Minneapolis Massacre = 100 courses in 10 days

[lion]

So I'm planning a trip in late May that's geared to just playing courses in Minneapolis for 7-8 days and the remaining days will be a day in Iowa and Wisconsin. I have no interest in site seeing but if its a must visit place, please let me know. Can it be done? 100 courses in ten days if there are three of us playing. Were all course baggers and hardcore players when these trips come about. I see the record for single day unique holes was done in Minneapolis area so I know there is enough courses in the area. Please make recommendations on the items listed below:

* best courses within 100 miles of Minneapolis
* best options for night golf
* best breweries
* best food options, unique places
* must check out sites
* Tolls or bridge tolls???
* traffic or driving issues
* seasonal courses, will they be in?
*Any Private courses in area we can Play not listed???
* DG shops to hit?
* Help with anything else......

 

[Muskiebite]

In no particular order besides proximity to one another

Twin Cities-

Blue Ribbon Pines (27 Holes) $8
Vision Quest $10
Bethel
Bryant $5
HSSA (18 + 9) $5 (Same day pass as Bryant)
Moir (CONE BASKETS)
Kaposia (26 Holes) $5
North Valley $5 (Same day pass as Kapsosia)

St Cloud Area North of TC-

Hidden Lake
Riverside
Calvary
Milstream

Albert Lea South of TC

Tall Grass
Oak Island (Same Park as Tall Grass)
Driesner Park
Todd Park

 

[PieMethod]

This trip is going to be INSANE!

 

[Muskiebite]

Surly is the top brewery, too many small breweries to count. Surly, Modist and Broken Clock have all been involved with Leagues and Tournaments in the area so it would be nice to support them for supporting us.

Must Eats Jucy Lucy @ Matts Bar Minneapolis
If you go to St Cloud go to Vals

No Tolls, Standard Rush Hour Traffic, Stay away from 35W and 494 during these times

Stop at Gotta Go Gotta Throw in Minneapolis the biggest DG Store MN has

If you got time to kill at night MOA is worth a stop

 

[smarkquart]

The Twin Cities is basically laid out around the 494/694 loop, and midday traffic is going to be insane. However anything within the loop, like 62, 36, and either I35 will be impossible if you are trying to hit at last 10 courses a day.

You almost need to divide the Cities into four quadrants and find the closest courses near the section of the loop.

Such as:

South-East - Kaposia, The Valley, Red Oak, Alimagnet, Brockway, and CP Adams.

South-West - Moir, HSSA, Bryant, Crown, Shakopee (Lions Park), Plymouth Creek.

North-East - Acorn, Lakewood Hills, Hansen, BRP, and VQ. Silverview is not a must-stop destination, but it is within striking distance of Hansen. Lochness is the same way, not a must-see, but it is just off of I35W north of the loop, so not difficult to get at.

North-West - as a former resident of the North-West suburbs, we did not have much. Wintercrest (Coon Rapids) can almost be fit into your BRP day. There are several smaller courses in the NW suburbs if you are just course collecting. Elm Creek will be your biggest, but you then have Eagle's Edge, Central Park, one in Champlin, and another in Dayton with minutes of each other.

Be willing to travel a little distance from the Twin Cities because there are numerous courses between I94 and Highway 10 between the Cities and Saint Cloud. A few near Monticello and Big Lake, Becker, Clearwater (Sportsmans Hill), Hidden Lake (big course). Then there are numerous courses in Saint Cloud, and despite heavy traffic in Saint Cloud, and you can still get anywhere in less than 15 minutes. The biggest courses in SC would be Riverside (it will be busy) and Calvary. There are several smaller courses in Waite Park and the west/ north-west side. You can finish it up in Saint Joseph at Mill Stream.

 

[timg]

That would certainly be impressive. When I was taking trips like this I think we maxed out at like 7 courses in a day before we ran out of daylight. Granted, we prioritized 18s over 9s and then squeezed in some random 9 holers after we played all the "good stuff" and until it was dark. 10 per day would be a heck of a thing.

 

[lion]

Yeah there will be a lot of 9-12 holers in Minneapolis but with only a few minutes in between courses they will go fast!!!

 

[juju]

I don't like the name of this excursion. Good luck though.

 

[SonicGuy]

The course directory will tell you pretty accurately what are the key courses to hit so I won't bother with a full list. I also don't know when the seasonal courses get put in but late May SHOULD be fine. Here is my planning suggestion:

The area is much more easily navigated North to South than East to West. Traffic gets gummed up on the E/W highways. The N/S beltway portions are fairly easy to zip around (694/494). This means that getting from Lakewood (NE) down to Oakwood (SE) is far easier than going from Kaposia (SE) to Hyland Ski (SW). Also, be warned that Central Ave on the way to BRP is extremely slow in traffic. Do not assume an easy drive up there if you plan on finishing a day there even though it looks like a country highway on the map.

