TPC Twin Cities?

[Tim Leahy]

Who's played it? Highlights and holes to watch? Any interesting GCA? Read it was designed by AP and Tom Lehman, did they really take part in the design? Read first PGA tourney in 5 decades in Min, are Minnesotans excited even though no fans? Will weather be a factor? Mosquitoes? LOL

[Tommy Williamsen]

I played it the year it opened. It felt like farmland with a few trees sprinkled in here and there. The terrain was rolling and interesting. I'm not sure how firm and fast the course can play because it felt like heavy ground. I enjoyed the round. It wasn't great architecture but it was a nice way to spend an afternoon with a fun reachable par five as a last hole. I guess it was built for a tournament but it felt like a great member's club.

[Jason Topp]

Imagine your typical Florida golf course with ponds and houses.  Move it to the Midwest.   


It is fun if you play it at a reasonable distance but takes advantage of none of the factors that make golf in Minnesota generally more interesting than golf in Florida.   

[Buck Wolter]

Imagine your typical Florida golf course with ponds and houses.  Move it to the Midwest.   


It is fun if you play it at a reasonable distance but takes advantage of none of the factors that make golf in Minnesota generally more interesting than golf in Florida.

I heard it was a sod farm prior to a TPC

[Bruce Wellmon]

Played it many years ago. Once.
The highlight was Jesse Ventura played through our group. Still have the autographed scorecard. 

[Pete_Pittock]

Lacks about 100 acres of corn.  Didn't see much break in putts.

[BHoover]

When we lived in Minneapolis, my wife and I went to the Senior Tour event formerly held at TPC Twin Cities. I noticed as we walked around the soil seemed to be pretty sandy. All I could think about after seeing the sand was “all this sand and this is the best they could come up with?”. It could have been so much more.

[Rick Shefchik]

I've played it a few times. Quite a bit more water than you'd typically see on a Minnesota course. Little in the way of significant elevation change. Turf is good. Greens are large but not especially interesting. It's a well-maintained golf course that accommodates big crowds and long-hitting professionals, but there's more fun to be had on many of our older, classic designs.

[Jeff_Brauer]

Played it many years ago. Once.
The highlight was Jesse Ventura played through our group. Still have the autographed scorecard.

I played with Jesse.  The highlight was him making a putt with my putter and then just putting it in his bag, never to be returned, LOL.  To be non-political, a few years later I played with then gov. Tim Pawlenty.  He had really old clubs, not a golfer.  Hit a good one with my driver and I let him keep it, was thinking of a new one anyway.


As to TPC, yeah, played it.  I am guessing the sand was a sand cap, not native soil, but I don't really know.  The other thing I remember about it was when my Texas based irrigation designer provided his plans, the Toro rep noted that it had more heads than TPC, which was the most in the state by far at the time, with at least 4 rows the whole way round.  My guy redesigned it to be closer to 1000 heads at Giant's Ridge.

[Jeff Shelman]

I sent this to our MN email list of golf dorks after I played in May 19 - after they made changes for the move from the Champions Tour to the regular tour.

OverviewI have probably played TPC Twin Cities 12-15 times before today. I don't hate it, but I don't love it either. That they were able to get a pretty adequate course out of what had been a dead flat sod farm is pretty impressive. The conditioning is pretty good - it is firm and pretty fast and the greens are very pure - but certainly lacks charm. I was pleasantly surprised how many people were walking today (many with push carts) as most of my visits have been part of outings where everyone rode.
Course changesGreens: To the best I could tell, they didn't change any of the greens. It's possible that they expanded a few or made subtle changes. If that was the case, I didn't notice it.
No. 18: The biggest change on the course was to No. 18. The the old tee was kind of up the hill from the 17th green on the left side of the cart path. Now the tee is on the right of the path and it is almost even with the 17th green.

Before, 18 was the widest fairway on the course and the only way you went in the water was if you totally smoked one and it got to the water. If you got close to the water, you could go at the green. The guy in the shop said that the size of the water almost doubled. Because water on the right is now very reachable, the fairway is basically only half as wide. As a result, it becomes a 3-shot hole for me and you have to basically work your way around the pond. I get why they did it as the old hole was driver for the seniors and now tee shots will be further left than before (leaving a longer shot into the green). It's now 596 from the back tees.
Fairways: There are probably six or seven holes where the fairways have been narrowed (1, 5, 6, 9, 11, 12, 15 and 18). You could still see where the rough was sodded. I find TPC a course where if you are in the fairway, it isn't so tough, but it's quite a bit tougher out of the rough (very few holes where you can run it on). It wasn't that windy today, but narrower fairways and a site that is often windy and it is going to be tougher for regular folks.
Length: They have added length in a bunch of spots.

