Minneapolis--St. Paul, MN.

[CEValkyrie]

Dan, Stank, and I took a road trip to Minneapolis-St. Paul this week.

On our way up we played UW Whitewater. We played the long tees. The course had a bunch of short tight tricky holes.

Today was a love hate day. We played Kaposia, Valley, Oakwood, & CP Adams. All 4 courses are pretty sweet. I'd rank them in the order we played them. There are some awesome holes on all of those courses. I was really disappointed with the signage on all the courses. All 4 are hard to navigate and only Oakwood had tee signs and they were basic at best. Kaposia and The Valley are pay to play so I was surprised there were no signs. Looking for tees and baskets was frustrating. The courses are so good it still outweighs the negative.

[Tom McManus]

Thanks for sharing your opinions. It is always good to hear about new courses.

[goalkeeper19]

you guys will love Blue Ribbon Pines, it's got the awesome of Kaposia and kept up as well as any I've ever played.

[roman]

We need to work on our timing better. I think I'm going to be heading up that way in early September to play Hyland Thrillz.

Twin Cities have a very active disc golf scene. Lots of pay to play courses, so it's a great place to visit to see that pay to play does in fact work. Courses aren't the greatest, but do offer good variety. Better than anything Chicago has to offer. The amount of work put into the pay to play courses really shows. Beautiful greens, beautiful tees, trimmed fairways.

[CEValkyrie]

Today was pretty much the opposite of yesterday. All 3 courses were well marked and easy to navigate. All had great tee signs and were really taken care of.

We started off with Hyland Hills. I was pretty disappointed. It's not a bad course by any means but the front 9 features no big downhill throws. You finish with the really lame hole #9 then start working back up the hill. #18 is absolutely awesome hole! After we finished this 3+ hour round we had to go get lunch and take an hour break.

Bryant Lake is exactly what I want in a course. It's one of the best marked courses i've ever seen. Many holes have long tees and 2 baskets. The amount of work in this course in unreal. It features brick walkways, stone walkways, built up wooden greens, and much more. I really liked this course. Check out the pictures on DGCR.

We finished with Elm Creek. It's on a small ski bunny hill. It's a fun but more open course. You get to absolutely pull out the driver and let it rip on this course.

Fun day!

[whitechocolate]

I don't think skipping Crown College you missed much.  Same kinds vibe of Hyland and Elm Creek (but not as clean or long as Elm Creek).  Crown has two water shots on 2 an 18, and I dueced 2 from the longs.  BRP and the improvements to Lakewood Hills should make for a great day. 

[Dan Michler]

The quality of the MN-St Paul area courses is second to none that I've been to (haven't yet visited Charlotte).  We played so many holes that would be 'signature' holes in Lake County that I can't even remember them all.  Every course we played was a good course.  I'd rank them as follows:

1. Kaposia - Probably 10+ holes that are extemely appealing.  A bit difficult to navigate, but the quality of holes makes you forget about it.
2. Blue Ribbon Pines - Wasn't in the most challenging setup when we visited and there was a lack of driver holes in my opinion.  Still, you can see why many rate it a 5 of 5 on DGCR.  Extemely well maintained.  Pretty flat course playing through the pines.  Can't miss it if your in the area.
3. The Valley - Difficult to navigate.  Holes were extemely fun.  Several downhill shots and opportunites to crush a driver.
4. Bryant Lake - Its a deuce course, but there aren't any gimmies.  The best maintained course I've ever seen.  Breathtaking scenic views over the lake.  Beautiful park.  Just a very solid fun course that doesn't take forever to play.  Hole 17 was 500+ ft over a valley to a pin on top of a man-made 3 layered wood framed terrace green.
5. Lakewood Hills  6. Oakwood  7.  Elm Creek  8.  C.P. Adams  9.  Acorn  10.  Ham Lake   11. Hyland Ski Resort

[CEValkyrie]

Awesome finishing day yesterday. We played Blue Ribbon Pines and it lived up to the hype. I reviewed it on DGCR already.

After that we headed to Ham Lake. It was probably my least favorite of the trip and has some flooding prblems. I'd still take it as a home course.

Acorn was a fun course with a good mix.

Lakewood was an awesome finish to the trip. It has a great mix of holes and is very well kept. I liked it a lot.

