The terrain in the Twin Cities is pretty much ideal but the soil tends to be a bit heavy. Many ODG's built courses here and some good restoration type work has been done in the last 10-15 years. None of the clubs are concerned about hosting professional tournaments because Hazeltine pretty much has that market sewn up. It was built for that purpose.
I am interested Chicago as a reference point because it seems comparable in terms of the terrain and the era in which courses were built.
Jason:
I actually think the terrain here is, on the whole, more interesting than in Chicago...which with only a few exceptions is as flat as a pancake. The Twin Cities' rolling land really lends itself to more interesting architecture and routings, in my opinion.
Using my lists above I would give the following observations and comparisons of MSP vs. Chicago:
*So far, I haven't seen anything in the same league as Chicago Golf or Shoreacres here in MSP. Both are personal favorites and extremely good golf courses, even on a national level.
*Below CGC and SA the next "Tier" of courses in the area include Medinah No. 3, Butler National, Olympia Fields North, Beverly,
and Skokie CC. Three of these are big, strong golf courses that have/are capable of hosting Majors, MSP's modern answer to these courses would be Hazeltine which has hosted two recent PGA's, a few past Opens, and the Ryder Cup in 2016. I like Hazeltine a lot and think it's in the same league as #3. I think OFCC - North is in the same league as Interlachen, but in my honest opinion I think Interlachen gets the slight nod because it has an awesome, world-class, set of greens. Skokie CC is really good, but Minikahda is very similar in look and playability thanks to Ross/Prichard restorations. While I have not been, from many reports it seems WBYC is in this tier.
*While Chicago wins the first round and (being conservative) takes the 2nd round despite a few good punches from MSP, MSP comes back strong after that. The quality on my list begins to drop quickly after OFCC - South, Flossmoor (which I forgot the first time around), and Conway Farms. I would take Minneapolis Golf Club, Golden Valley, and Oak Ridge any day over many of the well regarded country club courses around Chicago, including Knollwood, North Shore, Exmoor, Evanston, Bob O Link. MSP's depth is really it's strong suit.
*The public golf here in MSP is significantly more affordable than in Chicago. While Keller Golf Course costs $32 on a Saturday morning, and the most expensive publics top out around $90 (StoneRidge / Troy Burne), an average, packed, muni on the North Shore can cost $50+ and The Glen and Cog Hill go for $150+. You have to drive an hour from downtown Chicago to find a decently priced, quality design, that doesn't take 5 hours to play on a Saturday morning.
I'm sure there are more scientific ways to break down city vs. city (course rankings, votes, Ryder Cup style "match play", etc... Please note that I'm not knocking
any of the above Chicago courses, just bringing attention to the quality of the less discussed courses here in MSP below the Interlachen's, Minikahda's, and Hazeltine's.