41 replies to this topic

[cinderellaboy]

Currently live in northern NJ, and considering a job that would relocate me to MN.  As an obsessed golfer my first concern about this move is the weather.  But it seems like the MN golf scene is full or great courses public and private at a fraction of the price I am used to.


Just wondering about the MN golf life in general, how long the season is etc.  What are the winter practice facilities like?



If any further opinions on life in general up there that would be great too.  Its a tough sell for my wife as we live close by to her family and this would be a new adventure.

Edited by cinderellaboy, 03 January 2013 - 08:57 AM.

[MNNikeGuy]

I'm not going to lie winter sucks. Golf season is different every year 6-7 good months of golf. One year I played golf at least once per month(that doesn't happen to often)
Courses are great you name it we have it. Wooded, lakes, links, hilly, whatever your looking for you can find it.

We have all 4 major sports. The twins got a great new stadium a couple of years ago. The Vikings are getting a new stadium in two years. The wild have one of the best arenas around.

Golf in the winter we have simulators that they serve beer and food, domes, and heated hitting bays

I hope that helps?

[cinderellaboy]

How bad is the winter really vs. the Northeast?  I play regular golf from mid/late March through thanksgiving.  Anything in Dec-Feb I consider a bonus, maybe 2-3 local rds in that period.  Is the season more like April-Oct?

[Big Ben]

I'm guessing like Cleveland very cold about right now

Edited by Big Ben, 03 January 2013 - 09:36 AM.

[MNNikeGuy]

 cinderellaboy, on 03 January 2013 - 09:33 AM, said:

How bad is the winter really vs. the Northeast?  I play regular golf from mid/late March through thanksgiving.  Anything in Dec-Feb I consider a bonus, maybe 2-3 local rds in that period.  Is the season more like April-Oct?

The course closed the week before thanksgiving this year. We started up the season in march. Sometimes it will be 70 one day in march and the next day we'll get like a foot of snow. It's all up to Mother Nature.

[cinderellaboy]

Oh I know its cold and I know the winter is long.  I'm just looking for a comparison as I try to figure out whether I ultimately want to do this relocation or not.  When Im not at work or chasing after my 1 yr old I play golf or practice.

It seems like the variety and cost of courses (for example a club membership actually affordable) offsets the added length of the winter.

Im looking to get talked into what makes MN great from those who live there.

[MNNikeGuy]

 cinderellaboy, on 03 January 2013 - 09:53 AM, said:

Oh I know its cold and I know the winter is long.  I'm just looking for a comparison as I try to figure out whether I ultimately want to do this relocation or not.  When Im not at work or chasing after my 1 yr old I play golf or practice.

It seems like the variety and cost of courses (for example a club membership actually affordable) offsets the added length of the winter.

Im looking to get talked into what makes MN great from those who live there.

Fishing year round, water sports like water skiing, jet skiing if your into that. Hunting (deer,pheasants , duck). Your wife would have the mall of America. We have ski hills and snow tubing. Snowmobiling. Bars only stay open until 1:00am. What are you looking for? What do you do now on your down time?

[Llortamaisey]

I don't live there but I have visited. All of the public golf is great. The conditions were far superior to the public tracks I play in Georgia. Great rates too.

The one thing that surprised me were the bugs. Anytime you get near water there, the bugs would eat you alive. And they have a little bit of water. It was worse than dealing with Alabama's state bird, the gnat.

[jshel]

CinderellaBoy,

I have lived in MN for most of my life, but did live in IL, Cincinnati and Raleigh for a combined six or so years right out of college.

It's a good place to live. It is a very manageable place to live and way cheaper than Northern NJ. In addition, traffic isn't that bad. There are all four pro sports, a D1 college, arts, culture, good food scene, etc.

In terms of golf, the season generally begins at the end of March or the beginning of April and runs until early-to-mid November. As a general rule the public courses open before the private clubs and stay open a little later. You're probably losing a couple of weeks on each end of the season from what you have. Golf will also be more affordable than what you have now. There are good private clubs that have initiation fees of just a few thousand bucks. There also aren't many privates where you have to take a caddie or cart all the time, making it more affordable if you are willing to walk and carry or push.

You won't find that many MN clubs that are super highly rated by places like Golf Digest and Golfweek, but there are lots of really good clubs. Maybe not elite, but really good places.

If you have any questions, feel free to drop me a note on here.

[sabram]

I live in NY on the border of Bergen county, New Jersey and I visit the Twin Cities every year. The public golf course options around Mpls and St Paul  are  lot  better than Northern Jersey in term of both quantity and quality. Northern Jersey has some of the best private courses in the world, but they are extremely expensive to join. In Minneapolis you can join some nice privates, including a nice Seth Raynor design, at a fraction of the north jersey cost. Here's a link to a small sampling of twin cities course photo tours: http://www.flickr.co...57631881715502/  and top dozen MSP area public courses: http://golfcourses.w...win-cities.html

Edited by sabram, 04 January 2013 - 06:10 AM.

