The Best Golf Courses in Minnesota: From Duluth to the Twin Cities
Minnesota's golf season runs May through October, compressed into five months that golfers treat with the urgency the weather demands. In those five months, the state offers some of the best golf in the Midwest — anchored by Hazeltine National, one of the premier major championship venues in America, and extending through a network of quality resort and public courses that punches above the state's population weight.
Hazeltine National Golf Club — Chaska
Hazeltine National Golf Club is the most decorated course in Minnesota. It has hosted the US Open (1970 and 1991), the PGA Championship (2002 and 2016), the US Amateur, and the Ryder Cup (2016). The 2016 Ryder Cup — which the United States won convincingly to end a long run of European dominance — returned Hazeltine to the center of the golf world and reinforced its standing as one of the great American tournament venues.
Robert Trent Jones Sr. designed the course in 1962. Rees Jones (his son) completed a significant renovation in 1978. The course plays through the Minnesota lake country south of Minneapolis, with water in play on several holes and the long, demanding par 4s that Jones Sr. favored throughout his career. It is a private club with limited outside access.
Giant's Ridge — Biwabik
Giant's Ridge Golf and Ski Resort in Biwabik on the Iron Range has two courses — the Quarry and the Legend — that use the former mining landscape of northeastern Minnesota to create holes with a visual distinctiveness unusual for the region. The Quarry Course, in particular, plays through reclaimed mining terrain with dramatic elevation changes and views across the St. Louis River valley that are among the most striking in Minnesota golf.
The Wilds Golf Club — Prior Lake
The Wilds Golf Club in Prior Lake south of Minneapolis is the strongest public-access course in the Twin Cities metropolitan area — a Tom Weiskopf design that plays through native wetlands, prairie, and forest with a routing that uses the property's natural features effectively. It is consistently ranked among the top public courses in the Midwest.
Pebble Creek Golf Club and the Brainerd Lakes Area
The Brainerd Lakes area northwest of the Twin Cities is the state's primary golf resort destination — a concentration of resort and daily-fee courses built around the lake country landscape that defines central Minnesota. Madden's on Gull Lake, Breezy Point Resort, and Cragun's Resort collectively offer the most golf per square mile in the state outside the Twin Cities.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the best golf course in Minnesota?
Hazeltine National Golf Club is the most prestigious course in Minnesota, but it is private. For public golf, The Wilds Golf Club in Prior Lake and Giant's Ridge in Biwabik consistently rank as the strongest accessible courses in the state.
When is golf season in Minnesota?
Minnesota's golf season typically runs from late April or early May through October, depending on snowfall. The best months are June through September. Late October rounds are possible in mild years but unreliable.