[TitleistFan]

Will be in the twin cities later this month. I'm a 5 that like a good traditional design.

[MBuckler]

your options are endless...where will you be staying so we can narrow the search area?

[TitleistFan]

Downtown St. Paul.

[MBuckler]

Keller CG and the University of MN, Les Bolstad courses are both nice older tracks.

http://mngolf.org/courses.cfm

[mhccap]

dude...as a former minnesotan...PLEASE tell me you did not just suggest a person play keller or Bolstad?!?

StoneRidge is a 10 minute drive tops from downtown st. paul...troy burne is maybe a half hour drive.

also, the original poster im sure can drive to thegood side of the river and play Chaska Town Course, The Wilds, Legends, the course at the casino...

there are a number of other places i would suggest to play before Keller and Bolstad...in fact I would suggest you dont even bring your clubs before i would uggest you play those two outdated, bad conditioned, pitch-n-putt dives...shoot me an IM with some logistics of your trip...ie will you have a car? times of the day you are looking to play? will you be bringing clients golfing with you?...etc. i was a pga professional on both the good and the bad side of the river for a dozen years and will get you dialed in...

[goalie]

I am in agreement with the above poster.

There are a LOT of nice courses around the Twin Cities. The only one mentioned above I don't fully agree with is the casino course, and that is just because I hate looking at the damn casino the whole round, not because of the course.

[jeffyjeffmn]

do not come visit MN and play keller or Bolstad, otherwise you will leave with a sour taste as to what MN is all about. You are coming to a state that has more golfers and golf courses per capita than any other state in the US. If you are staying in St. Paul you have a million options. If you want to spend a pretty penny and play a fantastic course then get out and play Troy Burne in Hudson. It is about 40 mins just inside the WI border. Fantastic shape right now and a real challenge. Stoneridge is also another great course. If you wanted to spend about sixty dollars you could just go and play White Eagle golf club in Hudson as well and it is only about 30 Mins away. White Eagle website: http://www.whiteeagl...hotogallery.asp The nice thing about White Eagle is that you will not see a house with the exception of a couple tucked into the woods up a hill. The guys in the clubhouse are always nice and appreciative and the gps on their carts is one of the best systems in the twin cities. You could spend about twenty dollars less and pay $40 and play one of the best rated courses in twin cities rated by the local sports pages and get out to Stillwater, MN and play Loggers Trail. the first half of the course is all enclosed by trees with NO homes and the back nine is a links style with tall native grasses, Railroad ties bordering bunkers and some heavy winds. I just played willingers golf course and it is about 35 mins south on I-35. It is freakin awesome and it can play long and hard. A challenge and it is very fun to get out there. The facilities are very nice as well. Willingers website: http://www.willinger...com/gc_tour.asp Check out some of the awards as well. Very impressive and it is a bargain as well.

[MBuckler]

did know his situation...i dont find anything particularly horrible about either of those course and they're close to downtown...thanks for the beating tho guys...really made my day

[rlheiman]

Keller is a great course. It is tight, but very classic. I enjoy this course every time I play it.

Don't know the university course, but did see a magazine(don't know which one) ranked it very high.

Don't bother driving to the wilds, or the Meadows at the casino, not worth the drive from downtown St. Paul. The Legends was OK but not great. A couple of good holes over water, but a drive.

StoneRidge is good and easy to get to. very few homes. Links like. Open, fast, and always in great shape.

Inverwood is easy to get to an not a bad course, just down 52 out of downtown. No houses which is nice. Hilly and lots of trees.

Logger's trail is good, but a pain to get to with the hyw 36 construction.

Another favorite of mine is Mississippi Dunes, just down 61. not too hard to get to from downtown. On the river, no homes, but you either love it or hate it. Semi links style. Can play really difficult the first time.

White Eagle is good, but far away. It feels very north woods.

Troy Burne is good, but a longer drive and kind of pricey. But conditions are always perfect.

There are many options, you don't need to go far for some good golf.

P.S MBuckler are you in MN now??

[ty cheek]

I totally agree with this post. I live in Atlanta, and travel to the Twin Cities once per year on business, and have played all of these. I will be play Rush Creek, which held a U.S. Pub Links, this summer. It is approximately 1 hour west of Minneapolis, and is said to be good.

[mygolfbuddy]

Now that some nice local knowledge. This is how this forum should work. Once you decide on your course, you can use the mygolfbuddy playing partner search to find golfers that live near the course and use the mygolfbuddy golf course locator to map out our driving route to the course

[MBuckler]

rlheiman, on Jul 7 2007, 06:47 PM, said:

P.S MBuckler are you in MN now??

yeap...should be seeing me in approx. 1.5 hours too

[mr_divots]

Hmmm.. a lot will depend on what you are looking to spend for green fees of course.

Upper end of the price range: $80-120
Troy Burne in Hudson, WI (former track for a Nationwide Event. Challenging track, but fair. No blind shots that I can think of offhand.)
StoneRidge in Stillwater, MN (always in good shape and no houses really on the course.
Rush Creek in Maple Grove, MN (US Publinks was held there not long ago. Good shape and nice variety of holes. Pretty staight forward track.)

Mid-range: $40-60
Chaska Town Course in Chaska, MN (haven't played it, but always hear good things.)
Ediburgh USA in Brooklyn Park, MN (former LPGA Venue, Robert Trent Jones II design. Very target-golf oriented. Fun track.)

Sub-$40 rounds:
Keller Golf Course in St. Paul (Ok, former PGA Tour stop, LPGA Tour stop, etc, etc. What's wrong with that??! Lots of history at this course, and generally in OK shape. Classic Parkland course. Muni image gives it a bad wrap.)
Tanners Brook in Forest Lake, MN (My home track. Very links style front side, mix on back. Good shape and can be challenging if the wind is blowing. Native grasses can eat a few balls if driving is off.
Bunker Hills in Coon Rapids, MN (former Champions Tour track and they hold the state high school championship here. Good golf and good value.)

All of these tracks should be within a 30 minute drive of downtown St. Paul. Chaska might be a 45 minute drive.

[kratt11]

ty cheek, on Jul 7 2007, 07:29 PM, said:

I totally agree with this post. I live in Atlanta, and travel to the Twin Cities once per year on business, and have played all of these. I will be play Rush Creek, which held a U.S. Pub Links, this summer. It is approximately 1 hour west of Minneapolis, and is said to be good.

DO NOT play Rush Creek at this time of the year, especially since it will be closed soon due to replacing all the greens. Dont get me wrong, its a good track, but they hold WAY to many corporate events and its just beat up bad this time of the year!

[kratt11]

Troy Burne, Stoneridge, and Loggers Trail for the area you are staying in would be your best bet!

And if you wanna make a little drive for what i think is a hidden gem is The Refuge in the northern suburbs.