[Jon Robert]

Winter golf in Minnesota or anywhere Midwest is called an airplane.  

October to May is a crap shoot. You can be out in 70 degree weather in January or 30 degree in October.   I reference Milwaukee to Lacrosse experience.  Some courses shut down period and others open if nice enough.

Edited by Jon Robert, 04 January 2013 - 09:11 AM.

[cinderellaboy]

Thanks guys.  One of the nice things I read is that Minny has per capita the most golf courses of any city in the US (or something like that).  I really like hearing that there are very reasonable private options.  That is one thing I realy hate about where Im at now, the private options are just hard to justify the expense and the public options suck.

I know winter is rough, season shorter by a few weeks that NJ.  Thats fine as it seems like the upside is the golf options are much better.  My wife and I hate winter and focus our vacations on the winter months anyway.

Are there a few domes or other great indoor facilities in town?  Do ranges have heated stalls as standard?  Are winter practice options readily available?

[jshel]

Cinderella,

There are a number of winter practice options. There are some domes where you can hit. There are also a couple of places where you basically hit from inside a heated garage and the ball goes outside. Here's a link to the one that I go to a few times each winter:

http://www.yourgolfzone.com/

[jshel]

Also, here is a link to pictures I put on golfclubatlas of my home club, Midland Hills, a very solid Seth Raynor design with a reasonable initiation fee, etc.

http://www.golfcluba...ic,53700.0.html

[cinderellaboy]

Thanks, much appreciated!

[PatCCraig]

 jshel, on 03 January 2013 - 04:23 PM, said:

CinderellaBoy,

I have lived in MN for most of my life, but did live in IL, Cincinnati and Raleigh for a combined six or so years right out of college.

It's a good place to live. It is a very manageable place to live and way cheaper than Northern NJ. In addition, traffic isn't that bad. There are all four pro sports, a D1 college, arts, culture, good food scene, etc.

In terms of golf, the season generally begins at the end of March or the beginning of April and runs until early-to-mid November. As a general rule the public courses open before the private clubs and stay open a little later. You're probably losing a couple of weeks on each end of the season from what you have. Golf will also be more affordable than what you have now. There are good private clubs that have initiation fees of just a few thousand bucks. There also aren't many privates where you have to take a caddie or cart all the time, making it more affordable if you are willing to walk and carry or push.

You won't find that many MN clubs that are super highly rated by places like Golf Digest and Golfweek, but there are lots of really good clubs. Maybe not elite, but really good places.

If you have any questions, feel free to drop me a note on here.

jshel is dead on in his response above. I moved to the Twin Cities as a young married guy from Chicago almost 2 years ago (and went to school in the Northeast) and can say that the weather issue is mostly a wash...sure, the golf season is shorter by 3-4 weeks...but there is no better place in the country in the summer and fall as you don't get the oppressively hot and humid weather you'll find in Jersey from June-September. Lots of warm days with cool nights. Even the winter is nice because it's cold enough that you can actually do fun winter activities (ice skating, snow shoeing, etc..) Compared to NJ, your "quality of life" is going to be significantly better. Almost no traffic (not anything compared to Chicago). More affordable home and rent prices. Less expensive dining and nightlife. Easy access to parks, lakes, rivers, etc... and outdoorsy stuff (biking, hunting, fishing, snowshoeing, X country skiing, etc.).    

The golf is really good and accessible as well. After a year of playing different courses I joined Town & Country Club in St. Paul and I really like it. I can leave my office in downtown Minneapolis and be on the 1st tee within 30 min and because of longer summer daylight up north (sun doesn't set until 9:30pm in June), I can get 18 holes in easy. You can't do that in Chicago or a lot of the cities out east!

Feel free to PM me if you have any more questions.

[BlaineGolf]

Minnesota is great....to bad I'm moving. Golf season lasts from April to early November. They have really nice golf courses and I think a indoor hitting range in Minneapolis.

[cinderellaboy]

My move to Minny looking ever more likely now.  I will work in Hopkins, and prob live within 15-20 min drive of there in the western suburbs.  I commute 1:15+ each way right now, so Im really looking fwd to this aspect.

Wondering if any clubs in that area of the metro that are "season pass" type private/semi private options.  I may not be out there enough yrs to justify any type of significant initiation.  Looking mostly for a pure golf club, although my wife might enjoy a pool etc since we wont know anyone in town.  Club might be a nice way to meet people.

