For weeks, you’ve dreamed of hitting the green and sinking your putts as you anxiously wait for the snow to melt and the golf courses that make up the state Minnesota to be prepped for a new season. Now that…
Spring is for rain showers, blooming flowers, and rounds of golf. It’s likely been months since you teed off on a lush green course — unless you took a warm vacation over the winter. Either way, spring is a great…
Northern Minnesota has great golf. That is well-known to the many golfers in this state and even to some who travel here. Courses at such resorts as Madden’s, Grand View Lodge, and Giants Ridge have hosted golfers for years to great success. But if you are looking for something just off the beaten path, there are other northern Minnesota resort options that offer great golf and are well-worth checking out.
To begin with, golf in northern Minnesota provides some of the best golf vacation opportunities you can find. Whether it is the quiet beauty of the northern woods or unsurpassed challenge on courses with conditioning found at the highest-end courses around the country, northern Minnesota will roll out the bright, “green carpet” for your next visit.
Black Bear Golf Course in Carleton, Minn., is just down the road from Duluth and the land of Lake Gitchegumee, where Minnesota vacations abound. The golf course at Black Bear is a scenic walk through the northern Minnesota woods, and with tees from 5,072 yards to 6,560 (for which the slope is 138), there is a challenge for every level of golfer. You will remember the beauty of Black Bear (and its bear paw shaped sand trap) when you are relaxing at Black Bear Casino Resort after your round.
It’s early April in Minnesota and the golf courses are in full bloom. That is, there are plenty already open with golfers walking the slowly greening fairways. After a mild winter and an early spring (some tracks were open in early March), we are experiencing another early spring for Minnesota golf courses.
Call it global warming, El Nina or El Nino or whatever you want, but I’m calling it glorious. The weather has cooperated and so have the golf courses, so I am planning to get out there as soon as possible. Here are a few courses that would be worthwhile checking out for an early spring round.
Some of the courses in northern Minnesota may not be open yet, as the conditions for golf ripen a little later every season, but there are plenty of options in the Twin Cities to get you back in the “swing” of things. The Minnesota Golf Association’s website has up-to-the-minute openings, so check to see when your favorite course is ready for play. But in the meantime, here are some great courses awaiting your next tee ball.
Stonebrooke Golf Club in Shakopee was one of the early openers this season, allowing golfers to tee it up on March 6. The weather is warm enough now so you won’t need an extra layer for that ferry ride across Lake O’Dowd after your tee shot on No. 8.
Braemar Golf Course in Edina has opened their regulation course for play this season (on March 9), but the driving range won’t open until April 15, according to the MGA.