By Mason Savage
From some of the most elite private clubs all the way down to the hidden gem that litter the greater Minnesota Area, I have had the privelege to play a lot of different courses in the State of Minnesota . Despite playing all of these types of courses, there are still a lot of courses that I have not played. Often times I am asked why certain courses do not make my Course Rankings and sometimes the response is that I just have not played them. To alleviate that, I have been striving to put together a list of new courses that I want to play and then trying to knock them out in the summer. I put together my list for 2025 and I am sharing the 3 Minnesota Courses that I want to play this summer, that I have not played yet.
Rush Creek
Last week I posted the Top 10 Public Courses in Minnesota and the most complaints I get pertain to why certain courses do not appear on the list. The first omission is any Brainderd area course, which is an arguement that I have shared before and I am not going to rehashing it in this post. The second omission is that of Rush Creek.
Rush Creek opened in 1996 and is located in Maple Grove, Minnesota. People love Rush Creek and often tell me it would be an auto include on the Top 10 List if I would just play it. Rush Creek was designed by Bob Cupp and John Fought. John most famously was involved with Tom Lehman in designing the original course at Windsong Farm and the new North Course they (Windsong) are opening is a John Fought original design. Given his involvement with that fantastic property, this has me intrigued by the potential of Rush Creek. Additionally, Rush Creek used to host an annual LPGA event in 1997 and 1998 called the Rainbow Foods LPGA Classic.
Will this course be included on the Top 10 Public Courses list in Minnesota for 2026? Stay tuned.
The Minikahda Club
I am going to get out in front of this one, this is me speaking this into existence in hopes of being able to check out this historic Golf Course. Minikada Country Club is located on the west shore of Bde Maka Ska and has been a staple in the minnesota golf scene since its inception in 1898. The original 9 was laid out by the first Professional at the club, Willie Watson. Shortly after, Willie and Thomas Bendelow tweaked the course in 1907 to 18 holes. This routing of 18 holes held the 1916 US Open which was won by Charles "Chick" Evans. Finally a Donald Ross design was completed in 1920 which is mostly still intact due to some restoration work done by Ron Prrichard in 2001. - All of that to say, this place is SPECIAL and very important in not just the history of Minnesota Golf but in the history of golf in the United States.
This is a course I so desperately want to play and also would love to photograph if the club woud so have me. I can only imagine some of the shots that are to be had out there at this historic club. - Here is to hoping that 2025 is the first time I am able to check out this beautiful club!
Clifton Highlands
Ok this is kind of cheating because technically this course is in Wisconsin, however just like how Troy Burne is considered part of the Minnesota Golf scene, I think that Clifton Highlands is just as close and therefore can be considered part of "Minnesota" for the sake of this article.
Candidly, I do not know a lot about Clifton Highlands. I spend a lot of time on Google Maps exploring unique golf courses and planning future golf trips I would like to take. What drew me to Clifton Highlands is the proxmity of the course and how I had never heard of it. The 18 hole course looks fine but looking at the website and seeing the view of Google Maps, I am particularly interested in the 9 Hole course. - Excited to check this property out in 2025.
What courses did I miss from this list? Is there a course that I should play that I did not list out? I would love to hear about it. Head over to the contact page or the instagram DMs (@aspoiledwalk) to tell me so I can add it to my ever growing list.
-Mason
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