[winn0040]

 cinderellaboy, on 29 January 2013 - 12:04 PM, said:

My move to Minny looking ever more likely now.  I will work in Hopkins, and prob live within 15-20 min drive of there in the western suburbs.  I commute 1:15+ each way right now, so Im really looking fwd to this aspect.

Wondering if any clubs in that area of the metro that are "season pass" type private/semi private options.  I may not be out there enough yrs to justify any type of significant initiation.  Looking mostly for a pure golf club, although my wife might enjoy a pool etc since we wont know anyone in town.  Club might be a nice way to meet people.

Most of the nicer courses on your side of town are going to be private, whereas if you lived in the eastern suburbs there are more semi-private courses.

Rush Creek is going to be the cream of the crop in terms of public tracks and a membership out there is a touch on the spendy side in my opinion.  Depending on your age there are a lot of private clubs that are running some pretty lucrative specials for younger members.

[hillrat0917]

 cinderellaboy, on 29 January 2013 - 12:04 PM, said:

My move to Minny looking ever more likely now.  I will work in Hopkins, and prob live within 15-20 min drive of there in the western suburbs.  I commute 1:15+ each way right now, so Im really looking fwd to this aspect.

Wondering if any clubs in that area of the metro that are "season pass" type private/semi private options.  I may not be out there enough yrs to justify any type of significant initiation.  Looking mostly for a pure golf club, although my wife might enjoy a pool etc since we wont know anyone in town.  Club might be a nice way to meet people.

Hey man, So I have lived in BOTH places in Madison, NJ and now in Minneapolis. I loved both but to be honest, MPLS is one hell of a place to live. For Golf it is amazing in terms of quality of courses, prices and ability to get on. There are many private courses here that are very HIGHLY rated. Edina, Interlachen, Spring Hill, Minikahda club, Mendakota, Hillcrest, Windsong, etc.. Also, public golf is great, around you in Hopkins there are plenty of choices, Braemar, Medowbrook, Baker National. There are cheaper places to play and more expensive places to play but they are all around 35-50 dollars. Golf Season is from end of March until this year December...but in reality more like week before Halloween. Privates close earlier but last year I played Interlachen 3 days before Thanksgiving. As far as living here, yes it is cold, but that lasts about 4 weeks of brutal cold end of Jan to mid Feb. After that it isn't so bad, we put our windows down in our cars when it reaches forty on a nice sunny day in March. Quality of life is way better than NJ, people are nicer, schools are better, air cleaner and overall accessing golf is easier. There are places to practice indoors, Breamar has a dome (it burned down last year being rebuilt now), Inside Edge golf in Eden Prairie is a Golf Simulator place, You can hit outdoors under a shed at GolfZone in Chaska, there is a golf dome in Orono. Totally Driven is opening a place up in Edina. (Go there to get fitted....Amazing) There are places galore and plenty of good options to play from. Minnesota Valley you might like for membership, or Bural Oaks. Edina is great but 35k for initiation. Also, a flat rate of play each year in Eden Praire is Bent Creek also another private which is good is Olympic Hills, that place is nice and not too bad initiation wise. This state is Golf nuts and has as many highly rated places as you can get. You will be dizzy from looking at all the places to play or join. I probably can tell you anything else you need to know, I have played every where public or private.

Edited by hillrat0917, 29 January 2013 - 02:18 PM.

[hillrat0917]

H

 cinderellaboy, on 29 January 2013 - 12:04 PM, said:

My move to Minny looking ever more likely now.  I will work in Hopkins, and prob live within 15-20 min drive of there in the western suburbs.  I commute 1:15+ each way right now, so Im really looking fwd to this aspect.

Wondering if any clubs in that area of the metro that are "season pass" type private/semi private options.  I may not be out there enough yrs to justify any type of significant initiation.  Looking mostly for a pure golf club, although my wife might enjoy a pool etc since we
wont know anyone in town.  Club might be a nice way to meet people.

Hey SO I have lived both places and I just wrote a long reply and then it got deleted somehow. I live in Madison, NJ and now in MPLS. Minnesota is a hotbed of golf, there are so many great places to play. There are a bunch of private courses, Edina, interlachen, Windsong, Burl Oaks, Minnikada, Minnesota Valley, Wyzata CC, Minnepolis Golf Club, Olympic Hills, Mendakota. For Publics around you, Braemar, MedowBrook, Baker National, there are so many. Going south a little the Wilds. There are some that are just an annual fee Bent Creek in EP. For indoors you have Braemaer Dome, Golfzone, Golf dome in Orono, Inside Edge, New place opening up in Edina for Totally Driven (get fitted there!). There is enough places to hit balls. Golf Season is from end of March, through Oct last year I played on Thanksgiving and hit balls outside in December. It's a crap shoot. Global Warming has done crazy things to the window of when you can play for the better actually. As far as Minnesota in general, I love it. There is so much to do outdoors, and the cold only lasts (the brutal cold) from end of Jan to Mid Feb. Sorry I had so much more in my last response, I went to edit it and it deleted my post when my browser refreshed. I can answer every question between living here and golfing here vs there.