80 yards on 223 on 663 on 727 on 953 on 1115 on 1424 on 1645 on 1715 on 18
From the back tees, the course now measures 7513 vs. 7164 before. The other yardages for normal folks are a little odd. The next set up from the back (gold) measures 6971, but the next tees (blue) are a lot shorter at 6488. We played the 6971 tees and I wish there had been a combo between gold and blue. The white tees on the new course (6011) are actually about 200 yards shorter than the old version.

Short grass around greens: Maybe the most interesting thing was the addition of way more short grass around greens. There are runoff areas around probably more than half the greens now (maybe even 12 or 13 of them). This was the most pleasant surprise. Obviously this group realizes that short grass is good for higher handicap players while also making better players think. With so many of the changes designed to make the course harder, this was really nice to see and an improvement for the common folks
Bunkers: I think they redid all of the bunkers and I hadn't been out there for several years, so it was hard for me to totally know what was new, moved, etc. But in looking at an aerial, it's clear there are a bunch more bunkers. At the same time, they are in some spots that either put doubt in your head or make some shots tougher. One area that will be harder for normal people is the par 5s. Before, the second shots were pretty easy as you either had nothing to really avoid or there was one side where you had a ton of room. Now there are some par 5s where you have to navigate trouble on both sides or there are bunkers in the middle of landing area where you want to lay up.

In summaryThe golf course is harder and that's certainly what they set out to do. I still think the pros destroy it because they are really good. It will be harder and probably a little less fun for the average member the rest of the year. It is definitely a challenging course with lots of hazard and OB stakes. I think the narrowing of the fairways is going to be the biggest difference for the members. Many of the approach shots require a pretty high level of precision and if you hit even one or two fewer fairways in a round and it will be harder to make par.

Would I want to return? Sure. I definitely probably like the place more than many people. If I lived near there or worked for a company that had a corporate membership, I could totally play there. It's a nice facility with a great range and good conditioning. In addition, I was surprised that we teed off at 12:50 on a Sunday and played in 3:15.

Anyway, just wanted to share and I hope some of you find this interesting.

Here is a Star Tribune story on the changes from last fall: http://www.startribune.com/how-tom-lehman-is-changing-tpc-twin-cities-to-challenge-pga-stars/495072691/

[Jeff Schley]

Thanks Jeff for your insights as I know you are local and know the course.  Always good to hear your thoughts as well as Pat.

[Carl Rogers]

Looks like a typical generic tour course.

[Kalen Braley]

I counted 8 tee boxes on one hole.  I mean why stop there, why not an even 10...

[JMEvensky]

I counted 8 tee boxes on one hole.  I mean why stop there, why not an even 10...

Noticed the same thing and assumed either I miscounted or they weren't really tee boxes.

[PCCraig]

The TPC is what it is. I would never recommend anyone from out of town to play it, especially in an area as rich in golf as this, but it's a big TOUR course that is going to host an event when hosted in the Twin Cities.


If anything, this would of been the year to move the event to a play like Interlachen given there are no crowds. But we all know there would be zero chance in hell of the TOUR moving the event away from a nearby TPC. Oh well.

[mike_beene]

How many balls would an average player lose here? Faldo said the guys better watch for gators. An easy mistake.

[Kalen Braley]

I was listening to the telecast on Sunday, and IIRC they said the field had hit 100+ balls in the water for the week.  Which is not surprising because they also said water comes into play on 15 of the 18 holes. With all the water, reminds me of Idaho Club...

So i'm guessing the average joe is losing at least a sleeve every go around. 

[Terry Lavin]

Dull and Duller.

[Pete_Pittock]

I think that +100 wet golf balls was just on 18.  Like watching a Formula 1 race when everyone is stuck in first or second gear. Unless there was a delay the broadcast is running half a hour over.

[Jason Thurman]

Every bunker shot I saw looked like a shot played from a hazard. I didn't watch much, but I liked that part and wondered what they have going on in terms of sand that makes them different from other tour-friendly courses.