”
Where to Stay, Play, Dine
Giants Ridge
www.giantsridge.com (800) 688-7669
Fortune Bay Resort Casino
www.fortunebay.com (800) 555-1714
Maddens on Gull Lake
www.maddens.com (800) 233-2934
Grand View Lodge
www.grandviewlodge.com (866) 801-2951
David R. Holland, Author, The Colorado Golf Bible
http://drholland77.googlepages.com
http://www.travelgolf.com/departments/authorarchives/holland.htm
http://www.twitter.com/David_R_Holland
|
