Dan Kelly & Rick Shefchik:
Rick, when you go to Eau Claire... play the new course at Mill Run and make it a 36-hole day. I've heard it is nice and can't wait to play. If you've never played the original Mill Run... it is yet another example of a successful course that never strived to be anything better than below average. Not a lot of trouble, excellent turf, some pretty flowers, low rates, and voila! Goldmine.
I've heard the desire to have a "Championship" course behind the original 18 actually caused extensive financial problems for the owners. Too bad if true, but another example of how tough it is to make a go of it with expensive daily-fee courses.
When at ECCC, don't expect to find a long course. Probably 6400 yards, par 71. I think it held up just fine in the 2001 State Am if memory serves.
Dan, Grab the best player at the U of M and include Mike Fermoyle if you work for the St. Paul paper. Don't tell the kid anything about the holes and ask him what he thought when you get done. He'll probably talk about "those long par 4s" and how easy it was to bogie the par 3s, even if you hit the green.
What's the catch? Those long par 4s, if you have a scorecard, are actually 3 par 5s - two of which any good amateur could expect to reach with an iron. Golden Valley is yet another great course, this one designed by Tillinghast, that has trouble holding up to the length of good players. At par 73 - with SIX par 5s - it is "gettable", as Tim Herron did with a -8 65 in the second round of the 1992 Minnesota Amateur. I think he had 34 putts that round. Hit all 6 par 5s in two and played them 7 under.
Any weaknesses at GVCC? Yes. All of the five par 3s play about 165. The course is bisected by a road in one place, RR tracks in another, and has power lines running across the 6th fairway. Finally, if you are driving the ball really well you get a sense after about 14 holes that it could really use some meat. Know #14 at Interlachen? Not really much of a hole, but at 440, it is long (or at least used to be
). And that length comes at just the right place in the round, so it works. Golden Valley could use a hole like that, but if you thought of it as a par 70 in your mind you'll get the length you need.
Let me know if you like it after you play. Of all the courses I am familiar with on Golf Digest's Best in State listing, none is more disregarded than Golden Valley - IMHO.
Rick,
Winona is a very good golf course. Enjoy. Let me know after you play these.
Birdies and Sunshine!