Best NFL Cities for Golf

NFL Cities with great golf

Alex Meyer of Golf Digest put together a piece that covers NFL Cities that also have great golf. Of course, when I saw the issue I figured Minnesota MUST be on that list. Not the case. As a former television sports reporter, I had the chance to cover the Minnesota Vikings in various NFL Cities across the country and have also had a chance to pack my clubs and squeeze in some golf. No doubt, Alex has got some great cities that boast an NFL franchise and top-notch golf, but I would argue Minnesota’s presence in that list of 10 cities as well. Here’s why it’s one of the best NFL Cities for golf:

Northwoods golf experience

Based on our geographic location alone, we are automatically in the Northwoods even though we’re in a major metropolitan area. Sure, we’re not necessarily crazy about our proximity in January, but when it comes to football season in the fall, there are few places more beautiful than Minnesota golf courses. Within a Bubba Watson drive to both the airport and downtown Minneapolis you can get to world class golf within a half hour. Consider Rush Creek Golf Club in Maple Grove, The Legends Club in Prior Lake, the Robert Trent Jones course, Edinburgh USA, in Brooklyn Park. These are all public facilities reasonably priced and will make you feel like you’ve walked through a trap door into the Northwoods of the Upper Midwest. Heck, you could hit these courses in the morning and still make a noon kick-off!

Variety

Whether you’re interested in the aforementioned “Northwoods” golf experience or whether you prefer more of a “parkland” style track like Braemar Golf Course in Edina, you can find tremendous variety at extremely affordable prices. Step out to StoneRidge Golf Club in Stillwater, which is about 45 minutes from the stadium and you’ll be on an incredible links-style course. Dream up the type of course you would love to play and there’s a high probability we have that for you in Minnesota.

Affordable golf in Minnesota

One of the biggest complaints (aside from their game) that golfers have is the cost of high end daily fee golf courses. In Minnesota, we are home to Giants Ridge, the 20th ranked golf course on Golf Digest’s list of Top 1oo public courses. You’ll be stunned to know the green fees at Giants Ridge don’t reach $100 per player at any time of the year. Is that affordable enough for you? The rest of the state is filled with terrific values on world class golf courses.

Geographically convenient golf courses

Whether you’re hopping off a plane at MSP International or staying downtown near the Vikings stadium, you are 45-minutes from a dozen high end, championship golf courses. Want proof? Every course mentioned to this point qualifies in this category plus Stonebrooke Golf Club in Shakopee, The Wilds Golf Club in Prior Lake, Prestwick Golf Club in Woodbury and Ridges at Sand Creek in Jordan, which may be one of the furthest from downtown Minneapolis, but still quite reachable in less than an hour. That’s a ton of golf!

The Minnesota Vikings

We haven’t had a lot to cheer about in recent years when it comes to the Vikings, but we know this much – season after season they field a competitive team that will light up the stadium in a memorable, high energy atmosphere. Do you want to know the ultimate Trifecta? A round of golf in the morning at 7am, off the course by 11am and over to the stadium just in time for a noon kick off. After the game, relax at one of our fabulous Twin Cities hotels and then catch the early flight out Monday morning just in time for work! Now that’s a heckuva golf and football weekend!