St. Cloud has decent courses, I would start a day there, work back towards the cities and try to finish up at Elm Creek which is easy at night with wide open fairways. Elm Creek is also considered boring so you won't miss anything in the dark.

Play BRP and Vision Quest back to back on a weekday. DO NOT attempt BRP on a weekend; that is a recipe for a 4 hour round. DO get a bloody mary at the Old Piper Inn on the way back

Make sure you hit up Bethel College. Underrated. Play CP Adams, it is out of the way but worth the trip. It links up with Oakwood and Afton.

Get beer at Surly taproom (the obvious) and also hit up Barley Johns off of 35W. As for food, hard to think of good places to stop at on disc golf routes. We don't have good roadside food like Southern states, the best spots will be sit down and away from courses. You may be eating a lot of culvers.

The only "attraction" I would recommend is Gotta Go Gotta Throw, the best disc golf store on the planet as far as I am concerned. Play Basset Creek before/after you go there it links up pretty well.

 

[Sethamphetamine]

Trying to think of a feasible 10 course day for you....
Plymouth creek
Bassett creek
Sunny side
Eagles edge
Central Park
Winter crest
Hansen
Bethel
Acorn
Lakewood

Pushing it time wise... the balance between quality and speed is hard. You could pump out some weenie 9 holers to hit your 100 but to have maximum fun I would go by course rating first.

 

[Monkeypaws]

Let me help with the other half of the tour:

From west to east: Utepils, Fulton, Lakes and Legends, Dangerous Man, Hammerheart, Town Hall, Surly, Bang, Urban Growler, Insight, Indeed, Blackstack, Fair State, Summit, Bad Weather, Tin Whiskers, Barrell Theory, etc. I'm forgetting a lot, but there are plenty of taprooms to keep you busy.

 

[lion]

26 days out, trying to gauge traffic and weather this far out is tough

Is kaposia park installed or will it be?

will Hyland Ski Area have the baskets in, in late May?

does the hyland cisitor center practice location still exist?

 

[Sethamphetamine]

26 days out, trying to gauge traffic and weather this far out is tough

Is kaposia park installed or will it be?

will Hyland Ski Area have the baskets in, in late May?

does the hyland cisitor center practice location still exist?

Kaposia is supposed to go in this weekend. Hyland should be open. Not sure if it's the practice area but they have a short little pitch and putt course at the bottom of the hill

 

[lion]

I see Hyland has a full course, 9 hole pitch and putt, and a practice area. Anywhere to call or check to see when they might go in?

 

[Sethamphetamine]

I see Hyland has a full course, 9 hole pitch and putt, and a practice area. Anywhere to call or check to see when they might go in?

Yeah they have a pretty big chalet/event space on site, an employee should at the very least be able to point you in the right direction.

 

[notapro]

Back in 2016 a couple of crazy dudes played almost all the courses in one day... here is the best thread I could find on it without attracting attention at work.

https://www.dgcoursereview.com/forums/showthread.php?t=123227

I swear there was a different thread that talked about the route, or someone else had planned an ideal one-day route (cgkdisc or Steve West I think)… might be a great resource for your planning.

 

[lion]

Currently on day 5 with a few hours left of golf. We've been fortunate to play 49 courses up to this point. Going to try and get 3-4 more tonight while we can. Frantic pace for the three of us old souls. Lots of driving the first three days though.

 

[Discette]

Currently on day 5 with a few hours left of golf. We've been fortunate to play 49 courses up to this point. Going to try and get 3-4 more tonight while we can. Frantic pace for the three of us old souls. Lots of driving the first three days though.

Are you going to hit course 1000 on this trip? <3 What course will get the honor?

I see that Snappy already hit 500 played on this trip. Congratulations to him.

But the important question is: What is the current brewery count?

 

[Jkosk]

Currently on day 5 with a few hours left of golf. We've been fortunate to play 49 courses up to this point. Going to try and get 3-4 more tonight while we can. Frantic pace for the three of us old souls. Lots of driving the first three days though.

Pretty sure I threw down hole 18 with you three at Hyland, if you were the guys that threw the 9 holer + hole 18. You mentioned it was your 11th course of the day?

 

[Casey 1988]

Yeah there will be a lot of 9-12 holers in Minneapolis but with only a few minutes in between courses they will go fast!!!

If you do play those get the one from Minneapolis/St Paul area that has the Cone holes. A tip I saw online is to play these with a Frisbee or other large big disc like a Zepher on the putts or an Ultimate disc, a Lid Disc Golf Disc will work in a pinch. A guy on YouTube made the putt because he had a 100 mold 175 gram or the Ultimate mold 175 gram from Wham-O as both are the same mold. My Uncle and cousin were going to go and play that same course in the 2000's but my cousin got a tip and bought a Arrow putter from Aerobie to help with putts into the cone hole, a disc he still uses for wind and for hazard putts where the disc needs to sit. The uncle had a Zephyr with him to warm up or play with already so when he played he had a disc ready to use.