North and South Dakota Trip Advice

[Garland Bayley]

Richard,
I do hope your trip does not conflict with the Sturgis motorcycle rally, which runs Aug 9/14. Another must see sightsee is the Mammoth Site at Hot Springs, SD.

Wow! Never heard of this before. Turns out the discovery was made the year after I graduated SDSM&T and while I was in the Peace Corps in Ethiopia

[Stewart Abramson]

Here are links to photos of a few of the courses mentioned above.


https://www.flickr.com/photos/golfcoursepix/sets/72157657896233698/  Red Rock


https://www.flickr.com/photos/golfcoursepix/sets/72157655997320123/   Spearfish Canyon


https://www.flickr.com/photos/golfcoursepix/sets/72157655873435073/  GC @ Devils Tower




If you are going to be near the Eastern Border of North Dakota, consider Dakota Winds in Hankinson ND. It is on the site of a Native American facility with a hotel and casino. It's a prairie links style course reminiscent of Wild Horse, Bayside and Buffalo Run style-wise, but nine of the holes are reversible. When I visited it played very firm and the wind was howling. They use very short flag sticks due to the wind. The front nine plays only one direction, but the back nine gets reversed in the nature of the Loop and the reversible holes are quite well done and very different depending on which way it is set up that day. Here are links to photos.


https://www.flickr.com/photos/golfcoursepix/sets/72157699539233514/ Dakota Winds Front 9


https://www.flickr.com/photos/golfcoursepix/sets/72157672065239098/  Dakota Winds Sisseton Back 9


https://www.flickr.com/photos/golfcoursepix/sets/72157696806540432/ Dakota Winds Wahpeton Back 9


When you are near rapid City, take a ride on the Needles Highway.  [size=78%]https://www.flickr.com/photos/golfcoursepix/albums/72157658174605436[/size] Needles Highway Photos


https://www.flickr.com/photos/golfcoursepix/albums/72157657819248919 Devil's Tower Photos

[Richard Hetzel]

Go to Devils Tower.  Not the country club, the national monument.  It’s worth the drive.


As for the golf, I’ve only played Red Rock.  It was fine, but not a must play, especially on a family focused trip.


There’s some cool stuff to do on the 5+ hour drive from Rapid City to Gothenburg, NE, where Wild Horse is located.  But, that’s clearly not in the cards this trip.

Have already played Wildhorse, and I enjoyed it. We will, more than likely, check out Devil's Tower, but I have already been there on a previous trip.

[Richard Hetzel]

Richard,
I do hope your trip does not conflict with the Sturgis motorcycle rally, which runs Aug 9/14. Another must see sightsee is the Mammoth Site at Hot Springs, SD.

It does not. We will avoid Sturgis anyway, as I have already been there.


Thanks for the Dakota Winds tip, totally missed that one. might be able to squeeze that in on the drive from Minnepolis to Bismarck where we are staying.

[Richard Hetzel]

I am back from out West, and these are the courses that I was able to sneak in without my wife flipping out more than she did:


Links Lawsonia
Dakota Winds
Hawktree
Links of North Dakota
Bully Pulpit
Elkhorn Ridge


There are some new holes at Bully Pulpit and another that is being shaped and not grassed in yet. It's my understanding they were created to mitigate severe flooding in the Springtime. I thought that the Links of North Dakota was a "mess". I was not able to get in Medicine Hole due to weather. The amount of driving time in North Dakota was crazy, not sure I will ever get back there. I should have skipped the Links course and played Minot CC. I was only able to play Elkhorn Ridge in South Dakota and I enjoyed it. In fact, I really enjoyed the small town of Spearfish. I'll definitely get back to South Dakota. Hawktree was pretty awesome as well. Dakota Winds was a pleasant surprise and we literally had the course to ourselves. I'll post a few pics later today.

[Ken Moum]

Richard, since I live close to Elkhorn and never felt the urge to play it, I wondered how you felt about the mile-long trek from nine green to ten tee.


Seems a bit excessive.

[Richard Hetzel]

Richard, since I live close to Elkhorn and never felt the urge to play it, I wondered how you felt about the mile-long trek from nine green to ten tee.


Seems a bit excessive.

I only played the front nine as my wife made me go to Mt Rushmore. I actually liked it, shooting a 40 helped. If I am in a cart, I don't really care. I agree, it certainly is not an ideal walking golf course. The member I played with told me that the back nine was bettter FWIW.

[Richard Hetzel]

After playing Links of Lawsonia we stayed at the Dakota Magic Casino and played the Dakota Winds course. It was a very nice golf course, and great for walking. Nothing design-wise all that exciting, but just a solid course. Here are a few pics.

[Richard Hetzel]

Here are a few pics of Hawktree GC. I really liked this golf course quite a bit, other than the fact there were ten "fivesomes" playing ahead of me, lol.










upload image from url

[Richard Hetzel]

The Links of North Dakota, the course I wish I had skipped. I can't help but think that this is just unfarmed farmland where they get paid NOT to farm it by the government and then run it as a golf course and campground. Probably. Some nice views and a few nice holes, but I probably would have been better off playing Minot CC. Conditions were spotty, at best.

[Richard Hetzel]

Bully Pulpit was my last course played in North Dakota. It was decent enough, had a few cool holes, but really nothing exciting on most of the holes. There were a few NEW holes (replacing holes that get flooded each spring) and a new hole on 17 (I think) that was still being shaped and not grassed in (pic). Does anyone know who designed the new holes at Bully Pulpit?

[Richard Hetzel]

Unfortunately for me, Elkhorn Ridge was the only course that I was able to play in SD. I really enjoy South Dakota, so I'll be back again. North Dakota, probably not. The front 9 at Elkhorn Ridge is split by I-90 and plays up and down a ridge. A few weird holes, like number two which has a blind, uphill tee shot and then a forced carry over a ravine that could also be blind if you had a poor tee shot like me. I still made a par on that hole remarkably. Felt like a birdie. I liked most of the holes that I was able to play here. Anyone have pics of the back nine, which supposedly plays through a canyon?