Like Dan said the Twin Cities is no joke. It's by far the best scene i've been too. We didn't get to play 2 of the other 18 hole courses in the area. Why did I wait this long to get there?

[CEValkyrie]

I gotta give some props to Stank for holding up playing 11 courses in 3 days. It's probably the hardest 3 day stretch i've gone thru. The old man of the group held up just fine. I made the young pups look bad at Bryant Lake spotting and marching forward on each hole.

[Stan the Blue Man]

I gotta give some props to Stank for holding up playing 11 courses in 3 days. It's probably the hardest 3 day stretch i've gone thru. The old man of the group held up just fine. I made the young pups look bad at Bryant Lake spotting and marching forward on each hole.

Well you were the one that told Dan and myself that you will spot and everytime I was gonna you kicked me to the tee.

[CEValkyrie]

It amazes me how this area has adopted and utilzed a very good course development plan.

NONE of the 13 courses we planned on playing had anything but concrete or asphalt tees.

It's amazing how much money was spent on landscaping at many of these courses. Standard equipment of baskets and tees wasn't the norm. Most courses went above and beyond.

Lasty, they just get course design right in Minneapolis--St. Paul. They don't make beginner friendly courses. They take the land and maximze the potential it offers. Their courses get tons of play still.

[dana]

Disc golf is HUGE up there.  Glad you guys had a good trip.

Your next (big) disc golf trip needs to be to Pennsylvania.  Go to the Pittsburgh area and prepare to be amazed.

[roman]

Dana, they're putting in another par 66-68 not far from Knob Hill right now! It might even be done for all I know - they started work in the spring.

While Deer Lakes doesn't have as much landscaping as Bryant Lake Park, the course is top notch and is always improving.

[smyith]

you guys only played the 18s? you missed out on some great courses. i lived there for a year. some of the 9-12 holers are AWESOME! i would take a course like plymoth creek (12 holes) over 90% of the courses ive played in IL and several of the 18 holers up there. aliament park is a fun course to, it has a few easy holes but some really tricky ones as well.
did you stop by GGGT? those guys are awesome and love the store, i dont think i ever managed to get out of there in under a hour.

[Dan Michler]

you guys only played the 18s?

Play the Hyland Ski Area course first thing in the morning and then let me know how many more courses you get in that day.

[smyith]

you guys only played the 18s?

Play the Hyland Ski Area course first thing in the morning and then let me know how many more courses you get in that day.

hyland isnt that bad, #15 is the only one that SUCKS! all the others are easy ups and downs. ive played it many times.
i was just commenting on you guys only playing the 18s. i personally wouldnt have played ham lake or elm creek (nothing special in anyway) and instead played Plymouth creek and some of the other quick 9-12 holers that are far more interesting and fun.
i hear the valley is way easier to navigate then the old North Valley. too bad even with it being ptp now they still dont have good signage. hopefully in the near future.

[Dan Michler]

hyland isnt that bad, #15 is the only one that SUCKS! all the others are easy ups and downs. ive played it many times.
i was just commenting on you guys only playing the 18s. i personally wouldnt have played ham lake or elm creek (nothing special in anyway) and instead played Plymouth creek and some of the other quick 9-12 holers that are far more interesting and fun.

We have different tastes in disc golf courses.  I wouldn't drive 6 hours to go play 9 hole courses when there are 18 hole courses I haven't played.  Ham Lake and Elm Creek were both solid courses.  If I go back I might try to get to a couple 9 hole courses that get good reviews after I've played all the 18's.

[smyith]

We have different tastes in disc golf courses.  I wouldn't drive 6 hours to go play 9 hole courses when there are 18 hole courses I haven't played.  Ham Lake and Elm Creek were both solid courses.  If I go back I might try to get to a couple 9 hole courses that get good reviews after I've played all the 18's.

well now that you played the courses up there. plymouth creek is like a mini BRP with a tad more elevation change. it takes about 30-45min to play it first time thru and is worth every second. if your ever up there again i would highly suggest you give it the time.
im not knocking ham lake or elm creek as far as being fun courses, i just think that the various 9-12holers around the area have way more to offer than either of those do. they are nothing like what we have here. if you couldnt tell while you were up there, disc golf is a serious thing. having chuck, timmy gill, and steve west based out of there all with extensive design knowledge makes for the best centralized disc golf in the midwest.