[bobs219]

 cinderellaboy, on 29 January 2013 - 12:04 PM, said:

My move to Minny looking ever more likely now.  I will work in Hopkins, and prob live within 15-20 min drive of there in the western suburbs.  I commute 1:15+ each way right now, so Im really looking fwd to this aspect.

Wondering if any clubs in that area of the metro that are "season pass" type private/semi private options.  I may not be out there enough yrs to justify any type of significant initiation.  Looking mostly for a pure golf club, although my wife might enjoy a pool etc since we wont know anyone in town.  Club might be a nice way to meet people.

If you're going to be in the west suburbs and are looking for a pure golf club --- I'd highly recommend Windsong. Great course, great staff, affordable initiation/dues. The vibe I got from that place was that it's just a bunch of pure golf enthusiasts.

If I didn't live on the opposite side of the metro then I'd be a member in a heartbeat.

[Kadin 25]

What is Minneapolis golf like?   Something like this.....

 4.jpg   30.5K   0 downloads

I kid I kid  

[whysguy]

I also like Windsong a lot, i believe that dues are around 10k after last years buy out.
Other options, close to Hopkins, Olympic club looking for members, and I did find out that they are not closing for course re-do as some rumors had it.
Also on the lower end, and in Eden Prairie, close to Hopkins, Bent Creek. KInda short couse and not much other than golf.
Burl Oaks on the west side is nice, Rolling Greens, I've not played
Oak Ridge ( i play often) Great course, Highly Jewish community, but trying to shed that image some.  Really nice full family facility.
Brackets crossing is a really nice full family facility too, and a nice course.
Those are all privates to consider.
Semi Private, Rush Creek in Maple Grove, Ledgends in Prior lake, The Wilds in Prior Lake.
There is a whole host of pretty nice courses here. Probably 50 courses worth playing within 40 minute drive.
You will also find an excellent community of guys to play with.
There is a thread going with a WRX outing planned for The Jewel on May 18th. Under the playing partners subheading.
Join in.

[coolmonk]

For the working man in the Twin Cities, nothing beats $14 twilight golf. In the winter, there are indoor simulators with food and drinks available...but for some reason the simulator says I only drive the ball 260 yards when I normally bomb it 280+ LOL. I'm more on the east suburbs of the cities and really enjoy playing at the public courses there; Troy Burne, Stoneridge, Eagle Valley, River Oaks...all very nice courses. Last year we golfed in December and January in 55 degree weather. This year has been rough...no golf since November and right now it's -13 degrees, but hey that's what the bars are for.

[cinderellaboy]

As I have done more research on the area, I have shifted from "great job opp, hope MN doesnt suck too bad" to genuinely excited to experience what the area has to offer.  The golf scene seems like it has incredbly more to offer than the NJ/NY metro outside of the top exclusive club options in NY/NJ that arent a part of my life anyway (MN has its share of top shelf as well).

Im already used to spending my winters taking lessons and working on stuff, so the harsh winter will suck because I hate winter, but won't subtract significant rounds from my season I dont think.

[jshel]

Cinderellaboy,

Olympic Hills is solid, but it is a hard golf course. Another worth consideirng in that part of town is Minnesota Valley, a cool Raynor in Bloomington.

[cinderellaboy]

My problem with inititiaion based clubs is how long I plan on staying in town.  Right now I would say we plan to be there 3 golf seasons.  But that could extend longer if we love the area (wife doesnt know that yet).  I guess the smart thing would be to go public and explore for at least 1 season if not 2.

[whysguy]

Minnesota Valley is one I had forgotten about. Played it a number of years ago and enjoyed it tremendously.
Couple of buddies of mine switched from Golden Valley CC to Minneapolis Golf club and are enamored with their decision. Ive yet to play there however.

I do kinda agree a bit with holding off.
As there is such a contingency of playable, enjoyable courses.
And you can find playing partners if wanted
And you can settle in to an area
And many of the courses with certainly entertain you.
And what I do know is that I'm confident you will find the Twin Cites as  extremely fine place to live and play.
Keep in touch with the Wrx community and you'll get plenty of offers.

[cinderellaboy]

My move to MN is now definitely happening, sometime in April.  Wondering if you guys had any recommendations on a good pro in the western suburbs? Beyond being a good teacher I really need someone who teaches year round as I do the majority of my lessons in the off-season.  Someone who is easy to get time with and is accessible.