Minnesota Golf

[tomastomatohead]

any word on any course openings??

[loudizzzle]

Sounds like Loggers Trail is opening next Tuesday at 10am

[BirdieRoll]

twincitiesgolf.com does a nice job showing opening dates for each course.

 

I suspect some will slowly open in the coming days with a wave of them opening the weekend of 4/28 if the forecast holds.

 

I would not want to be a golf ball in Minnesota right now. A lot of pent up frustration is going to let loose after a long winter!

[tomastomatohead]

agree, and i am in Duluth so it is worse here.

[marmooskapaul]

Don't you guys "up there" still have guys ice fishing?? Driving on ice still??

[tomastomatohead]

Its melting just slower up here

[loudizzzle]

Its melting fast now in Duluth, its gonna be 70 today. Sounds like Northland will open next sometime and over the bridge at Nemadji is opening this Friday

[pmccallum86]

I played Creeksbend yesterday (9 holes walking only with 1 temp green), it was absolutely packed with golfers seeking relief from the long winter. I think this coming weekend is going to be great for the courses with all the demand out there, Loggers is already booked up.

[dingusflingers]

Seen on twitter;

 

Highland National driving range open, course opens Thursday

 

Prestwick range/course opens Friday

[tomastomatohead]

Looks like courses are opening in Minnesota already. Any opening with carts?

[jshel]

Loggers is opening all 18 with carts on Sunday . Only the back nine is open right now.

I think Stonebrooke is letting out carts based on a TV news clip I saw the other day.

I'm playing Tanners Brook on Sunday, but it is walking only.

[tomastomatohead]

thanks!

[OakRockHacker]

From what I've seen jshel is right about Stonebrooke letting carts out, might be cart path only for a bit though. I think I saw Rich Valley and Emerald Greens down in Rosemount/Hastings both are letting carts out too.

 

Most everywhere else I've seen is walking only right now, but I would imagine things will dry out fairly quickly and they'll start letting carts out soon.

 

Just glad to be able to get out at all right now, it was starting to feel like it would never happen.

[tiderider]

what's the best course near St. Paul to play? ... i'm driving up to wisconsin to play SV, then will shoot over the White Bear Lake to visit friends that are from there and visiting family ... my friend will try to get a tee time at White Bear Yacht Club, but i'm skeptical he knows someone there (any of you folks with a connection are welcome to send it my way) ...

[lowlight21]

> @tiderider said:

> what's the best course near St. Paul to play? ... i'm driving up to wisconsin to play SV, then will shoot over the White Bear Lake to visit friends that are from there and visiting family ... my friend will try to get a tee time at White Bear Yacht Club, but i'm skeptical he knows someone there (any of you folks with a connection are welcome to send it my way) ...

 

Keller is for sure your best bet. WBYC has lots of winterkill and I don't believe it's open for play yet. Keller has no winterkill and is a great course.

[tiderider]

> @lowlight21 said:

> > @tiderider said:

> > what's the best course near St. Paul to play? ... i'm driving up to wisconsin to play SV, then will shoot over the White Bear Lake to visit friends that are from there and visiting family ... my friend will try to get a tee time at White Bear Yacht Club, but i'm skeptical he knows someone there (any of you folks with a connection are welcome to send it my way) ...

>

> Keller is for sure your best bet. WBYC has lots of winterkill and I don't believe it's open for play yet. Keller has no winterkill and is a great course.

 

wow ... great call ... i might try to send you a beer in the mail ... looks really, really interesting ... will be up there the last week of may & would be a treat to play a ross course not often mentioned or heard of, but the keller course is a very nice substitute ...

[tomastomatohead]

lots of history at Keller. Go in the bar, Arnie, Hogan, Trevino etc

[storm319]

 

> @tiderider said:

> > @lowlight21 said:

> > > @tiderider said:

> > > what's the best course near St. Paul to play? ... i'm driving up to wisconsin to play SV, then will shoot over the White Bear Lake to visit friends that are from there and visiting family ... my friend will try to get a tee time at White Bear Yacht Club, but i'm skeptical he knows someone there (any of you folks with a connection are welcome to send it my way) ...

> >

> > Keller is for sure your best bet. WBYC has lots of winterkill and I don't believe it's open for play yet. Keller has no winterkill and is a great course.

>

> wow ... great call ... i might try to send you a beer in the mail ... looks really, really interesting ... will be up there the last week of may & would be a treat to play a ross course not often mentioned or heard of, but the keller course is a very nice substitute ...

