Elaine

If you are looking for a great place to play golf that has wonderful hardwood lined fairways, excellent greens and an over all great course condition then you will want to journey west of the Twin Cities. Located a comfortable hour drive west of the 494 loop from the western suburbs of Minneapolis on state highway 7 you will arrive in Hutchinson, which is home to Crow River Golf Club.

I must point out that if you enjoy a brisk pace of play then you owe it to yourself to check out Crow River Golf Club. On my visit to Crow River Golf Club on a beautiful sunny Sunday afternoon, my playing partner and I played in four hours. This is the case for most of the rural golf courses in Minnesota. There is no reason a round of golf should take any longer, if you play ready golf and the other players on the golf course do the same. The era of marathon golf rounds is dead and buried in rural Minnesota. The golfers are knowledgeable, respectful of property as well as respectful of other golfers on the course and they know how to keep the pace of play flowing.

Crow River Golf Club was established in 1938 with a "back nine" addition in 1976. The additional property was purchased and once the construction was completed the new and old holes were intermingled to make up the layout as it is today.

Playing from the championship tees the course plays to a par of 71 and measures 6,820 yards. The USGA course rating is 72.3 with a slope index of 121. The golf course boasts eight par-4 holes measuring over 400 yards. Several of those long par-4 holes also play uphill. Having the ability to hit a draw from the tee box, for a right-handed player, is especially helpful with several of the par-4 holes playing to a dogleg left.

There are a handful of medium length par-3 and par-4 holes in which you have a better opportunity for birdie. The two keys, in my opinion, to scoring at Crow River Golf Club are to take advantage to the true roll and consistency of the greens and to keep the ball in the fairway at all cost. The mature trees lining most fairways will produce an inflated score if you attempt a miraculous recovery shot. The best advice is to take your medicine and chip into the middle of the fairway if you happen to hit a tee shot into the rough. This golf course is accented with over 3,000 trees.

Course Superintendent Kevin Froemming and his staff do a fine job keeping the course in excellent condition. Director of Golf, Karl Baldry along with Head Professional Nate Baldry do a great job running the golf side of the business. Keeping prices reasonable with attractive rates of $41.00 with a cart on the weekend or the Twilight Rate of $25.00 including a cart after 3:00PM gives ample opportunity to enjoy this excellent golf course at a lower rate.

When you are looking for a challenging golf course that is in great condition and only an hour from the Twin Cities give the folks at Crow River Golf Club a call to make a tee time 320-587-2709 or visit their website at http://www.crowrivercc.com

Dana Buttenhoff is an avid golfer and a native Minnesotan. After 20 years of golf and traveling around the USA, Dana would like to share the golf gems rural Minnesota has to offer: http://www.minnesotaruralgolf.com