OK Minnesota Golfers, Chime in, the rest should of you should be jealous!

[Minge]

Thanks to all who have given advise for a spring golf outing for my foursome...As you fellow Minnesotains know we are very spoiled with AWESOME golf courses to choice from in this great state. If you are an outsider looking in the Brainerd Minnesota golf trail is simply superb. The courses at Giants Ridge in Northern Minnesota are top tracks as well.

My question now is if we were to fly to a golf desination what would you say would be on par to the courses we are used to treating ourselves too? Keep in mind, in the early spring, we can play the top courses in the state of Minnesota for 50.00 bucks a round and 35.00 for replay...Pretty hard to beat!! Downside, could be cold and worse, cold and rainy!! Also, I am not big on standing on tee boxes for ten minutes each whole...The spring trip we are used to are four hours rounds max and thats with a chopper or two in the group.

I would be willing to fly if we can match the caliber of the courses and not pay a fortune to do so...Any suggestions folks...

So far if we were to drive, the Harvestor in Iowa seems like a good option..If any of you have first hand experience with this track I would love to hear about it. It looks for be 75.00 a round though even in spring.

Anyway, I look forward to everyones advise....Thanks to all!!

[lorenzoinoc]

We have no black flies and barely any mosquistos here in So. Cal, so I don't think we have anything on par.

[Minge]

I lived in Southern Cal for 6 years...loved it..Mock if you will, I have played desert courses in Vegas, Palm Springs, I have played in Scottsdale and many other places.

I would put the courses in northern Minnesota right up there with the best of them. We have great off season rates up here in the frozen tundra, just looking to try something different. I would dare to say to play the caliber of courses I am talking about here in Minnesota would be 150.00 bucks a round in So. Cal.

[lorenzoinoc]

I had heard from quite a number of people that Minnesota golf courses weren't very good.

[Minge]

I had heard from quite a number of people that Minnesota golf courses weren't very good.

I have played Whistling Straits in Kohler Wi and Black Wolf Run in Nevada conisistantly rated in the top 50 public courses in the country. I would put a handfull of Minnesota golf courses on par with these courses and that is being conservative. Deacons Lodge, The Quarry, Interlachen, Hazeltine, Classic at Maddens...Should I stop yet?

Minnesota has been hos to the US Open and this year the US Womem's Open. So I do not know who these people are that are telling you these courses are not very good...Maybe Stevie Wonder.

[lorenzoinoc]

I have played Whistling Straits in Kohler Wi and Black Wolf Run in Nevada conisistantly rated in the top 50 public courses in the country. I would put a handfull of Minnesota golf courses on par with these courses and that is being conservative. Deacons Lodge, The Quarry, Interlachen, Hazeltine, Classic at Maddens...Should I stop yet?

Minnesota has been hos to the US Open and this year the US Womem's Open. So I do not know who these people are that are telling you these courses are not very good...Maybe Stevie Wonder.

I hear what you're saying, but I don't know who to believe. I checked a recent list of the top 100 courses in the U.S. you can play, and there was only one at #75.

[Minge]

I hear what you're saying, but I don't know who to believe. I checked a recent list of the top 100 courses in the U.S. you can play, and there was only one at #75.

Maybe believe the person who has played them first hand. Do not get me wrong, I am sure there are better places, I just think we have allot of options here. We have a very high golfer per capita rating right behind boats per number of folks.

I know we only have the one in the top 100 list and my personal favorite is not even that course. Take Whisling Straights in our neighboring Wi., I thought that course is simply to difficult for the average chopper, which I feel takes some of the fun out of it.

[lorenzoinoc]

Perhaps you can give us a sense of what makes Minnesota courses so cool? Maybe a top 10 list. What is it that the reviewers are missing? Why have I heard so many bad things?

[Horseballs]

I know this is stating the obvious, but golf in Vietnam blows away golf in Minnesota.

[Minge]

Perhaps you can give us a sense of what makes Minnesota courses so cool? Maybe a top 10 list. What is it that the reviewers are missing? Why have I heard so many bad things?

I do not know how many of been to the northern woods of Minnesota but I am fairly well traveled and it is simply put one of the more scenic places in the country.

I am not trying to turn this into a debate thread, I am simply saying I have played allot of golf in various parts of the country and the top courses in Minnesota stand up well against others "I" have played. Maybe the courses in Mesquite, Scottsdale, Palm Springs suck too what the hell do I know.


If you want a list.
1. Scenery
2. Scenery
3. Scenery
4. Playability
5. Playability
6. Playability

I know that is just six...

