MINNESOTA is known as the land of 10,000 lakes. It also has more than 450 golf courses and hundreds of highways, which add up to one thing -- golf tour.
With little delusion in my mind of earning a spot on the LPGA, I've taken to making up my own 'pretend' golf tours. The natural beauty and diversity of Minnesota's terrain has provided the perfect landscape for top designers to build impressive courses throughout Minnesota, making it the number one golf state based on per capita participation, and the only state to have hosted all 13 USGA championships.
The picturesque No. 5 tee box at the Sandhill River Golf Course in Fertile, Minn.
It seemed the ideal place to go and pretend to be a good golfer.
The Great Northwestern Minnesota Golf Tour began by picking up a road-trip sidekick, heading south on Highway 75, and crossing over at Emerson. We continued down U.S. 75, where the countryside looks a lot like home except for signs posting 55 miles per hour -- noticeably slower than in Manitoba. It became obvious shortly after crossing the border that speed limit in Minnesota means LIMIT, with my little red Hyundai mercilessly speed-gunned down amid the slow flow of trucks and tractors.
With first-ever traffic ticket in hand, Fertile was first stop on my imaginary golf tour. This picturesque town opened the nine-hole Sandhill River Golf Course in 1996, built by volunteer labour. It's a pleasure and challenge to play, with the Sand Hill River bordering six of nine holes and lots of forest throughout. This means you get a fairly private round, while the course gets a bunch of your golf balls.
No. 3 is where offerings to the water gods really start. If your shot is not perfectly played on this dog-leg right, it will end up in the man-made waterholes lining the fairway. The river comes into play for the first time on No. 4, the signature 318-yard par 4 with tee-box high atop a steep canyon wall. The fairway begins far below and beyond the winding riverbank, which snakes along the left to the green.
The comfortably-paced course took two hours to play, making for a great warm-up. With only one golf ball sacrificed from my bag, my partner wasn't so lucky. He lost so many that he decided to buy a ball retriever with intention of recouping losses along the way.
Schick takes a time-out before her approach shot on No. 9 at Thumper Pond Golf Course in Ottertail.
Next destination was Detroit Lakes and the 96-year-old Hotel Shoreham for an unforgettable dinner of steak, ribs and wings smothered in the chef's secret sauce. It was so delicious that it became our mission to uncover the recipe -- one ingredient at a time -- from various members of the staff. We concluded the evening by securing thumb tacks in dollar bills and tossing them up at the ceiling -- a unique (and lucrative) Hotel Shoreham tradition.
The Lodge on Lake Detroit is a brand new lakefront hotel and spa that opened in May. An impeccably planned resort, each room offers a stunning view of Big Detroit Lake and an array of tasteful details. Sunset is a magical experience and the best time to relax with a glass of wine and reflect on the day from fireside lobby, on your private balcony, or from an aromatherapy whirlpool in your spacious room.
Day two on tour will forever go down in my diary as a day of multiple firsts -- first off, playing two rounds in the same day. We began the 36-hole marathon at Wildflower Golf Course. Built in the tradition of Scotland's seaside golf, Wildflower captures the spirit of tall grass prairie meets lakeside.
With noticeable elevation changes, Pelican Lake in the background and charming old farm buildings, the course is scenic and serene -- until encountering one of 86 bunkers, accidentally landing in greedy prairie grass, or coming down in one of the sporadic wooded areas.
No. 11 is the 138-yard par 3 signature hole, with elevated tee-box playing to a fairway lined with trees on both sides and green framed by thick forest. It's the kind of hole where you can easily lose five balls in misguided mulligan attempts, as my golfing partner discovered. The best irony of this course was -- after buying a ball retriever to pluck balls from water and minimize ongoing loss -- not one water hazard was found on the entire course!
For round two we moved on to the town of Ottertail, and Thumper Pond. Guests to this one-year-old facility can enjoy 18 holes on an immaculately groomed course, fine dining in the Red Pine Restaurant with splendid view of the 9th and 18th greens, or a luxurious treatment at Serene Woods Spa. The opening of an indoor water-park this fall completes construction of this must-visit destination.
Ken Kovacs found one of the 86 bunkers at Wildflower Golf Course in Detroit Lakes.
Thumper Pond Golf Course has been touted a "must-play in Minnesota" by Golf Magazine, and turned out to be a most memorable course -- allowing a few more "firsts" to be crossed from the list. Like shooting my first birdie.
No. 7 is a tough little par 3 measuring 119 yards from the back tees -- and merely 90 yards from the front. Surely I can par this hole. All I have to do is avoid the big oak tree in front, and stay away from the sand on the left. Confidently, I swung my eight-iron, believing I could hit the pin -- and miraculously coming within a few metres of it. Closest to the pin, in fact.
Suddenly, visions of a birdie danced in my head. For a moment, I truly believed. With a deep breath and one solid stroke of my putter, my lucky pink ball crept towards the hole, swooshed around the edge, and sunk into the cup. BIRDIE!
Bagging that bird gave me HUGE confidence. It felt like my game had finally arrived, especially after scoring par 5 on No. 14. At 550 yards from the back tees, it's the longest hole on the course. It ends along the train tracks in a scenic and secluded spot, idyllic enough to zero in on some golf 'Zen.' It was exactly the inspiration needed to finish my game with a score of 98 -- and first time breaking 100!
The next morning, worn and weathered after the 36-hole golf extravaganza, we took a quick tour of Perham Lakeside Golf Club. There we found three fabulous nine-hole courses named Maple, Oak, and Pine, each one with a distinctive look and layout.
Making our way back to the Canada-U.S, border, the final stop was Oak Crest Golf Course in Roseau. The course has a very homey feel, perhaps because of its close proximity to Canadian soil. Or maybe due to the fact the pro shop manager is a transplanted Saskatchewanian -- with fiercely proud prairie roots.
He's also a darn good golfer, joining our final round of play and shooting near par. It was good to have an ally sharing advice about the course, who generously offered beverages when the going got tough and balls found the rough. And the water. And the woods.
I was glad to emerge from the battle of Oak Crest with 101 -- not quite breaking 100, but good enough to make me happy, and proving for the first time that snowmen don't HAVE to exist on every course.
It was another feather in my cap of firsts: first back-to-back 18s, first birdie, first time breaking 100. And now, the first snowman-free round of golf. Not to mention the other first I could have done without -- the speeding ticket.
Despite the hefty price tag that comes with putting pedal to the metal in Minnesota, the fairways down south of the border are worth the drive. Especially when the birdies come out to play, and the snowmen stay away.
Just hope the car in front of you gets speed-gunned down first.
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