Hawk Tree or Bully Pulpit

[Misplacedtxn]

I will be flying into ND this week and have some time to play either Bully Pulpit (Medora) or Hawk Tree (Bismarck). I've heard both are good courses but haven't been given reasons why each are good courses. I have seen a few pictures of the badlands sections of Bully and would like to play in that environment. However, I've been told by locals that Hawk Tree is a better golf course. I'm not sure what their criteria are to count a good course. Whether they meant condition or that you don't have to fly the ball to your landing area. I am currently shooting upper 80's and lower 90's on easy courses. Any input would be appreciated.

[bcflyguy1]

I know this topic is a bit dusty, but here goes. While the holes in the badlands at Bully Pulpit are great, the rest of the course is a bit blah. Overall, Hawktree is the stronger of the two and is built on a wonderful piece of property. If you play Hawktree, it's worth it to spend 5 minutes in a practice bunker before you go play. In addition to giving the course a very unique look, the black coal slag is a little different to play out of than regular sand.

[ScubaSteve]

I would agree with above. I'm from Saskatchewan but have played both these courses several times. Badland holes at Bully are really cool but the front 9 is essentially flat along the valley/river. Hawk tree has a better design and variety of interesting holes, just stay out of the U.S. Open rough..lol. Hoping to take our usual fall golf road trip down there in a couple weeks and also play The Links in the circuit - these 3 are probably the best courses in ND.

[jcleve]

up the road 30 miles from hawktree is Painted Woods. Recently (2014) expanded to 18 holes, very nice chunk of land and layout, worth the trip if in the area.