[lorenzoinoc]

I agree on the debate part. I think a number of us are just trying to understand. I'm always trying to decide on new and interesting places to go. I'm from Italy, and once this guy from Latvia kept telling me, "Latvia is the greatest place, Latvia is just the greatest place." So I finally go to Latvia, and I was incredibly disappointed. I think the guy was just a homer and as a result I wasted a perfectly good 2 week vacation.

I mean there may be places in the Baltic where the women are attactive, but Oh my God!! You should see these poor women. They're just hideous. I don't know how the men there are able to have sex with them. I'm guessing the population is in decline.

If the scenery is as good as you say, that's certainly a positive. I'd just hate to go there and have another experience like the one in Latvia. And I don't know what it is, but those damn mosquitos seem to love me. And I've heard about the black flies. Would I have to wear mosquito netting?

[SwingHarder]

Granted, if you golf in MN too early in the season, even the best courses can be in rough shape. But I've played courses like Sandpiper in California and the Desert Mountain courses in AZ and I'd take the best courses in MN over any of those, if you go in the summer. Here's my personal top 10 of the MN courses I've played. I'll add some pics if I get time this afternoon:

1. The Wilderness at Fortune Bay
2. Giant's Ridge--the Quarry
3. The Classic at Madden's (#75 GD)
4. Giant's Ridge--The Legend
5. Deacon's Lodge
6. The Pines at Grandview Lodge
7. Legends Golf Club
8. The Preserve at Grandview Lodge
9. Willinger's GC
10. Stonebrooke GC

All these courses are very scenic with great layouts that I think are more fun to play than desert courses.

[Minge]

I agree on the debate part. I think a number of us are just trying to understand. I'm always trying to decide on new and interesting places to go. I'm from Italy, and once this guy from Latvia kept telling me, "Latvia is the greatest place, Latvia is just the greatest place." So I finally go to Latvia, and I was incredibly disappointed. I think the guy was just a homer and as a result I wasted a perfectly good 2 week vacation.

I mean there may be places in the Baltic where the women are attactive, but Oh my God!! You should see these poor women. They're just hideous. I don't know how the men there are able to have sex with them. I'm guessing the population is in decline.

If the scenery is as good as you say, that's certainly a positive. I'd just hate to go there and have another experience like the one in Latvia. And I don't know what it is, but those damn mosquitos seem to love me. And I've heard about the black flies. Would I have to wear mosquito netting?

I can say this...If you came to Minnesota and played the Quarry the Wilderness, Deacons Lodge and the Classic a Maddens, I would pay for your trip if you did not think they were OUTSTANDING tracks. No, mosquito netting involved.

[lorenzoinoc]

I can say this...If you came to Minnesota and played the Quarry the Wilderness, Deacons Lodge and the Classic a Maddens, I would pay for your trip if you did not think they were OUTSTANDING tracks. No, mosquito netting involved.

Wow, that's very generous of you. Is the fishing any good there? Some of the guys in our group like to do that. If the lakes were big enough we could do some trolling, which would be great. Sorry to sound like such a doubter, it's just that this Latvia thing really got under my skin. Now it's really hard to trust anyone who refers me to vacation spots where they happen to be from. I mean the Latvia guy says: "The women there are so awesome. Yeah, right. I want to see chromosome test results proving there actually are any women there. Before the trip the travel agent sent me photos that made it seem like there was some talent . Here's an example.

http://www.latviatourism.lv/info.php...rovider_id=213

They're kind of covered in mud, but they don't look too bad, eh? Well I really didn't see anything like that over there. And they gave us a hard sell on the health club facilities. What a bunch of b.s. that was. Here's one of their "state of the art" machines.

http://www.latviatourism.lv/info.php...rovider_id=440

I was hesitant to get in that thing, but they said "Oh, it will cut 10 strokes off your score". Well I'll try anything that will do that. I mean almost anything. To do Hillary, I'd need at least 20. Anyways, so I get in that thing, what a joke. The next day, sure my drives were maybe 10-20 yards longer. But I had like 35 putts. And I think I pulled about 33 of them.

The only good thing was the fishing. That was pretty good. The fish didn't bite, but here's a picture of my 3 fishing guides.

http://www.latviatourism.lv/info.php...rovider_id=220

If it wasn't for them, the whole trip would have been ruined.

Anyways, this golf in Minnesota thing is sounding better and better. When is the snow completely melted?

[lorenzoinoc]

I know this is stating the obvious, but golf in Vietnam blows away golf in Minnesota.

At the risk of seeming flighty, have you golfed there?