 

Also host of the 1932 and 1954 PGA Championships. Surprisingly great, inexpensive public track without all of the hype that sets you up for potential disappointment.

[lowlight21]

My very controversial opinion is that Keller is the best value in public golf in the Twin Cities. There are lots of excellent public courses, but none can touch the combination of excellent course, good condition with a $45 greens fee ($38 if you buy the $25 patron card). Just watch out for the stupid tree on 17.

[jshel]

Lowlight, I don't think that opinion is controversial at all. Keller is easily the best public value in town.

[tomastomatohead]

only problem for me was pace of play. very crowded

[lowlight21]

> @huskie said:

> only problem for me was pace of play. very crowded

 

It's definitely crowded, but I've never had an unusually slow round. 90% of my rounds have finished in four hours or less.

[pmccallum86]

> @lowlight21 said:

> My very controversial opinion is that Keller is the best value in public golf in the Twin Cities. There are lots of excellent public courses, but none can touch the combination of excellent course, good condition with a $45 greens fee ($38 if you buy the $25 patron card). Just watch out for the stupid tree on 17.

 

This is not controversial at all, in fact, it would be controversial if anyone disagreed.

 

I actually like the tree on 17 for the record.

[lowlight21]

> @pmccallum86 said:

> > @lowlight21 said:

> > My very controversial opinion is that Keller is the best value in public golf in the Twin Cities. There are lots of excellent public courses, but none can touch the combination of excellent course, good condition with a $45 greens fee ($38 if you buy the $25 patron card). Just watch out for the stupid tree on 17.

>

> This is not controversial at all, in fact, it would be controversial if anyone disagreed.

>

> I actually like the tree on 17 for the record.

 

The tree on 17 frustrates me because a perfectly placed drive can be completely blocked out by it. The tree on 4 can at least be mostly ignored as long as you hit a normal trajectory ball.

[pmccallum86]

If the tree is in the way was the drive really placed perfectly?

[bhunzel]

Any reviews of the new Braemar yet?

[pmccallum86]

> @bhunzel said:

> Any reviews of the new Braemar yet?

 

I've played 27 there. The front is a bit more mature since it was planted first. Great layout, lots of similar features to Keller. It's been very soggy though, should be in better shape by June I hope. I think the back 9 is much more difficult.

[lowlight21]

> @bhunzel said:

> Any reviews of the new Braemar yet?

 

I played there Saturday morning. Front nine is very solid and we easily played it in about 1h50m. The back nine routing seems to be creating some pace of play issues - we played it in 2h25m, mainly due to backups at some of the longer walks (long walk back to the tees on 11, long walk up to the tees on 13, long walk around the forced carry on 16). I enjoyed virtually all the holes, but I think they will have to get creative with improving pace of play on the back nine because I didn't see any obvious solutions.

[BirdieRoll]

Totally agree with Mccallum and Lowlight. The new Braemar is pretty good and it did not experience winter kill like so many other courses in the area did. Good green complexes with undulation so strong iron players will do well here.

 

As mentioned, the front nine is shorter and plays easier. The three par fives (#4, #6, and #8) on the front are all birdie holes. Great fairway bunkering on 4 (best viewed from the 13th tee box) and 6 and 8 should play downwind most of the time. Seems the par 3s play a little more uphill than one thinks.

 

On the back nine, the par five 11th is a brute, uphill and will usually play into the wind. Then 12 will play a lot into the wind as does the par 3 13th and same for the uphill par 4 14th. This stretch is easily the hardest on the course and I suspect is causing the pace of play issues on the back.

 

Also, on 14, if you can't carry the bunkering on the left and end up on the right side of the fairway, you have to contend with carrying a front right bunker and a false front green. Tough hole!

 

Also, as an example, for those playing from the 6,400 yard tees, it plays like 6,700 on the back at 3,353 yards, plus you have the holes that play uphill and into the wind. Add in soft conditions and it plays loooong.

 

Also wanted to chime in that Meadows at Mystic Lake is in the best shape of the courses I've played in the metro so far. No winter kill and rounding into summer shape.

 

Fox Hollow is also in pretty good shape with some rough patches in areas. The river is really running hard next to the course and the water is well over the banks on 16 and 17 but if you hit a decent tee ball it's not a factor.

[Joe85]

Hi guys. I want to ask a few questions regarding the LPGA tournament this weekend at Hazeltine.

 

 

I am in the East Metro and I am thinking about going. How do I get tickets? Where do most people park? Is it hard to get in? Anyone here going??